ephemeral: lasting a very short time; short-lived; transitory: the ephemeral joys of childhood. eternal: perpetual; ceaseless; endless: eternal quarreling; eternal chatter. [eternal joy]
When I was younger, I got interested in making my own "zine" -- a homemade magazine. It's the thing that got me interested in graphic design -- combining words, images, and typography in a specific way. My zine was called "Ephemeral Youth." I only made one or two issues, but I never got over the word "ephemeral" -- it's a beautiful word. Now that I'm a mother, the word has bigger meaning for me. Childhood is truly ephemeral -- especially from this vantage point. Grace will be five in August -- which will mean finally giving up the night-time thumb & blanket ritual that we're still holding onto. It'll mean starting kindergarten at home. It'll mean hearing more of, "I'm a big girl now. I can do this by myself."
Ephemera is all around us this time of year: cherry blossoms on trees look amazing, then a few days later, the blossoms cover the ground like litter, giving way to lush green leaves we waited all winter to see.
When I took this picture,
I saw the way the clouds hung over the Philly skyline: ominous, looming, threatening. Then, a gorgeous sliver of light. Emotions feel like that: weighty, heavy, ominous, threatening. A looming cloud; a weight that doesn't seem to be relieved.
Switchfoot's song, "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine" is one of my faves...if you just read the title, it makes sense-- you can't have the glory of sunshine (light) without a shadow to compare it to. And, maybe shadows, even if they stick around for years, are just shadows: fleeting, giving way to glorious light.
Matthew Henry's commentary on 2 Corinthians 4:17 helps-- "they did as it were put the heavenly glory in one scale and their earthly sufferings in the other; and, pondering things in their thoughts, they found afflictions to be light, and the glory of heaven to be a far more exceeding weight. That which sense [feeling] was ready to pronounce heavy and long, grievous and tedious, faith [belief] perceived to be light and short, and but for a moment."
Pain doesn't ever feel 'light and short, and but for a moment'-- but in faith, God asks me to give my pain to Him. In His hands, pain is ephemeral and joy is eternal.
