Where the Temporary Meets the Eternal: Reflections Through Art

Evergreen, 2023 (15th painting of Love Series)

Keiko Yamada

Acrylic Painting on Canvas

36 x 30 inch

Have you ever wished in a happy moment, “I hope this lasts forever”—or, on the other hand, felt weighed down because a certain suffering seemed as if it would go on forever?

Each of us has had different experiences of feeling something like “eternity.”

But isn’t it a mystery?

In this world, among all the things we see and touch, is there really anything that exists forever, anything that truly remains?

In a world filled with so many hardships, how wonderful it would be if “happiness” could last forever.

We are always surrounded by things that are temporary.

No matter how strong something may be, with time it will eventually fade.

Even something as beautiful as cherry blossoms will one day fall.

This painting, Evergreen, was created to invite reflection on the contrast between what is fragile and fleeting and what truly remains forever.

First, the pink petals represent what is temporary. No matter how beautiful a flower may be, one day it will wither and fall.

📖 PAUSE & REFLECT — Fragile and fleeting things

1. Are there “fragile and fleeting things” that you may be taking for granted, assuming they will always be there?

   
   

2. Even though you know something is “fragile and fleeting,” is there anything you are holding on to so tightly that it is actually keeping you from experiencing freedom?

   
   

3. What are the ways we can use the "fragile and fleeting things" for the eternal cause?

   
   

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It’s only natural that when we experience happiness, we wish, “If only this could last forever.”

But because it doesn’t last, we often struggle inside.

In fact, there are times when sufferings—which we desperately wish would be temporary—feel as if they are “eternal.”

The Bible speaks of “eternity” in this way:

So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen.

For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18 (CSB)

In this artwork, eternity is symbolized not by the pink petals, but by the strong, ever-flowing river in contrast to them.

📖 PAUSE & REFLECT — About Eternity

1. If something truly “remains forever,” what do you think it is?

   
   

2. Why do you think people even have the idea of “eternity” in the first place?

   
   

3. Based on 2 Corinthians 4:18, which visible things in your life today are temporary, and which invisible things last forever?

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Some might say,

"Things that last forever? There’s no such thing. Everything will eventually perish; life will one day end, and anything with form will fade away."

Some might think,

"Words like forever, eternity, are only used in poetic expressions like, “You will live forever in my heart”.

Yet, the Bible says something remarkable, something mysterious. This mysterious truth inspired the creation of this artwork.

Love never ends.

1 Corinthians 13:8a (CSB)

Some translations render it as: “Love never fails” 

Love?! Love is one of the things that seems least likely to last forever, isn’t it?

But the “love” mentioned here is not the fleeting affection of human relationships, nor the attachment disguised as love. According to the Bible, it is unseen yet truly exists—it refers to God Himself, who created the entire world.

This God did something astonishing for us.

About 2,000 years ago, He came to earth as a human and fully paid the price for our sins on the cross. And He did this even while we were still turning away, thinking, “We don’t need God.”

Whether we believe this truth determines whether we can truly experience His love.

Through the cross, God opened the path to eternal life for us, who have bodies destined to perish.

That is why, in this artwork, the petals (symbolizing fragility) intersect with the river of life (symbolizing eternity), representing the cross.

📖 PAUSE & REFLECT — About Love

1. Blaise Pascal said in his Pensées:""What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.

   What is your thought on this?

   
   

2. What do you think can truly fill the sense of emptiness we feel, rather than just numb it?

   
   

3. Somebody once told me, "Plan as if Christ will not return for a thousand years, and live as if He could come tomorrow." Do you focus so much on “eternity” that you miss what has been given to you today? What is something you can do only today?

   
   
   
   

Thank you for reading until the end. 😊