Omer 27: Eternity & Endurance

Omer 27: Eternity & Endurance
Hubble space telescope image illustrating a post about Adon Olam hymn to eternity endurance infinity

Day 27: Yesod she’b’Netzach, Grounding in Eternity…or Foundation of Endurance

A QUESTION OF DEFINITIONS

You can translate netzach as “endurance” or as “eternity.” And I’ve alternated so freely between the two.

But what is the connection between “endurance” and “eternity”?

Does “endurance” take place in time, while “eternity” is outside of time? So that we creatures “endure.” But God the Creator is “eternal”?

Maybe one is the foundation of the other? In a wryly funny way, as in “when I endure, it feels like an eternity”? Or in a more inspirational way, as in “belief in eternity helps me endure”?

And, if you like the inspirational version, then what do you think “eternity” even means?

TEXT STUDY: ETERNITY AND ENDURANCE

I’ll take you on a little journey into the nuances of these questions.

It starts HERE (yes, that’s a link)

And it continues in your own imagination.

Image: Hubble Space Telescope, Spiral Galaxy M100, released on 13 January, 1994.


ABOUT THE QUESTIONS: THEY’RE DIFFERENT TODAY

These questions introduce the text above.

Most days, these Omer questions also go deeper into the day’s reflections in the book Shechinah, Bring Me Home: Kabbalah and the Omer in Real Life.

But today they don’t. Because, in the book, day 27 is about compromise and enduring relationships. And I’m not yet ready to share my thoughts about that.

So, this reflection actually connects with day 28 in the book. You can’t get too much of that, anyway, presence in eternity!

As every day: There are many ways to explore these questions. You can: Tell a story from your own life. Give an example from a book or a movie. Write a poem. Analyze a concept. Offer a definition. Draw a picture. Sing a song.

New to the Omer? Here’s a guide to the theory and practice.

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