Transience.

Here is no water but only rock

Rock and no water and the sandy road

The road winding above among the mountains

Which are mountains of rock without water

If there were water we should stop and drink

Amongst the rock one cannot stop or think

Sweat is dry and feet are in the sand

If there were only water amongst the rock

Dead mountain mouth of carious teeth that cannot spit

Here one can neither stand nor lie nor sit

There is not even silence in the mountains

But dry sterile thunder without rain

There is not even solitude in the mountains

But red sullen faces sneer and snarl

From doors of mudcracked houses

– T.S. Elliot, from The Wasteland

 

Modernist poetry as exemplified by Elliot can be characterized as a comment on the transience of human nature. Wrecked by the Great War in Europe, the world was spinning to find permanence. However, authors and poets like Elliot, Stein, Pound and others, noticed that this pursuit was empty. Their poetry explored the brokenness of their time and their conclusions are often marked by hopeless despair.

Transience is a testament to both the fall and the gospel. Defined as lasting only for a short time, transience is the antithesis to the comfort we find in security and permanence. As perpetual sons of Adam, the fall has rendered us virtually incapable of permanence. Our race have been banished from Eden and we have been destined to wander, aimlessly toiling to provide for our temporary needs. There is a time for everything, for all things are fleeting and vain (Eccl. 1:1-11; 3:1-8). All of our friendships, all of our toils and accolades will come to an end.

Transience is our own reality as well. Freeway culture, social media, and fleeting interests attest that the people we meet today may be forgotten in the coming years. Our friendships disperse after graduation, and the promises to keep in touch are unremembered in the next season. We are a broken people in search of permanence. We do our best to ground ourselves in our present relationships, but all too often our minds flitter to the golden past or the desirable future. Even in our strivings to remain present, we are constantly battled with comparisons of better times. Eternity is in the heart of mankind, but because of our brokenness, we are doomed to endlessly search for the restoration of our permanence. We end up settling in cycles of sin and believe that this broken world is our eternal home.

Nevertheless, transience is also an opportunity for the Gospel. In essence, man is stuck in the wrong place—we are stuck in the wasteland searching for the garden. Abraham was called to leave his home and he was found faithful “For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations whose designed and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10). Likewise, Moses was also called from Egypt, and he led the people of God in exodus, out from the slavery of sinful permanence into the promise land. Yet, the promised land was not Canaan, but the new creation. In Christ, we see that transience is beginning to be redeemed as an opportunity for the Gospel. This good news is that the relationship between God and Man has been restored; the relationships between Man and fellow Man are able to be redeemed as well. Revelation gives God’s people a glimpse into the final restoration of permanence and peace from striving:

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:3-4).

This mutual dwelling is permanent. God is forever with his people. Here is our hope of our restoration; here is the end of our transience.

Yet, this time is still coming, and ironically enough, we are called to be transient but in a different sense. Because of the gospel and our eschatological hope, transience is our gospel opportunity to grow as disciples in Christ. “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11). We are exhorted to reject the vain and false permanence of the world, and as sojourners and exiles, look forward to final consummation of our holistic restoration.

Transience is a gospel opportunity for us as we are called to be transient in light of our future permanence. Understanding that transience is a reality of our fallen world changes our perspective. It should give us courage to move on from certain places, relationships, and occupations. We may have fear of the unknown and of what is waiting for us in the next season, but here we can find our place in the story of redemption—this world as it currently exists is not our home. In light of transience we can understand that the present doesn’t last forever, for it simply was never designed to. Instead we can better appreciate the beauty of the moment as we eat and drink and take pleasure in all our toil for “this is God’s gift to man” (Eccl. 3:13). In light of our eternal home in the presence of God, we can persevere through the trials of transience knowing that one day our strivings for permanence will cease forever.

“Behold, I am making all things new . . . To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.” (Rev. 21:5-6).

Our transient wasteland is currently being renewed in part and will be finished soon. Christ, the Rock, is offering living water here and now. Come and drink and rest.