The everlasting has a beginning but no end.
Sempiterno is a concept whose etymological root is found in the Latin word sempiternus . It is an adjective that allows you to describe something that had a beginning but will not have an end .
The everlasting, therefore, is perpetual since it will extend forever. It is important to differentiate between everlasting (has a beginning but no end) and eternal (has no beginning or end). A father who experiences the death of his son will suffer eternal pain, since it can be said that it will have no end, although it began with the moment of his descendant's death. On the other hand, according to the Catholic religion, God is eternal because a beginning is not recognized nor is there the possibility of an end.
Faith and subjectivity
In general, the use of the concept of everlasting entails a subjective belief or expectation since it is impossible to know the future (and, therefore, to know if what is classified as everlasting will really have no end). That is why it is common to use the word symbolically, without really believing that it qualifies something without end.
In this way, an international policy analyst can speak of an “everlasting confrontation” to refer to the conflict between Israel and Palestine . This does not mean that the dispute will never be resolved but rather that, due to its age, it seems that such a resolution is impossible.
In a similar sense, someone could describe the Cuban Revolution as everlasting: it began in 1959 and has remained in power ever since.
It can be said that certain relationships are everlasting: they begin and never end.
The value of the everlasting
Although religion is usually associated with concepts that are beyond our understanding, such as the existence of one or more divinities and the links they have with certain people who have passed through the Earth, the idea of the everlasting also forms part of many passages and teachings. Since the relationship we establish with religion has a beginning but generally does not end, it can be said to be everlasting, and in the same way we can qualify the union in marriage according to the Catholic Church.
From this point of view we can also analyze other unions that occur between living beings, which we often mistakenly label as eternal, since they do have a beginning, and that makes them everlasting. Far from having less value than an eternal relationship , the everlasting one seems more typical of our reality, it is clearer and has greater weight since we can understand it, we see its roots and its evolution step by step until it is consolidated. An eternal friendship seems as arbitrary as a marriage of convenience, while an everlasting bond is born on a day we will always remember, and blossoms with mutual effort and love.
The concept in literature
The writer Ginés S. Cutillas , born in Valencia in 1973, is the author of the book of stories titled " Los sempiternos ". In the words of the writer Carlos Marzal , his stories have a medicinal effect , since they show us the way to overcome the mockery of the "supposed reality" in which we live the "supposed real": make fun of it and, why not, ourselves.
Ana María Shua , who is also dedicated to literature and has published works of various genres since the late 1960s, ranging from poetry to short stories, including novels and short stories, believes that " Los sempiternos " brings together stories in which its author combines the wit, elegance and humor of a writer who knows how to find fun in his profession without leaving aside commitment. For his part, the novelist and poet Alejandro Pedregosa praises the mastery with which Ginés has managed to assemble the stories, in which reality opens up to reveal wonder.