Question: I have web pages that may or may not need to do some pre-processing before it can be displayed to the user. What I have done is to display this page with a message (e.g. "please wait ..."), then do an http-equiv refresh **to the same page**. When it refreshes to the same page, the pre-processing is done and the actual content is displayed.

Will this harm me in terms of SEO?

Answer: 
I suppose the best way to think of it is that "static" means unchanging, and it is the *location* of the variable that is unchanging when when you switch between the different instances of a class. The main thing is to eradicate any thought from your mind that the *value* of a static variable is unchanging: it may even be changed by another instance of the same class.
In Head First Java, there is a nice explanation of static. Static means stable not changing thats obvious from meaning and its quite obvious that it does not change.

Static mean sharing in Java. There is a nice picture where two child sharing one ice cream and showed static variable analogy. For more info please read Head First Java.