“Therefore [Iluvatar] willed that the hearts of Men should seek beyond the world and should find no rest therein” (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, 36).
This short passage from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion possesses such immense truth in regards to the very core of what it means to be human. In fact, this one line has the capacity to change a person’s whole outlook on life.
First of all, Tolkien writes that Iluvatar [representative of God the Father] “willed that the hearts of Men should seek beyond the world and should find no rest therein.” This is reminiscent of one of Saint Augustine’s most famous quotations found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “for you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (CCC 30). Here Saint Augustine describes beautifully how humans were created by God and were made to find fulfillment only in Him. Tolkien does not use the exact language, but it is hard to deny that Tolkien would not have had this passage in mind when he wrote it. The quote of Saint Augustine comes from his famous Confessions and as a devout Catholic, Tolkien would have known this work of classical literature. In the end, Tolkien comes to the same conclusion: man was not created to find ultimate happiness in the present world.
Instead, we were created with the capacity for something greater and beyond himself. We were never meant to find complete fulfillment in this passing world. The Catechism further confirms this idea and shapes it in reference to God, “[t]he desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for” (CCC 27).
We Are Pilgrims
It is not surprising then to see how Tolkien later on calls the race of Men “Guests” and “Strangers.” Tolkien asserts that men are not created to dwell here forever, but to pass on to another realm where their heart can have true rest. Coincidentally, this idea that we are only “guests” is confirmed in a common term used by many Christians. Often when referring to a Christian congregation, the term “parish” is used. The Greek roots of this word stem from a Hellenistic term “paroikos” meaning “sojourners.” This term reminds Christians that they are called to live their lives as “strangers and pilgrims, refrain[ing]…from carnal desires which war against the soul” (1 Pet. 2:11 Douay-Rheims).
How can this change my life? It is very simple, yet profound: we will never find perfect happiness here. No matter how many material things I have, I will never be satisfied here on earth. No matter how much I desire a perfect relationship, it will never be perfect. No matter how much I desire to fill my heart with so many temporal pleasures, I will never be filled. This means that I should not live for this present world, but for the world beyond ours. It means that I should live for Heaven and not earth.
In the end, the passage at the beginning of this article reveals a simple, yet profound truth: we will only find fulfillment in the Age to Come, where every tear will be wiped away and we will meet the One who made us; the One whom we were made for.
*Photo by Stojanoski Slave – CC BY-SA 3.0
Philip Kosloski
Philip Kosloski is the founder of Voyage Comics & Publishing and the writer and creator of the comic book series, Finnian and the Seven Mountains.