§ 2: Proof of the Immortality of the Soul From the Desire for the Highest Good

All creation speaks of the goodness of God, who abundantly supplies the means toward happiness. Man’s happiness ought to be the most complete, as God has prepared all means and placed them under his dominion. And yet it is deficient; for daily we see man sorrowful and we hear him speaking of misfortune. An insatiable yearning seizes his heart, which, aching at the emptiness remaining in it, seeks constantly what it cannot find on earth. Man struggles to fill the demands of his heart, but it always remains empty; none of the goods on earth are sufficient to fill the emptiness of his heart; there is no counterbalance to his desire; his heart aches; and happiness departs. The reason for this insufficiency is found not in the nature of existing things, but in the soul dwelling in man; therefore, it yearns and seeks, like a thirsty deer, the enjoyment of the highest good, which is its end; the soul ending at the grave cannot have infinite longings extending beyond it; for that would be contrary to the wisdom of God; the desire, therefore, of the highest good testifies to the immortality of the soul; for the all-good God would not have planted in the heart of man an insatiable desire for wretchedness and misery. Since in this world it remains unfulfilled, it follows that it will be fulfilled after his departure, in the other life, in eternity. Therefore, the desire for the highest good is a proof of the immortality of the soul.

If man finds on earth some relative happiness, he finds it in the confidence that it will continue; if he finds any relief in the evils of his life, he draws it from the hope of future enjoyment; if, on the tossed sea and the flood of temptations of life, man finds a harbor of rest and consolation, the highest good is the polar star toward which every sailor looks with affection and hope while sailing through the dark night. The highest good is the longing of every mortal being who feels that he was fashioned in order to be happy. Riches, glory, and pleasures are insufficient to fill the emptiness of the heart. There exists, therefore, perfect and eternal happiness, which is destined for him in the future eternal life. If you remove from man the hope of future enjoyment of the highest good, man will become the weary traveler, worn from labor, would find no consolation in his journey; oppressed and downcast, he would live through life, and despair would drive him to end it. Therefore, the hope of enjoying the highest good, as a consoling power, is divine, and as such is Man, therefore, hoping in the enjoyment of the highest good, is assured that he has an immortal soul.