The video below is a humorous depiction of the utter frustration of seeking fulfillment in or from this world. It features a pig, Ormie, who goes to ridiculous lengths to obtain some cookies that are just beyond his reach.
Many people are like this, sparing no expense in search of illusory happiness. Some practically self-destruct in their quest to fill the God-sized hole in their heart.
It never works, though, because our desires are infinite; a finite world will always leave us unsatisfied. Complete fulfillment can only be found with God. For now, we walk by faith toward Him, of whom our heart says, “Seek His face. Seek always the face of the Lord!”
Seeking the Lord does several things for us. It helps us to stop thinking that finite things can really satisfy us. It increasingly ends our frustrating, futile, intense pursuit of those things. As our prayerful union with God deepens, our satisfaction with Him increases and He becomes more desirable than the things of this world. More and more we can say that God really does satisfy us.
In the video, Ormie is a very unhappy pig because no matter how hard he tries, he can’t get what he wants. The world seems to taunt him as he tries again and again. Frankly, even if he did get the cookies, they would probably only satisfy him for about twenty minutes!
Allow the cookies to represent happiness. Ormie expends all his effort on pursuing something that this world can’t give him. An awful lot of people live like that, forever chasing butterflies. Somehow, they think that if they can just get that one thing, then they will be happy. They will not—at least not in the infinite sense that their heart really desires. Wealth brings comfort, not happiness. The finite world just can’t provide what many want it to give them.
Enjoy this amusing animated short. Often humor registers in us because it contains an element of truth that we recognize in our own self. Laugh and learn with Ormie the Pig!
Cross-posted at the Catholic Standard: On the Futile Quest to Find Happiness from the World