“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life.” —Commencement address, Stanford University, 2005
You may be wondering about his view that death “is very likely the single best invention of life.” Well, Tolkien spoke something about this in how he created the differences between the Elves and the Humans. The Elves were given immortality. They were to live forever in their version of heaven. It’s a key aspect of the story of Middle Earth. I know, I know…you may be thinking of the movies where you saw elves die in battle. That’s something Tolkien didn’t really address well in the literature, but in his letters, he gave some possible ideas such as the souls of the elves who had died in battle just automatically ended up in heaven anyway. I don’t think he ever explained if they had their bodies again or not.
In ANY case, the point was that the humans were not immortal. Whether through battle or simply age, they were permitted to die. That’s right….”permitted.” From the elves point of view, it was a “gift” from the God of the world, Illuvatar. He allowed them to live, love, experience joy and pain and then end it all. It was a release from this world, something the elves never could experienced. There’s obviously a lot more to it than that, but I think that starts to get at one possible meaning behind Jobs words to the graduates. It’s an invention because it gives us that full release. And, perhaps at the same time, should propel us forward with the knowledge that the clock is ticking…time to get busy to live as full as you can!