Being Human - A Perspective

To be human, well that's the issue at hand. I'm not saying it is a bad issue, but more the concept of being a human takes more than just being conceived and born into this world. Yes, that's the first step but now as a growing individual, we'll be in conflict with the forces of this world and have to fight to overcome them. These conflicts may not be entirely debilitating or negative, in fact they may help us grow (like learning to walk), but they still will be presented as challenges to us in our lives. Even though our lives are full of friction in its various forms, each person experiences life different, as it is part of being human. Also, being a human doesn’t mean conflict is around every corner — for there can be just as much love (in all its forms), desire, will, peace, and hope placed in our lives. There’s a common trend that humans experience after facing a confrontation that a climax occurs and at that point there is a hopeful benefactor waiting for us, whatever it may be.

To be human, or a human being, by a *dictionary definition is: A man, woman, or child of the species Homo sapiens, distinguished from other animals by superior mental development, power of articulate speech, and upright stance. We, human beings, are defined by our main ability and that is a by how developed our brains are, as we have a higher thought and reasoning process that is set above others (animals, insects). The definition is very true, but to be a human also includes the need to be with a group of our kind, to feel, to express — to make an impact on the world in a way that leads to blowing even our own species’ mind. To be a human is to use the superior advantages blessed upon us and use them not only to protect ourselves and articulate, as well as defend the little worlds we all live in, but also the creatures of this earth and resources.

I believe that to be a human, and therefore be a part of this world, is to know one’s place in it, as each of us are a small puzzle piece to such a large puzzle, that we cannot even begin to comprehend the larger picture at hand. Each human being has a feeling state (some more than others), which is attributed with the right hemisphere of our brain, each of which is authentic, and existing in our being, is a “complex meshing of competing emotions that constitutes our existential state at any given moment” (The Alphabet Versus the Goddess, Leonard Shlain 19). Long story short, to be a human involves being an emotional creature. Do animals feel grief, love, and happiness? Yes, they do, but humans feel it on a deeper level and also use those emotions to create. The creation of art, writing, and music is something far beyond the animal mind.

The ability to create is only one aspect of why humans are set apart from the animal kingdom. If you take the perspective of the human ability to believe in religion and rituals and the aspects of a transcended, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent being, particularly the idea of a Christian perspective, then human beings are set aside by an aspect that makes us completely differentiated from all other parts of creation. This fact is found in the first chapter, or book, as it’s called, in part one of the Bible, or Old Testament. It’s found in Genesis 1:27 (**ESV), primarily. The verse goes: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” A God so powerful, “a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29 ESV), so loving, so protective, so perfect — our human minds cannot conceive His being, and if we were to see Him in His full essence, we’d fall over dead because of the holiness and the energy He contains.

To be human is to be set aside, made possible by being made in the image of God. It has been said that God has formed our inward parts; knitted, or created, us together in our mother’s womb. Our being was not hidden from Him when we were a wonder, a secret, to everyone else, but yet during that time everyone one of us was intricately woven — we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalms 139:13-15 ESV). This is confirmed by the way we function, especially, as I said before, in the way we are able to create artwork, architecture, literature, music, and so much more. When we create art, we put our being into it, as humans we create it with a purpose and intention. Art is not a waste of space on a canvas, literature is not a waste of words, music is not a waste of strums or beats, because all of it was made with a purpose and intention by the artist, writer, or musician to create an aesthetically pleasing work, evoke imagination, or emotional feeling.

*The dictionary used was the Oxford English Dictionary. | **ESV stands for English Standard Version.