Value of Being Human

Between our birth and death is a continuous stream of thoughts, feelings, expectations, desires, and conflicts. We call this the human condition. We know that our humanness provides us with gifts of reasoning, creativity, and imagination higher than other physical life forms on this planet. But, we also equate the human condition with suffering and with being flawed.

We are very familiar with human flaws and suffering: our own and others. Read or listen to the news--murder, rape, enslavement, torture, greed, starvation, and homelessness. This list is by no means complete and all are symptoms of distorted thinking that devalues human life. Some symptoms are more cloaked. They sneak into our mind when we are most vulnerable and invade with sabotaging thoughts “I am not good enough; I am broken.” Often we say, “I am only human,” as if being human means we are deficient in some way. Furthermore, many of us were raised to think that our “human deficiency” was bred into us as sin. Although our religious beliefs may offer us hope of a righteous life, too often these are not enough to free us from feeling unworthy.

God surely did not intend for his human children to devalue themselves. To be imperfect isn’t a judgment of deficiency. It is a starting point, a rallying call to engage in the eternal adventure of becoming perfected to our full capacity as God is perfect in his. Understanding the value of living the human experience and appreciating all that it has to offer is paramount to realizing the truth of who we are.

And yet, knowing our truth is often difficult for us. It is an enigma that is akin to being like a fish in an ocean. A fish in the ocean knows no other existence, so it doesn’t question what it means to live in the ocean or what it means to be a fish. Like fish, we are immersed in our own material existence. It is the lens through which we perceive ourselves and the world. But unlike fish we are capable of poking our heads above the “water” of our confining thoughts, if only for a moment.

The challenge of answering the question: “What is the value of being human?” arises from the inherent limitations of our material existence. If humans accept their value only from their physical perspective, they experience the limiting factor of human “vision”. Our human vision is influenced by our physical limitations and by our emotions.

The scientific understanding of our physical vision makes this point clear. Of the entire spectrum of light energy, our human eyes are capable of seeing only a very small fraction which is called visible light. Most reality is invisible to us. So if we choose to believe only what we see, to view things only superficially, it is like living a two-dimensional life in a multi-dimensional universe. In essence we have resigned ourselves to a life of solitary confinement, of failing to see ourselves as part of a greater whole.

Recognizing the limitations of our physical perspective leaves us searching for another approach. Typically we do this by looking to the outer world for answers. However, reliance on others to reveal our value will always far short of the truth, simply because everyone is in the same kind of “confinement” as we are.

Our human vision is also affected by our emotions. Our feelings are an automatic part of our response mechanism. Human emotions offer two modes of function based on ignorance or insight. Usually, our emotions function like blinders that increase our ignorance of ourselves and the world. But our Maker designed our emotions to serve a higher purpose. Our emotions can be used to illuminate the thoughts that block our awareness of truth. When we pause to notice an emotion arising in our mind, we give ourselves an opportunity to learn from it. The emotion is connected to a deeply imbedded belief or an intrinsic need for well-being. For example, the emotion anger may be a defense mechanism, stimulated by a fear of losing something we value, or a refusal to accept responsibility for our choices. The emotion of joy may be a response to having our deepest desires or core needs fulfilled.

In a way, our emotions are like the muscles in our body. Our muscles help us to stay upright and to move. Our emotions, when we learn from them, can help us to stand tall in our truth and to fluidly adjust to the ever changing conditions of our life. Our body has many muscular layers, each layer “taking turns” adjusting their tension to hold the body in integrity. Our emotions also have many layers, meant to hold us in integrity to our higher nature. So when we explore the layers of our emotions, we come to know ourselves better and to appreciate the design of our human life. Problems happen when our muscles and emotions become overly constricted, overly protective. But with gentleness and time we can become aware of these “protections” and allowed them the freedom to return to a state of well-being.

The only place to find that freedom and to find the answer to our human value is within us. At the core of our being is our spirit essence, our primal nature of truth, goodness, and beauty, of freedom and creativity. The holy scriptures declare that we are created in the image of God. This doesn’t mean that God looks like us. It means that a spirit piece of God lives within each of us. In some respects, it is like having divine DNA. But it is much more than that because this divine essence is our partner on the journey to become increasingly more God-like. God plans for us to someday unite the human experience with this inner divine nature. Such an adventure is ours for the choosing.

We are evolutionary beings who are climbing the ladder of spiritual attainment step by step. We are very young in our development, so it is perfectly understandable that we will stumble and fall as we learn. Do we chastise our babies who fall and cry as they learn to walk? Do we think it is just to withhold love from our children because they rebel? Do we expect our children to learn algebra before they learn to count? Wise parents do none of these things. How much wiser is God!

God’s love for us is boundless so forgiveness is automatic. God, who is changeless, has always loved and forgiven unconditionally; the shedding of innocent blood has never been a requirement. God’s love and forgiveness is automatic because we are in God and God is in us; we are known through and through. The divine plan has a perfect order that allows all beings to progress at their own pace, by their decisions and actions. God does not expect us to learn “spiritual algebra” before we learn to spiritually count our blessings.

So how do we connect consciously with our spirit essence to experience our human value? We connect through the practice of mindfulness, applying it to our thoughts, emotions, decisions and actions. We connect through the practice of daily meditation by learning to quiet our thoughts and listen to our inner wisdom. We connect through prayer asking not that God fix things for us but that we align our ways with God’s ways-- desiring the highest good for all. In time, we come to realize that we are connected to everyone and everything. What happens in us ripples outward and touches others. In accordance with God’s perfect way, we will progressively come to know and love ourselves and others as God knows and loves all his children. It is then that we will truly appreciate this awesome gift of being human.