WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN?
WITH 86 YEARS OF LIVING ON PLANET EARTH, MY RETIREMENT YEARS HAVE CAUSED ME TO FOCUS ON WHAT MANY CONSIDER PROGRESS WE HAVE ACHIEVED AND WHAT EFFECT IT WILL HAVE ON HUMANITY’S FUTURE. SCIENCE BELIEVES THE HUMAN SPECIES WAS INTRODUCED TO PLANET EARTH ABOUT 650,000 YEARS AGO, AND EVOLVED TO BE THE DOMINATE SPECIES WITH HIGHLY INTELLIGENT CAPABILITIES. OUR SPECIES HAS MADE AMAZING ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROGRESS THROUGH THE PROCESS OF EVOLUTION. WE HAVE EVOLVED INTO A HIGHLY TECHNICAL SOCIETY WITH MOST AMERICANS LIVING AN AFFLUENT LIFE STYLE. UNFORTUNATELY, THESE PROGRESSIVE ADVANCEMENTS TO DATE, SEEM TO HAVE INTENSIFIED DIVISION BETWEEN US, OUR NEIGHBORS AND COMMUNITIES. THERE WAS A TIME WHEN IT WAS COMMON TO SHARE AND HELP ONE ANOTHER, PARTICULARLY IN RURAL AMERICA. I THINK BACK TO MY CHILDHOOD WHEN WE VISITED MY GRANDPARENTS’ FARMS, AND OBSERVED A WAY OF LIFE FAR DIFFERENT FROM TODAY. NEIGHBORS WOULD GATHER TO HELP WITH GRAIN THRASHING, SILO FILLING, CROP HARVESTING AND OTHER LABOR-INTENSIVE CHORES. I HAVE PERSONALLY OBSERVED A GATHERING OF A HUNDRED PLUS AMISH MEN AND WOMEN TO RAISE A NEW BARN FOR A YOUNG COUPLE READY TO BEGIN THEIR FARMING LIFE TOGETHER. TODAY, LABOR HAS BEEN REPLACED BY LARGE EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT CAPABLE OF PLANTING A LARGE FIELD OF CORN IN AN HOUR. LARGE FAMILIES HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY MACHINES. TODAY, OVER 80% OF AMERICA’S POPULATION ARE URBAN DWELLERS. MUCH HAS CHANGED IN THE PAST 70 YEARS.
IN A WORLD WHERE WE SEEM TO HAVE LOST OUR WILLINGNESS TO SHARE WITH NEIGHBORS, IT HAS BECOME ESSENTIAL WE REKINDLE OUR COMMUNITY SPIRIT, IF WE HOPE TO SOLVE CRITICAL ISSUES THREATENING HUMANITIES FUTURE ON PLANET EARTH! GREED AND INDIVIDUALISM HAS RESULTED IN UNACCEPTABLE DIVISION WITHIN OUR SOCIETY. ARE WE WILLING TO ACCEPT OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO COMMUNITY AND CHANGE OUR CURRENT FOCUS ON INDIVIDUALISM?
IT SEEMS THE FIRST QUESTION WE MUST FOCUS ON IS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN? BEYOND THE BIOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF THE SPECIES, ARE THERE TWO PEOPLE THAT HAVE EVERYTHING IN COMMON JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS? RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS EMPHASIZE WE ARE ALL CREATED EQUAL, FREE AND BORN WITH A PURPOSE. THERE IS NO QUESTION, WE ARE FAR MORE SIMILAR THAN WE ARE DIFFERENT, WHEN WE COMPARE THE PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES OF HUMAN BEINGS. IT IS MANKIND THAT HAS DEFINED AND SEPARATED THE DIFFERENT CULTURES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. DIVERSITY BECOMES EVIDENT WHEN WE EXAMINE THE FACT THAT PEOPLE HAVE VERY DIVERSE SKILLS, TALENTS, ABILITIES, BELIEFS AND DESIRES. THESE DIFFERENCES ALLOW OUR COMPLEX WORLD TO FUNCTION. I HAVE BEEN EMPHASIZING THE FACT THAT, “THE EXTEND OF DIVERSITY IS THE MEASURE OF PERFECTION”. I STILL ACCEPT THIS TO BE TRUE AND BELIEVE THIS IS A REQUIREMENT FOR COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SUCCESS. IT IS THE SHARING OF THESE DIVERSE SKILLS AND TALENTS THAT ALLOW US TO SUCCESSFULLY SOLVE COMPLEX ISSUES TOGETHER. THE QUESTION IS WHAT IS A HUMAN AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN? IT BEGINS BY ASKING OURSELVES WHO WE USE TO BE, WHO WE ARE AND WHO WE WANT TO BE?
THERE ARE NUMEROUS ADJECTIVES THAT HELP DESCRIBE THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF A HUMAN BEING, HOWEVER DESCRIBING A HUMAN GOES FAR BEYOND THEIR APPEARANCE. HUMAN BEINGS HAVE FEELINGS, PERCEPTIONS, MEMORIES, INTELLIGENCE, DESIRES, SKILLS AND WISDOM; BASED UPON THE ENVIRONMENT THEY ARE RAISED IN. WE LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE AND STORE OUR MEMORIES FOR FUTURE USE. EVERY HUMAN IS BORN WITH A PURPOSE AND A SET OF SKILLS AND TALENTS THAT MAKE THEM DIFFERENT FROM EVERYONE ELSE. BEING A MEMBER OF THE HUMAN SPECIES ALSO PLACES RESPONSIBILITIES AND REQUIREMENTS ON EACH PERSON. UTILIZING OUR DIFFERENCES HAS ALLOWED OUR CULTURES AND SOCIETIES TO GROW AND SUCCEED. WHEN WE FOCUS ON INDIVIDUALISM, IT RESULTS IN DIVISION AND DESTROYS HUMANITY RATHER THAN ENHANCING IT. REMEMBER, “NOTHING IS ITSELF WITHOUT ALL THE REST”. THERE IS LITTLE WE CAN ACCOMPLISH WITHOUT SHARING. COUNTIES, COMMUNITIES, CORPORATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS SUCCEED WHEN EMPLOYEES SHARE AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE UNIT. KNOWING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN, IDENTIFIES THE ROLE WE MUST FILL IF LIFE IS TO BE SUSTAINED.
THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO CONSIDER OUR SHARED RESPONSIBILITY TO COMMUNITY AND COUNTRY, AND HOW IT WILL IMPACTED THE FUTURE WE ARE BUILDING TOGETHER. EACH OF US ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THAT FUTURE IN SOME WAY, AND THEREFORE MUST UNDERSTAND WHO WE ARE AND WHAT OUR RESPONSIBILITIES ARE. THE HUMAN SPECIES, WITH INCREASING INTENSITY, HAS BEEN IMPACTING EARTH FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. WE HAVE EXPERIENCED A PLANET RICH IN NATURAL RESOURCES THAT HAS ALLOWED OUR WORLD POPULATION TO EXPAND TO ALMOST 8 BILLION PEOPLE. WE HAVE EXPANDED FROM A HUNTER-GATHER ECONOMY, TO AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY, THEN A MANUFACTURING ECONOMY, FOLLOWED BY A TECHNOLOGY ECONOMY AND NOW A SERVICE ECONOMY. YES, I HAVE OBSERVED MAJOR CHANGES, OR WHAT SOME MIGHT CALL PROGRESS, AND ALTHOUGH IT HAS PROVIDED POSITIVE LIFE STYLE CHANGES, IT HAS ADVERSELY IMPACTED THE NATURAL WORLD.
THE PROBLEM IS, IT HAS CHANGED YOU AND ME AND OUR WAY OF LIFE. WE WERE CREATED AS THE DOMINATE SPECIES ON EARTH, AND COMMANDED TO CARE FOR AND NURTURE, NOT DOMINATE AND CONTROL EARTH. MUCH OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN IS BASED UPON WHAT WE ARE CAPABLE OF. THIS MEANS OUR UNDERSTANDING OF OURSELVES MUST EVOLVE WITH TIME AS WE CREATE NEW METHODS OF AUGMENTATION. TECHNOLOGY NOW IS PART OF OUR LIFE AND HAS EXPANDED OUR CAPABILITIES. NUMEROUS FORCES ARE DIVIDING US AT A TIME WHEN OUR FUTURE PLANS REQUIRE SHARED UNDERSTANDING AND TRUST. UNDERSTANDING OUR HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS AND CONNECTIONS TO THE NATURAL WORLD IS ESSENTIAL. BEING HUMAN DEMANDS OUR COMMITMENT TO THE BIBLICAL COMMANDMENT TO CARE FOR AND NURTURE PLANET EARTH AND ITS RICH NATURAL RESOURCES! BEING HUMAN ASSIGNS RESPONSIBILITY AND DEMANDS ACTION! IT REQUIRES REACHING OUT TO OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND SHARING THE WORKLOAD! BEING SELFISH DIVIDES AND DESTROYS, SHARING AND CONTRIBUTING BUILDS AND PROVIDES FOR A DESIRED FUTURE! COMPASSION, ACTION AND SHARING WILL MAKE OUR WORLD STRONGER AND PROLONG OUR SPECIES FUTURE! WE MUST REACH OUT TO EACH OTHER AND REDEEM OUR RESPONSIBILITIES SO FUTURE GENERATIONS CAN EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC OF HUMAN LIFE ON EARTH! IF WE CARE ABOUT THE FUTURE, WE MUST BECOME INVOLVED!
WITH 86 YEARS OF LIVING ON PLANET EARTH, MY RETIREMENT YEARS HAVE CAUSED ME TO FOCUS ON WHAT MANY CONSIDER PROGRESS WE HAVE ACHIEVED AND WHAT EFFECT IT WILL HAVE ON HUMANITY’S FUTURE. SCIENCE BELIEVES THE HUMAN SPECIES WAS INTRODUCED TO PLANET EARTH ABOUT 650,000 YEARS AGO, AND EVOLVED TO BE THE DOMINATE SPECIES WITH HIGHLY INTELLIGENT CAPABILITIES. OUR SPECIES HAS MADE AMAZING ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROGRESS THROUGH THE PROCESS OF EVOLUTION. WE HAVE EVOLVED INTO A HIGHLY TECHNICAL SOCIETY WITH MOST AMERICANS LIVING AN AFFLUENT LIFE STYLE. UNFORTUNATELY, THESE PROGRESSIVE ADVANCEMENTS TO DATE, SEEM TO HAVE INTENSIFIED DIVISION BETWEEN US, OUR NEIGHBORS AND COMMUNITIES. THERE WAS A TIME WHEN IT WAS COMMON TO SHARE AND HELP ONE ANOTHER, PARTICULARLY IN RURAL AMERICA. I THINK BACK TO MY CHILDHOOD WHEN WE VISITED MY GRANDPARENTS’ FARMS, AND OBSERVED A WAY OF LIFE FAR DIFFERENT FROM TODAY. NEIGHBORS WOULD GATHER TO HELP WITH GRAIN THRASHING, SILO FILLING, CROP HARVESTING AND OTHER LABOR-INTENSIVE CHORES. I HAVE PERSONALLY OBSERVED A GATHERING OF A HUNDRED PLUS AMISH MEN AND WOMEN TO RAISE A NEW BARN FOR A YOUNG COUPLE READY TO BEGIN THEIR FARMING LIFE TOGETHER. TODAY, LABOR HAS BEEN REPLACED BY LARGE EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT CAPABLE OF PLANTING A LARGE FIELD OF CORN IN AN HOUR. LARGE FAMILIES HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY MACHINES. TODAY, OVER 80% OF AMERICA’S POPULATION ARE URBAN DWELLERS. MUCH HAS CHANGED IN THE PAST 70 YEARS.
IN A WORLD WHERE WE SEEM TO HAVE LOST OUR WILLINGNESS TO SHARE WITH NEIGHBORS, IT HAS BECOME ESSENTIAL WE REKINDLE OUR COMMUNITY SPIRIT, IF WE HOPE TO SOLVE CRITICAL ISSUES THREATENING HUMANITIES FUTURE ON PLANET EARTH! GREED AND INDIVIDUALISM HAS RESULTED IN UNACCEPTABLE DIVISION WITHIN OUR SOCIETY. ARE WE WILLING TO ACCEPT OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO COMMUNITY AND CHANGE OUR CURRENT FOCUS ON INDIVIDUALISM?
IT SEEMS THE FIRST QUESTION WE MUST FOCUS ON IS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN? BEYOND THE BIOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF THE SPECIES, ARE THERE TWO PEOPLE THAT HAVE EVERYTHING IN COMMON JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS? RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS EMPHASIZE WE ARE ALL CREATED EQUAL, FREE AND BORN WITH A PURPOSE. THERE IS NO QUESTION, WE ARE FAR MORE SIMILAR THAN WE ARE DIFFERENT, WHEN WE COMPARE THE PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES OF HUMAN BEINGS. IT IS MANKIND THAT HAS DEFINED AND SEPARATED THE DIFFERENT CULTURES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. DIVERSITY BECOMES EVIDENT WHEN WE EXAMINE THE FACT THAT PEOPLE HAVE VERY DIVERSE SKILLS, TALENTS, ABILITIES, BELIEFS AND DESIRES. THESE DIFFERENCES ALLOW OUR COMPLEX WORLD TO FUNCTION. I HAVE BEEN EMPHASIZING THE FACT THAT, “THE EXTEND OF DIVERSITY IS THE MEASURE OF PERFECTION”. I STILL ACCEPT THIS TO BE TRUE AND BELIEVE THIS IS A REQUIREMENT FOR COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SUCCESS. IT IS THE SHARING OF THESE DIVERSE SKILLS AND TALENTS THAT ALLOW US TO SUCCESSFULLY SOLVE COMPLEX ISSUES TOGETHER. THE QUESTION IS WHAT IS A HUMAN AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN? IT BEGINS BY ASKING OURSELVES WHO WE USE TO BE, WHO WE ARE AND WHO WE WANT TO BE?
THERE ARE NUMEROUS ADJECTIVES THAT HELP DESCRIBE THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF A HUMAN BEING, HOWEVER DESCRIBING A HUMAN GOES FAR BEYOND THEIR APPEARANCE. HUMAN BEINGS HAVE FEELINGS, PERCEPTIONS, MEMORIES, INTELLIGENCE, DESIRES, SKILLS AND WISDOM; BASED UPON THE ENVIRONMENT THEY ARE RAISED IN. WE LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE AND STORE OUR MEMORIES FOR FUTURE USE. EVERY HUMAN IS BORN WITH A PURPOSE AND A SET OF SKILLS AND TALENTS THAT MAKE THEM DIFFERENT FROM EVERYONE ELSE. BEING A MEMBER OF THE HUMAN SPECIES ALSO PLACES RESPONSIBILITIES AND REQUIREMENTS ON EACH PERSON. UTILIZING OUR DIFFERENCES HAS ALLOWED OUR CULTURES AND SOCIETIES TO GROW AND SUCCEED. WHEN WE FOCUS ON INDIVIDUALISM, IT RESULTS IN DIVISION AND DESTROYS HUMANITY RATHER THAN ENHANCING IT. REMEMBER, “NOTHING IS ITSELF WITHOUT ALL THE REST”. THERE IS LITTLE WE CAN ACCOMPLISH WITHOUT SHARING. COUNTIES, COMMUNITIES, CORPORATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS SUCCEED WHEN EMPLOYEES SHARE AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE UNIT. KNOWING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN, IDENTIFIES THE ROLE WE MUST FILL IF LIFE IS TO BE SUSTAINED.
THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO CONSIDER OUR SHARED RESPONSIBILITY TO COMMUNITY AND COUNTRY, AND HOW IT WILL IMPACTED THE FUTURE WE ARE BUILDING TOGETHER. EACH OF US ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THAT FUTURE IN SOME WAY, AND THEREFORE MUST UNDERSTAND WHO WE ARE AND WHAT OUR RESPONSIBILITIES ARE. THE HUMAN SPECIES, WITH INCREASING INTENSITY, HAS BEEN IMPACTING EARTH FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. WE HAVE EXPERIENCED A PLANET RICH IN NATURAL RESOURCES THAT HAS ALLOWED OUR WORLD POPULATION TO EXPAND TO ALMOST 8 BILLION PEOPLE. WE HAVE EXPANDED FROM A HUNTER-GATHER ECONOMY, TO AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY, THEN A MANUFACTURING ECONOMY, FOLLOWED BY A TECHNOLOGY ECONOMY AND NOW A SERVICE ECONOMY. YES, I HAVE OBSERVED MAJOR CHANGES, OR WHAT SOME MIGHT CALL PROGRESS, AND ALTHOUGH IT HAS PROVIDED POSITIVE LIFE STYLE CHANGES, IT HAS ADVERSELY IMPACTED THE NATURAL WORLD.
THE PROBLEM IS, IT HAS CHANGED YOU AND ME AND OUR WAY OF LIFE. WE WERE CREATED AS THE DOMINATE SPECIES ON EARTH, AND COMMANDED TO CARE FOR AND NURTURE, NOT DOMINATE AND CONTROL EARTH. MUCH OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN IS BASED UPON WHAT WE ARE CAPABLE OF. THIS MEANS OUR UNDERSTANDING OF OURSELVES MUST EVOLVE WITH TIME AS WE CREATE NEW METHODS OF AUGMENTATION. TECHNOLOGY NOW IS PART OF OUR LIFE AND HAS EXPANDED OUR CAPABILITIES. NUMEROUS FORCES ARE DIVIDING US AT A TIME WHEN OUR FUTURE PLANS REQUIRE SHARED UNDERSTANDING AND TRUST. UNDERSTANDING OUR HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS AND CONNECTIONS TO THE NATURAL WORLD IS ESSENTIAL. BEING HUMAN DEMANDS OUR COMMITMENT TO THE BIBLICAL COMMANDMENT TO CARE FOR AND NURTURE PLANET EARTH AND ITS RICH NATURAL RESOURCES! BEING HUMAN ASSIGNS RESPONSIBILITY AND DEMANDS ACTION! IT REQUIRES REACHING OUT TO OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND SHARING THE WORKLOAD! BEING SELFISH DIVIDES AND DESTROYS, SHARING AND CONTRIBUTING BUILDS AND PROVIDES FOR A DESIRED FUTURE! COMPASSION, ACTION AND SHARING WILL MAKE OUR WORLD STRONGER AND PROLONG OUR SPECIES FUTURE! WE MUST REACH OUT TO EACH OTHER AND REDEEM OUR RESPONSIBILITIES SO FUTURE GENERATIONS CAN EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC OF HUMAN LIFE ON EARTH! IF WE CARE ABOUT THE FUTURE, WE MUST BECOME INVOLVED!
