Remembering Our Humanity
I had a thought the other day about kids. They usually seem comfortable in their skin. And then they grow up.
Before someone is a Christian…
Before someone is a Jew…
Before someone is a Hindu or Buddhist or Muslim…
They are first a human being.
Before someone is white…
Before someone is black…
Before someone is brown or pink….
They are first a human being.
Before someone is a hero…
Before someone is a loser…
Before someone is a the best or the worst…
They are first a human being.
Before someone is CEO
Before someone is a homemaker…
Before someone is a high school dropout…
They are first a human being.
Before someone is straight…
Before someone is a bigot…
Before someone is LGBT…
They are first human being.
Before someone is a native citizen…
Before someone is an illegal immigrant…
Before someone is a naturalized citizen…
They are first a human being.
Before someone is a daughter…
Before someone is a son…
Before someone is a mother or granddaughter…
They are first human beings.
Much of the search seems to be to find just the right label, the one that will define us, give us a sense of place and meaning, a means to understand who we are. And I’m coming to understand that labels become dead weights under the strain of use. They don’t define. They simply express. If we spend our lives finding our identity in a label are we simply tricking ourselves? What if the journey is really about rediscovering our own humanity, the one we find at the beginning of the story.
We are first human beings created in God’s image and called very good.
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Claire
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Jonathan Brink
