Being Human

Abstract

“What does it mean to be fully human?” This question emerged from a conversation with my inside colleague Kempis “Ghani” Songster in the Graterford Think Tank. Erudite and always profound and graceful in his speech, Ghani posed the initial question, and I have returned to it again and again. Reflecting on what it means to be human is like trying to define the ever-changing sky. It is an inquiry that feels fleeting and cumbersome because “being human” is relevant in the widest of settings and disciplines, yet at the same time, too commonplace to note. My life story gives testimony to my own growth and development as a human, but there must be as many ways to talk about “being human” as there are people on this planet.

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The striving to free oneself from this delusion is the one issue of true religion. Not to nourish it but to try to overcome it is the way to reach the attainable measure of peace of mind.

Albert Einstein¹

I am a human being. Nothing human can be alien to me!

Maya Angelou (quoting Publius Terentius Afer (185–159 BC))²