Faces From the Wood– 2019
The first point he wishes to make is that in order to be a scientist, an artist, a doctor, a lawyer, or what-have-you, one has first to be a human being.”
–W.H. Auden, in Introduction to The Star Thrower by Loren Eisley
One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.
–May Sarton, Journal of a Solitude (1973)
As one studies these preconditions, one becomes saddened by the ease with which human potentiality can be destroyed or repressed, so that a fully-human person can seem like a miracle, so improbable a happening as to be awe-inspiring. And simultaneously one is heartened by the fact that self-actualizing persons do in fact exist, that they are therefore possible, that the gauntlet of dangers can be run, that the finish line can be crossed.
–Abraham Maslow, Motivation and Personality (1954)
The way I see it now, we are all people. We’re all out there, eating and drinking and sleeping and working and procreating and doing all kinds of things that people do– and probably a lot of things we shouldn’t be doing. Most of it is done by habit and without much thought.
We are people, after all.
But then there are also human beings. Still people. But the title of human being denotes something beyond the flesh and blood biology we all share.
It comes in the form of the connection we display for all others– both human beings and people.
In the concern and compassion we hold for people other than ourselves.
In the understanding that we are but small parts of an immense world and universe.
In that serving and helping others is both a duty and a joy.
In knowing that love is ultimately the most powerful force in this world, much more so than hate.
I could go on and on, listing things such as caring, compassion, open-mindedness, thoughtfulness, and so on.
I think however, if I had to put it into one word, empathy might be at the top of any list of what it takes to move from people to human being. The ability and willingness to see yourself in others is at the core of what it takes to be a human being. That entails recognizing and understanding their pains and fears, in looking beyond the surface to the context of who they truly are and what has shaped their lives, so that you can allow them a space in which they can feel comfortable and safe.
Empathy might well serve as a one-word credo for Human Beings.
I have told students and wannabe artists in the past that one of the primary requisites for becoming an artist is to be a complete person, a Human Being. To develop an understanding and care for the world.
I don’t know that I am qualified to say who is and is not a Human Being. I would like to think I am a Human Being but maybe I am just one of the deluded people. I’ve witnessed too many people in that category in recent years, people who have little empathy or care for the hurt or misfortune of others. People who think that life is just a matter of grabbing and grabbing more even if it comes at the expense of others. Even if it comes from lying, cheating, and stealing.
The I-got-mine-and-don’t-give-a-damn-what-happens-to-you-or-anyone-else crowd.
It’s hard for me to see these people as human beings. That is a truly awful sentence and maybe I am wrong in even thinking it, let alone writing it down. Don’t get me wrong, I see them as people and want no harm to befall them. In most cases, I even wish them well so long their success doesn’t include harming, hindering, or excluding others.
I just think they have squandered or, at least, neglected their inborn potential as human beings.
And that is a shameful loss for the world because it needs all the Human Beings it can get right now.
Way too many people and not nearly enough Human Beings.
Some people who see may say I am being intolerant and judgmental or divisive. Hardly the actions of a Human Being. Maybe they are right. I don’t know. However, I will say that many people who do awful, nasty, and divisive things often defend themselves against criticism by saying that those who point out the wrongs being perpetrated by them are being intolerant.
Human Beings have tolerant hearts but tolerating the intolerable is never acceptable.
Hear that, people?
Here’s a song from the late great John Prine that is right in this groove. This is Some Humans Ain’t Human.
Redtree Times 