What it Means to be Human

There are certain questions I shy from because I know answering them will only lead to confrontation, chaos, anger and perhaps even the loss of a friendship.  It's so easy to get sucked into trouble.  We're all well-equipped with primitive tools to help us respond to danger.  The dinosaurs may be long gone but our fight-or-flight instincts are strong.

I'm headed to a funeral this morning for an amazing woman who was the organist at our wedding thirty years ago.  There's another funeral on the horizon for the first week of the new year and I'm hoping to be in Phoenix to support my relatives and say good-bye to my dad's youngest brother.  Funerals seem to be a time when we look within ourselves for answers to deep questions like, "What is the meaning of life?"

If you're reading this because you're curious about my answer, I prefer to defer to someone else who happens to be having a birthday in a couple of days.  My dad was born on Christmas day along with his twin brother, Mike, the one I'm named after.  Dad claimed that being born on Christmas was the biggest rip-off ever.  We heard the story many times about how there would be one gift under the tree to Pat and Mike to celebrate Christmas and their birthdays.  One year his twin brother ran away from home because he couldn't handle the unfairness.  That's no bueno when you live in the Midwest and it's cold outside.

Let's take a closer look at what it means to be human from Jesus' perspective.  I find it interesting that Jesus chose to leave the comforts of Heaven and become human, especially because he had everything we could ever want.  He chose to be born at a time when electricity hadn't been invented.  There were no modern conveniences like automobiles or cell phones.  He chose a race of people that are hated by pretty much the entire world.  His family was forced to deliver their baby in a place reserved for animals.  If you ask me, that looks like the ultimate rip-off but that is only the first chapter of the story and it goes downhill from there.  Imagine being accused of a crime you didn't commit and being sentenced to death.  Who would be willing to do that?  It's the same guy who would drop everything to go search for my dad's twin brother and tell him he loves him.  It's the same guy who would tell you it doesn't matter about politics because the only one capable of ruling properly is Jesus himself.  He loves everybody including the sinner.  When I look in the mirror that's what I see, a sinner who struggles with the meaning of life.  There are times when I have trouble loving my neighbor.  I'm not talking about the cool neighbors who live next door to me, but the ones who have hearts filled with hatred or prejudice.  Jesus tells me to love them.  I will struggle with this all my life and I will do my best to follow the one who is having a birthday in a couple of days.  That's what it means to be human.  Have a great day.