What does it mean to be human?
How we see ourselves is the foundation for our values, our choices, our relationships with each other, and our relationship with the rest of nature. Are there any common human actions across cultures that can provide us with some valuable insight on being human? One act that immediately comes to mind is the giving of thanks for family, daily food, supportive communities, a wonderful day, great gifts, an inspiring forest, the air we breathe, the climate that is the context of all our acts, and divine graces. Going to the mosque on Friday or to church on Sunday to practice your religious rituals makes you human. Sharing the happy moments with your family and gathering around a table for lunch as a part of a home tradition makes you different than other species. Sympathizing with the poor, respecting other creatures, obeying rules even when no one is watching makes you a human. There is this tendency that drives people to commit crimes and to abolish others for the sake of materialistic things that are transient, a thing that is depriving people from their humanity and putting them under the law of the jungle. It is not until we look at ourselves as part of nature and partners with other creatures, humans and animals, that we will be viewed in our own eyes as humans.