To Be Truly Human

As a start, if we acknowledge that God is our Creator, it makes sense to acknowledge that he has the sole prerogative to define what a human is and how humans ought to live their lives. Thankfully, he did not leave us without a clue. In fact, he came to the world in the form of a human being, living among the human race for about thirty years, so that he may show us how a human ought to live.

Therefore, what is the goal(s) of every human? We have but only one goal: to be truly human (Read theosis). In order to be truly human, we look to the incarnate Christ, striving our very best to imitate him, for his life reflects the standard that our Creator has set for us. To put it in another way, our only goal in this life is to be like Christ!

Sadly, apathy seems to be the curse of this age. Human beings seem not to have any meaningful goal in life other than the endless pursuit of temporal possessions. The word 'conviction' seems to be an uncommon word even among Christians. We need to move beyond having a superficial belief into a conviction that there is nothing else in this world that is more important to us than becoming imitators of Christ.

Therefore, let us return to the written word of God, study the Jesus of the Gospels again and again and again, until we are able to unearth the values and principles that govern his life and actions. Then, we can start our journey towards becoming like Christ. Yet, we will also realize that one has to be totally radical and insane to become like him, for his standard, which is also the standard for all humans, is foolish in the eyes of the world. But with the conviction that this is our goal in this life, we advance anyway. Foolish we may be, but we want to become truly human anyway.

Thus, just as the athletes during the time of Paul fixed their eyes on the goal at the finishing line so that they can run in a straight line; so let us fix our eyes not on temporal possessions, but on Jesus Christ alone, aspiring to become like him. Let us cling on to him as if nothing else matters.

Then, when we finally reach the end of our race, when we meet Christ face to face, he sees a true human, he sees himself.

"The Son of God became man, that we might become God."

St. Athanasius of Alexandria