Only Human

Today I am thinking about humans.  Us.  You.  Me.  What a remarkable thing it is, to be human.  Not that I've really tried anything else...  I think that we identify as many things, but we sometimes forget about this aspect of our identity simply because it is so basic.  There are so many wonderful, intricate parts of being human.  One wonderful perspective is in one of my favorite songs, by Christina Perri:

Human

I can hold my breath
I can bite my tongue
I can stay awake for days
If that's what you want
Be your number one

I can fake a smile
I can force a laugh
I can dance and play the part
If that's what you ask
Give you all I am

I can do it
I can do it
I can do it

But I'm only human
And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human
And I crash and I break down
Your words in my head, knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
'Cause I'm only human

I can turn it on
Be a good machine
I can hold the weight of worlds
If that's what you need
Be your everything

I can do it
I can do it
I'll get through it

But I'm only human
And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human
And I crash and I break down
Your words in my head, knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
'Cause I'm only human

I'm only human
I'm only human
Just a little human

I can take so much
'Til I've had enough

Cause I'm only human
And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human
And I crash and I break down
Your words in my head, knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
'Cause I'm only human 

 --Christina Perri

We are an incredible paradox, we humans.  We are incredibly strong, but also incredibly fragile.  We can endure years of pain, of heartache, of sorrow.  We can forgive the unforgivable.  The New York Times Magazine recently did a piece on people in Rwanda who have forgiven those that did unspeakable crimes.  This is a photo of one of those people and the man that acted against her.

This man killed her father and three brothers, and years later sought forgiveness.  She gave it to him.

We sometimes speak words like daggers to those we love the most.  We struggle with loneliness, but often push others away.

But we're all we have.

Only Human is the only thing the world has ever had.  Only Humans speak words of peace.  Only Humans give embraces when words are not enough.  Only Humans have written books of love, knowledge, and peace.  Only Humans have brought the world into their power, control it for their own devices.  Only Humans have done incredible things.  Mahatma Gandhi was Only Human.  Mother Teresa was Only Human.  Joseph Smith was Only Human.  I am Only Human.  You are Only Human.

Yes, even Chuck Norris

Saying that I am Only Human means that I am at once acknowledging my weakness and my strength.  It means that I recognize that there is in me, and in you, a spark of the Divine, but that it is still only a spark.  It means that I recognize the potential of that spark, but that it is still a potential.  It is recognizing that I am here to become Great, but that I am still becoming.

I crash and I break down.  I bleed when I fall down.  You build me up and then I fall apart.

I won't always crash.  I won't always fall down.  I won't always fall apart.

But I will sometimes.  I will need help.  I will be stressed.  I won't be perfect.  That's okay.  That's Only Human.

We all "wear the same jersey" as Dieter F. Uchtdorf once said.  In life, we are certainly competitors, but we are not opponents.  The prize we seek is not exclusive to one person.  We all can obtain it.  Let us lift, in love, those around us.  Let us look in sorrow at the mistakes of others, but not in anger.  Let us, if we sorrow, let that sorrow fill us with a deep understanding and love of those who hurt us.  Let us never forget that everyone, no matter how cruel or kind, is, very simply,

Only Human.