what does it mean to be human
This is a fundamental question, ever since humans were able to cognitively self-reflect. Perhaps, the question itself is actually a cyclical representation of what it means to be human — to be able to question the meaning of one’s own existence. “Why am I?”
A friend once shared this philosophical question with me: what is the primary difference between God, angels, animals, humans, and stars? One grouping might be supernatural vs natural; another might be animate vs inanimate. But, at the core, the primary difference is that of Creator and Creation. From the story of Moses encountering the fire within the bush, the voice of God states, “I AM THAT I AM.” The Creator spoke and Creation came to be, ex-nihilo, or out of nothing. But within Creation, the question remains as to where humanity is situated. In the beginning of the Genesis narrative, humanity is given a unique attribute — made in the image of the Creator. What does this mean in practice? In the second chapter of Genesis, Adam is commanded to work and care for Eden and invited to add his voice to process of creation in naming the other creatures. With the Fall of Humanity in the third chapter, it becomes clear that the tension that humans have with the fundamental question can result in trying to make the answer self-referential, to become the "creator," severing relationship with the Creator in the process. Humanity’s creation then involves relationship, with the Creator and the rest of Creation, and to continue in creation, with the Creator, out of what has been created — ex-materia.
To be human is to question, to ponder, and to ultimately join in the relational act of creation with our Creator.
Luke Burgis posited that our modern society has a unique challenge of three competing cities: Athens, representative of reason and philosophy; Jerusalem, representative of faith; and Silicon Valley, representative of utilitarian value (he has since added a fourth city, Florence, to represent art and culture). Each of these cities has a differing foundation and approach to answering the fundamental question.
In writing, I hope to answer the call as someone who has inhabited in each of the cities and has experienced the liminality of cross-cultural experiences where you never fully belong to one. Growing up as a Taiwanese American of immigrant parents in the Midwest, I wrestled with navigating life that seemed to be on different worlds. My work as a software engineer in the realm of Silicon Valley has both been tempered by my training as a cultural geographer studying food and culture and been grounded in my Catholic faith. My previous blog (tears, an epitaph for justice) was focused on wrestling with and bringing a prophetic voice to the injustice that I saw around me. In my present season, I hope to be like Haggai, a prophetic voice in building a world that rightly orients ourselves in relationship to our Creator, one another, and the rest of Creation while promoting human flourishing and creativity for all.
