The Amazing Human

The morning of Independence Day I had a long conversation with one of my Sons. We talked about a myriad of things concerning American Independence. Our discussion circled around to the American People. All of this got me to thinking about people in general. Everyone that is reading this, whether it’s a paper copy or a digital copy, should stop reading and look at their hands. Pretty amazing aren’t they? We can turn pages with them, we can pick things up, we can type on a computer and we can build things with them. When we can’t actually do something we figure out how to build a machine to build it for us. In short, the human race is nothing short of amazing. No other creature on the earth has achieved the things the human race has.

As humans we were given the ability to communicate with one another, even if we do not speak the same language, we have the ability to reason and we have the ability to create. Sure there are some that say other animals have the ability to communicate but that is limited to their own species, their own race. We have even figured out how to communicate with certain species of animals. In the wild you rarely find different species cohabitating, much less mating. Humans have evolved to the point where races from all over the planet are having interracial relationships and making them work. The key is evolution. Whether you believe we were created in the image of God, as I do, or that we evolved from another species, you can not deny the fact that humans have evolved farther and faster then any other species on the planet.

The evolution process never stops, it may slow to a crawl, but it never stops. We have even evolved since the times of our founders. We have made significant industrial and scientific discoveries in a period of time that is unmatched in any other period of human existence. We have also evolved in the area of human relations. Although there are many that are trying to keep us in the past, we have learned that all men are created equal. In the time of our Founders white Europeans believed they were superior to any other race. That was the way of the world at the time, not just the Americas. Through the process of evolution we have learned that there is value to every life.

Whether our founders realized what they were giving us or not we need to. Our founders gave us a plan for freedom and liberty, a plan the likes of that that has never before been seen in our world, and likely will never be seen again. The founders, whether guided by divine wisdom our some other higher source of knowledge believed man could govern themselves, they believed in that amazing spirit that accompanies the amazing body that houses it. They didn’t need to be able to look into the future, they had faith. Sure they understood that some men would waste this faith, would waste this gift; but they still had faith that there would be enough that would understand it and use it properly.

With all this in mind comes that question that has bothered me since I began writing these essays. How can the People of America waste this gift by allowing themselves to be ruled? The rulers, for lack of a better term, are no better then you or I. A man or woman born into money is no better then a man or woman born in poverty, their station in society may be better but they are no better. We have been convinced that if you have money or a degree then you are worth something. Well I have news for you, some of those that have money and a degree are worthless, and they have squandered all the gifts that have been reaped on them. Some that have nothing are worth their weight in gold; they just may never get the chance to prove it. What we do with these gifts is our own choice. Granted there are some born into this world with disabilities at birth, in some ways these are the most gifted lives among us. They typically look at life with the innocence of the young their entire lives. They do not distort the gifts that were given to us. For the rest of us it’s the choices we make that determines our lot in life. Some have an aptitude for manual labor, some for labors of the mind while others may have an aptitude for the arts or sports. Whatever aptitude you possess, there is a place for all of us. There is greatness in all of us. Our founders understood this greatness, they understood that it did not come from wealth or structured education; that is why they did not want a King or a Monarch; they wanted someone to preside over the Nation, not to rule over it.

The Founders believed that Americans could self govern. They believed in the individual. They added the 9th Amendment to the Bill of Rights so that all powers not enumerated to the Federal Government were to remain with the People. This did not mean that one group would force their ideals on the rest of the Nation; it meant that we could live free. The People were to control their State Governments; the 10th Amendment does come after the 9th Amendment after all. In the spirit of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights the Founders must have envisioned States that would consist of those that held similar beliefs, not a Nation that believed all States would be carbon copies of each other. We must restore our individuality, we must restore our freedom.

Steve Avery
7/12/2011