Only Human

When Abby was four years old, she was a lovely, purple Unicorn Pegasus for Halloween.  While trick or treating Halloween evening, a neighbor took her up on the offer of trick and asked, “What trick will you do?”  A look of confusion washed over Abby’s face and she quickly responded, “Well, nothing.  I am only a human.”

Four year old Abby was worried that the neighbors thought she really was a Unicorn Pegasus and that she could do some sort of magical trick.  Knowing Abby a bit better now, I am also certain that she felt sorry for their misunderstanding and really wanted them to know she wasn’t magical at all and could not fly like a Pegasus or do whatever it is that Unicorns do.  But what does being “only a human” mean?

I am pretty sure I cannot fly like a Pegasus, though I have not and will never officially try.  I can state with complete certainty that I do not have a magical horn on my forehead.  I am definitely a human and I am definitely bound by my limitations as such.  Despite the limitations being human presents, such as the inability to fly, I know that free will is a trait that we alone carry.  While birds can fly, cheetahs run fast and chameleons hide based on their environment, humans alone have free will and the ability to choose when, where and how we do everything.  A bird can fly, but he has no will to change the way he builds a nest.  Have you ever seen a nest with a two car garage or fenced in yard?  Cheetahs run at lightning speeds, yet they have no will to change their diet.  The speed of a Cheetah would be useless if he were only hunting vegetables and grains.  Chameleons can adapt their outer layer to hide in any environment, yet there is no will to move to a new neighborhood with fewer predators.  How many for sale signs have you seen in the rainforest trees?

With free will we have the exclusive ability to choose and create.  Without free will there is no creative thought and no deductive reasoning.  There are no artists, writers or scientists in the animal kingdom.  We were created in God’s image and the creativity we have through free will is what connects to God and separates us from the animals that roam his creation.  So what does being “only a human” mean to you?   

Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground." – Genesis 1:26