Humanity

by Christian Bernard, FRC 

Our vision of the world is very often communitarian and too narrow. We call ourselves Europeans, Africans, Americans, Asians, etc., while we are all members of the same humanity. This notion of humanity has always been an abstract concept. According to history, it is referred to as the gathering of all humans. Victor Hugo imagined it as “radiant and reconciled.”

This awareness has gradually emerged during the last few centuries, but it was particularly in the 20th century that a real opening on the principle of humanity developed. There is no humanity without human beings, and the concept of “human rights” is today commonly understood by all humankind. To this idea of human rights must be added the corollary of human duties as well, something that the Rosicrucian Order made official a few years ago with the publication of the “Declaration of Human Duties.”

I am proud to see how this notion of human duties has become very popular because not a day goes by in the world without a politician, an artist or a journalist addressing this question.

The idea of human rights comes naturally to humankind, and there can be no justifiable cultural excuses or references to old taboos or so-called traditions that would hinder the application of these rights. In the divine order, there are no inferior beings and all beings capable of reasoning are part of the same humanity. An insult made to one person is an insult to humanity as a whole, just as a wound inflicted on our immediate environment is also a wound inflicted on our planet Earth.

Toward a Global Community 

Our world is rather cramped today, and we can no longer continue ignoring our fellow human beings. The fact that so many are today striving for the establishment of a single global community strengthens peace…. and peace, after all, is the only fundamental choice we can and must demand for the good of humanity. Universalism is the cradle of peace. Peace is universal, and humanity is the life force behind it. Peace will not be possible unless there is some humanistic change, and for this to take place, the utopian forces must mobilise their resources.

Let us endeavour to understand this world and ourselves rather than seeing the world as confused and too full of mysteries. Let us no longer see humans as a danger to themselves and the planet. This is the only way we will be able to act and accomplish some good. To act in a beneficial manner, we must be strong, and we need others to gain that strength. On the other hand, it is only when we are strong that we are able to turn towards others. We must therefore get acquainted with this paradox in order to understand and to love humanity, this humanity whose history has been in constant conflict with God. What if it were not God who made man in his own image, but man who created God in his image, seeing in God the reflection nature of his own?

God is not Separate from Man

Whether worshipped or denied, however, God is still present in man’s heart. Personally, I cannot separate God from mankind. Believing in humanity does not hinder believing in God or some cosmic force. And yet today, it often seems as though mankind only believes in itself, blinded by ego; it moves along without paying attention to the Creator. Some think they have freed themselves from God; others think they are walking towards their fall.

As innocent children, we believed that the world was about good and evil. Later in life, though, we realised that things were not always cast in black and white. The principle of Yin-Yang is always present and manifests itself everywhere; but the thin line separating good from evil is ever present, whether visible or not. Too many people walk on that razor edge without being able to take a step to the good side. There is always some mistrust, some hesitation and some doubt!

Love Our Fellow Humans 

As I pointed out before, we must strive to understand and be acquainted with our world in order to estimate ourselves at our true value as human beings. Isn’t the humanism of human beings gauged more by the love that they give than by the love that they receive? As we have been advised before, let us love our fellow humans; let us accept them as they are, even though they may be different from us.

Let us accept the fact that they can become part of a land or a history even if it is not the one that they or their ancestors were originally born in. One belongs to the place one loves and where one feels accepted. Let us accept the hand that is extended to us, and let us learn how to extend ours to others so they may be friends and not understanding and accepting others also enemies. 

Understanding and accepting means our condition as humans with confidence and not allowing fear of the future to add to the problems of the present time. And finally, let us take time to discover where the streams come from and where the river flows to. The nobleness of human beings is to hope and work for the realisation of a project that they will not be able to live long enough to enjoy. But far from being discouraging, this thought should help us to build a better world without thinking of the time it will take for this to happen.

Sense of Purpose

Should we trust the things that are easy to accomplish?

Difficulty is often a sign of good accomplishment, and eternity it is said is timeless. Therefore, let us act as builders and when we leave behind this time-ruled life and join eternity where the spirit of nothingness and the infinite rule, and where we will be accompanied by the Great Watchmakers, the Masters of the hourglass, who tirelessly guide the path of humans from birth to death and death to birth, we will leave this plane with complete peace of mind and with the feeling of having been useful. This sense of purpose, perhaps a bit too practical, came to me just by accident one day when I was taking a walk. My eyes fell on an epitaph on which was inscribed the following:

“The one we leave here, under these leaves, has been useful” 

This “encounter” led me to reflect on the wish to be useful that every human being carries inside. How often do we hear people saying the feeling of I’m worthless, I am useless to my Family and society, etc. This fear of failure, weakness and regret (often unjustified and unfounded) is proof that human beings have a natural desire to build and to be useful to their fellow humans.

We can be useful, so let us be the light and let us be a voice in the service of humanity! As one, let us accept our human condition, and when the time comes for us to leave this plane, let us not deny our humanity. Let us not leave dissatisfied with life, and let us make it in such a way that our last glance is directed toward happy, smiling faces.