If you have a longing for understanding, if you have been through trials and tribulations, if you have wondered what love is, if you have wanted to understand others, if you have wondered why you are the person you are, if you have thought about life itself, then you have entered into the realm of what it means to be human.

Being a human is not mere existence; it is the essence of the soul, body, mind and spirit.

We all have rivers of blood pulsing through our veins. Neurons firing in our brain. Hearts that long for something more. Souls that attach to one another and form a bond that is stronger than titanium.

Every language has a word for human:

Afrikaans: mens

Arabic: بَشَرِيّ

Chinese: 人類 (Rénlèi)

English: human

French: humain

Greek: anthrópinos

Spanish: humano

Turkish: Insan

I have been blessed to travel around the world, and through my travels I have noticed that we are more similar than we thought.

While in Guatemala City, Guatemala; Johannesburg, South Africa; Big Bend, Swaziland; Rome, Italy; Athens, Greece; and Dublin, Ireland I have found one thing in common—love.

As I looked into the eyes of the people I have meet, I have seen a range of emotions, but the most dominate substance I saw was love. The love of their country. The love of their people. The love of life. The love of adventure. The love of God. The love of humanity.

It may sound simple, and that’s because it is. We, as humans, tend to complicate our existence—our purpose. We have a knack for overcomplicating. We tend to indulge in what the future may hold instead of living in the moment. We tend to think what if or if only, and we forget the life we have in the present. However, the relationship between us is simple: Love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (NIV).

Webster’s Dictionary defines love as, “(n) A strong tender affection; deep devotion.”

Why does love have so much power over us—as humanity?

Love is what brings families back together over the holidays. Love is what unites people with different backgrounds. Love is wiping the tears of a companion and telling them it’s going to be okay. Love is laughing so hard at your friend’s joke that your whole body feels as if it’s going to burst. Love is respect. Love is acknowledgement. Love is humanity.

I appreciate Webster’s definition: a deep devotion. We, as humans, have an innate and profound devotion to others. We are all similar, and that is what devotes us to each other.

I want to share something with you that I learned in Swaziland, Africa: learn to rest in the someone’s presence.

What I mean by resting in someone’s presence is enjoying their company without needing to speak. Our culture has taught us the daunting task of small talk, and sometimes that can get in the way of acknowledging and loving someone’s presence.

When I was in Swaziland, I learned this the hard way. When I was talking with some of the Swazi people, a lot of them knew English, the conversation would suddenly stop. It was as if there was nothing left to say. At first, it was a little awkward. I wanted avoid the random silence, but the more it happened the more I appreciated the it.

Instead of filling the silence with unnecessary sound, we just stood in each other’s presence—acknowledging each other with love.

Resting in someone’s presence is a gift. It lets us truly appreciate the person and all of who they are. It lets us love them in a way we would not have expected.

Love.

However, if we all look around we can see that the truth of love has been forgotten. We tend to separate each other by our differences and forget our similarities. Differences should be celebrated, not separated. Similarities should be unity, not formality.

When we remember who we are, humans, we cannot help but love our fellow neighbors.

The ability to love is what makes us human.