WHO IS SUPERIOR ON EARTH?

We spend a lot of time trying to determine who is superior.

We look at money. Titles. Education. Race. Religion. Social status. Where someone lives, what they drive, what position they hold, or how much influence they have.

But what if we measured superiority differently?

What if the superior person is simply the one who smiles and greets another human being—even when they are strangers?

The superior person takes care of themselves and their family while understanding that their responsibility does not end at their front door.

They do not intentionally bring harm to others, especially their neighbors.

The superior person finds ways to make people feel safe in their presence rather than threatened by it.

They make peace between people instead of constantly looking for reasons to divide them.

The superior person gives charity. They help the helpless. They recognize that having more creates an opportunity to give more—not a reason to look down on those who have less.

The superior person can sit across from someone with completely different beliefs and say, “I disagree with you, but I still respect your humanity.”

Think about that.

We have somehow reached a place where disagreement can quickly become disrespect. Different politics, different religions, different cultures, different lifestyles, different opinions—and suddenly people believe those differences give them permission to mistreat one another.

They don’t.

You do not have to agree with someone to treat them with dignity.

And even the person you believe is not superior deserves dignity and respect.

Maybe superiority was never supposed to be about standing above another human being.

Maybe it is about how you behave toward humanity.

Can you control your anger?

Can people trust you?

Do your neighbors feel safe around you?

Do you help when someone is struggling?

Can you disagree without becoming disrespectful?

Can you show kindness when there is absolutely nothing in it for you?

Can you make peace instead of creating conflict?

Can you see the humanity in someone who does not look, think, worship, vote, live, or believe the way you do?

Must I continue?

Before deciding who is superior and who is inferior, perhaps there is a more important question each of us should ask ourselves:

Where do I fit in all of this?

Because real character isn’t determined by what we call ourselves.

It is revealed by how we treat people.

— Yusef Wiley