No Differences

This Course really knows how to deliver the precise daily lesson that I need. The lesson, this day, was 262, “Let me perceive no differences today.”

First of all, I was going into a meeting with many people I did not know. I wasn’t sure about what to expect, or how it would go, and of course, I was a bit worried about how I would appear to the others. When I read the lesson for the day, I had to smile at how foolish I had been to be concerned, to be caught up in my image. Here is part of the lesson’s prayer:

Father, You have one Son. And it is he

that I would look upon today. He is

Your one creation….

Let me not see him as a stranger to

his Father, nor as stranger to myself.

For he is part of me and I of him,

and we are part of You Who are our Source,

eternally united in Your love,

eternally the holy Son of God.

After reading it, I wrote this in my journal:

I must remember that I am “not an image” (T-3.VIII.12:2); I am not a body! I am God’s holy Son, one with everyone who comes today. I am coming “only to be truly helpful”      (T-4.XI.8:2). I am coming to perceive no differences between my brothers and myself, but to see everyone as my beloved brother and dearest friend, to see everyone with the eyes of Christ.

Need I say that I went into the meeting with peace, joy, and gratitude in my heart, sure of what my purpose was: to extend my hand to reach my brother, and to help him walk along the road with me (personalization of the “What Is the Body?” Section. 4:3). Need I also say that I came out the same way!

The next experience came that evening. James and I had heard that the movie “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” was worth watching, and we had been intending to watch it for some time. This seemed to be the night. I had been putting it off because it was a biopic about Tina Turner. She was one of James’s favourite rock stars. I didn’t know much about her except for her physical appearance (wigs, tight, short skirts) and for what I saw as screaming her songs into a mike as she bounced around on the stage––not my favourite! I liked rock music, grew up with it in the late 50s and 60s, but this seemed a bit too far out for me, too raucous. So, I went into watching the movie with the proviso that, if I didn’t like it, I’d stop. (James sometimes uses this line with me about an opera performance, but he’s never once used it as an out!) I also decided to suspend my judgment, and I preceded the movie with a practice and the determination to not perceive any differences between Tina Turner (or anybody else in the movie) and me.

Right from the beginning, I was taken with the movie and with the little girl who would become Tina Turner.  I didn’t like all the music and the violence and abuse she experienced. I was, however, impressed with her, especially with the way she turned her life around (with the help from a friend and her spiritual path) and fulfilled what she saw as her purpose here. I found her story very inspiring, and I actually liked her… liked her a lot. Plus, the way she sang and performed kind of grew on me.

At the end of the day, I marvelled at how perfect the lesson had been for me, how I had been led to a new experience of perceiving no differences. Sure, our life experiences may be different, and we may appear different, but we are essentially all the same, beloved creations of a loving God, each of us of equal worth––and each deserving of love and “full appreciation” (T-6.VII.2:1).

After all this, I was left with the thought that there can be “no order of difficulty among miracles” (Miracle Principle 1) when I perceive no differences among us.

(Mary Anne Buchowski, “Walking the Path” blog, September 19, 2020)