Lesson 262: “What is the body?” “Let me perceive no differences today.”
The Course teaches us to love everyone equally.
That means we give everyone that same exquisite, magical love we feel when we are in a romantic relationship and we feel head over heals in love with the other person.
Or sometimes people can more readily identify this kind of love in relationships with newborn children.
We must find that example of love in our lives that just makes us wiggle our toes because it feels so good, so we can emulate this ideal love in all our connections.
We feel inspired by this person who elicits this love in us.
Our purpose on the earth is to love.
More than anything else we do, we are asked to make loving ourselves and others our number one priority.
We want tot love people and we want to love them with this amazing, heart-swelling-love where we are very excited to see this person. In their company or presence we are overcome with highs of love that feeds us on a soul level. The Course reminds us that loving is our only actual job.
We are asked to love everyone with the same kind of degree of kindness and passion.
One challenge with loving people is that this seems like such a difficult request when it comes to particular people. We may even despise certain people with whom we are associated. We may sit and marvel at the idea we can in any way be thrilled about the prospect of being loving toward them.
Yet, we are asked to maintain at least an energetic demonstration of love toward everyone.
If we don’t see eye to eye with someone it may not make sense to have lunch with that person. We can check in with the Holy Spirit and ask for guidance about how to proceed in a loving way toward them but also respecting our own inner draw to keep some distance physically.
We want to hold in our hearts the beautiful God-centered love for them. We can send it to them in our minds or just experience it in our minds in their presence.
And then we go about our ways and continue not interacting with them if we don’t feel called.
Just forgive them for being difficult to be around in our eyes.
And we forgive ourselves for being reluctant to be loving.
Be respectful of them and thank them for sharing whatever space in which we might find ourselves.
Even if we just do this in our own minds, they will still feel the energy of our own healed love. Just appreciate we may need to call on the Holy Spirit many times and know we might need plenty of help to sit in a loving way in the midst of our own resistance to begin loving. Just remember that even if we get to a place where we can simply feel the love and forgiveness in our minds when we are in the presence of that person who pushes our buttons, this is a huge step.
Being willing to even entertain holding space for the possibility a loving feeling toward people we don’t like is a great step in the right direction.
Loving is always the ideal we learn to live and feel within ourselves. Applying this all the time is surely a bigger goal. The Course reminds us that all are equally lovable and equally worthy of getting love.