Article September 26, 1977 Issue

Knowing Our Worth Dissolves the Rivalry

JULIA DEBORAH SCHECHTMAN

I had been accepted into a well-known opera workshop, and almost immediately I was warned, "Now don't be too generous toward other singers or put yourself down." Comments from various people alerted me to the widespread opinion that artists of all kinds, and especially musicians, seethe with feelings of competition. But a thought from the Bible supported me. Paul assures us, "There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification."^{ I Cor. 14:10;}

The truth that every individual as the spiritual reflection of divine Love has unique purpose and value helped solidify the sense of spiritual worth I had prayed for many months to see in myself. I became convinced that no singer could take another's place, and that in reality we were not vying with each other but were expressing the one infinite capacity for beauty that originates in God. As a result, not only was my experience in the workshop free from rivalry but many people remarked on the workshop's unusually friendly atmosphere.

Satisfaction and approval belong to man by divine right. But they are not found by trying to steal good from others or by coveting the praise of others for what we consider our personal characteristics and achievements. Feeling God's unlimited tenderness for man underlies the true sense of worth. Thus it is essential to understand —even a little—the allness of Love, and man as reflecting and at one with that Love. However, our worth does not depend on whether or not we recognize it but exists as permanently as its source, God!

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