Today's review covers these ideas:
[6] I am upset because I see what is not there.
Reality is never frightening. It is impossible that it could upset me. Reality brings only perfect peace. When I am upset, it is always because I have replaced reality with illusions which I made up. The illusions are upsetting because I have given them reality, and thus regard reality as an illusion. Nothing in God's creation is affected in any way by this confusion of mine. I am always upset by nothing.
[7] I see only the past.
As I look about, I condemn the world I look upon. I call this seeing. I hold the past against everyone and everything, making them my enemies. When I have forgiven myself and remembered who I am, I will bless everyone and everything I see. There will be no past, and therefore no enemies. And I will look with God on all that I failed to see before.
[8] My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.
I see only my own thoughts, and my mind is preoccupied with the past. What, then, can I see as it is? Let me remember that I look on the past to prevent the present from dawning on my mind. Let me understand that I am trying to use time against God. Let me learn to give the past away, realizing that in so doing I am giving up nothing.
[9] I see nothing as it is now.
If I see nothing as it is now, it can truly be said that I see nothing. I can see only what is now. The choice is not whether to see the past or the present: it is merely whether to see or not. What I have chosen to see has cost me vision. Now I would choose again, that I may see.
[10] My thoughts do not mean anything.
I have no private thoughts. Yet it is only private thoughts of which I am aware. What can these thoughts mean? They do not exist, and so they mean nothing. Yet my mind is part of creation and part of its Creator. Would I not rather join the thinking of the universe than to obscure all that is really mine with my pitiful and meaningless private thoughts?
✨ Summary & practice
When you review lessons 6 to 10, you untie the knots of the past.
This second review consolidates ideas that touch the core of your suffering. Lessons 6 to 10 taught you that you are upset because you see what is not there, that you see only the past, that your mind is preoccupied with past thoughts, that you do not see anything as it is now, and that your thoughts mean nothing. This review period is important because it directly attacks the root of all your fears: your attachment to the past.
In reviewing, you understand that reality is never frightening and brings only perfect peace. When you are upset, it is always because you have replaced reality with illusions. The theme of the past is central: you see only the past, and your mind is occupied with it. This prevents you from seeing the present. The idea that you do not see anything as it is now means that, in truth, you do not see anything at all. This is a radical but liberating realization.
Reviewing lessons 7 and 8 together is especially powerful. When you look around and condemn the world, you are seeing through the filter of the past. You project yesterday’s wounds onto every person and every thing. But when you forgive yourself and remember who you are, you bless everything you see. There is no more past, and therefore no enemies. You are invited to choose again, so that you may truly see.
Practice:
Today, for each lesson, take a moment to apply it to a concrete situation in your life. Notice where you are projecting the past. Then say: "I can choose again. I want to see what is truly here now."
The past no longer exists. Only the present is real. And it is in this present that peace awaits you.
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