By its very definition, when the present is freed of past mistakes, and the guilt that accompanies them, then our experience would be that of total peace with no fear of the future. Our guilt "casts a shadow" on the future and keeps us in fear of punishment for past sins. Yet the Lesson says, when we release the past "Death will not claim the future now, for life is now its goal, and all the needed means are happily provided." (W.314.1.4)  
"Father, we were mistaken in the past, and choose to use the present to be free." (W.314.2.1) Our stories of the past and our judgments and attack thoughts on ourselves are just mistaken perceptions and not the truth. We must recognize how wrong our perceptions of everything has been. This requires total willingness to see everything in a new way. To choose to use the present to be free is to be willing to forgive our misperceptions of everything and everyone. Our past does not determine the future. "Past mistakes can cast no shadows on it, so that fear has lost its idols and its images, and being formless, it has no effects." (W.314.1.3) We can choose to release all of these past "idols and images" that occupy our minds and instead place them on the altar for healing.
   
When we judge our brothers, we see guilt in them and attack them. We then are haunted by our guilt, which casts a shadow on our future, since we believe our past sins require punishment. Our feelings of guilt, which we hold in our minds, keep us hostage to the ego so we walk this world with a belief that we have done wrong and now must atone for past sins. We expect bad things to happen to us. If we want a future different from the past, we must ask to see differently. As we bring our attack thoughts to the Holy Spirit, we see a future where the timelessness of God's Love is extended through us and we become a clear and shining light reflecting His Love in this dark world.

Jesus reminds us, "To forgive is merely to remember the loving thoughts you gave in the past, and those that were given you. All the rest must be forgotten. Forgiveness is a selective remembering, based not on your selection. For the shadow figures you would make immortal are 'enemies' of reality. Be willing to forgive the Son of God for what he did not do. The shadow figures are the witnesses you bring with you to demonstrate he did what he did not. Because you bring them, you will hear them. And you who keep them by your own selection do not understand how they came into your mind, and what their purpose is. They represent the evil that you think was done to you. You bring them with you only that you may return evil for evil, hoping that their witness will enable you to think guiltily of another and not harm yourself." (T.17.III.1.1-10)(ACIM OE T.17.IV.14)
 
Our part is to look at everything we judge and condemn ourselves for. In holding onto the idols and images of the past, we continue to create more pain and suffering for ourselves. We are keeping the ego's program going, but through forgiveness we invite the Holy Spirit's help to release us from what was never true. Jesus speaks to us directly when he says, "My holy brother, I would enter into all your relationships, and step between you and your fantasies. Let my relationship to you be real to you, and let me bring reality to your perception of your brothers. They were not created to enable you to hurt yourself through them." (T.17.III.10.1-3)(ACIM OE T.17.IV.26)

All Jesus wants for us is to recognize the peace in our right minds by first noticing our judgments, worry thoughts, unworthiness, and any thought causing us pain, and acknowledge these as the thoughts we no longer want. They are causing us all our suffering. If we want to be free of suffering, we must turn away from the voice of the ego by no longer being willing to listen to our stories of the past and to run these movies over and over. Instead we give all of our attention to our willingness to be healed. "Father, we were mistaken in the past, and choose to use the present to be free." (W.314.2.1) Jesus can only help us when we bring our dark thoughts to him. We will be motivated to do so when we remember we want to know our divine nature more than we want our stories and the pain that accompanies them.
 
Letting go of our stories requires we let go of the blame we place on others and the justification we hold onto for our lack of forgiveness. So many painful events we hold onto, while feeling justified, keep us bound to the past, but the only way to experience our innocence, peace and joy is to release the past. Often this process is experienced as painful for it requires looking at past hurts and feeling the pain of them as well as the pain of our own attacks, but there is no way to get to the love without going through the fear.

What keeps us stubbornly resisting taking responsibility for our attacks and judgments? Jesus says , "Your mind is filled with schemes to save the face of your ego, and you do not seek the face of Christ." (T.4.IV.1.5)(ACIM OE T.4.V.56) While a part of us does want to know who we are and to seek the face of Christ, we also want to defend our positions and our perspectives. We want to be seen as good. We justify our part so we can seem innocent and see others as guilty for our condition and for the way we are feeling.
 
When our desire for the truth is strong, we will sacrifice the shabby image we have tried to hold up and see it no longer serves us. "Who can grieve or suffer when the present has been freed, extending its security and peace into a quiet future filled with joy?" (W.314.1.5)

In the present, we are free. All our past mistakes can be left behind through forgiveness so we can have a future very different from the past. It does not require that anything changes in our world. It only requires that we admit our mistakes. We have put a lot of our effort in maintaining the face of innocence. We want to be seen as well meaning. We claim, if others were different, we could be more loving. Not so, says Jesus. The more we defend, the more fear we will have. Byron Katie likes to say the first act of war is defense of ourselves. Interesting thought! In my defenselessness my safety lies. We must start by acknowledging we were wrong. "Father, we were mistaken in the past." (W.314.2.1) Now we can choose to use the present to be free.