The truth of this Course is we are being pointed toward non-dualism, which means only reality is what is Infinite, Formless, Changeless and Eternal. Anything that is not of the infinite, formless, changeless and eternal cannot be real. This physical world we think is real has none of these characteristics and is therefore just an illusion, a dream. Everything here changes. We have made it real by imposing on it the idea of space and time. We think in terms of a past, present and future where there is a passing of events in time and space. "I have conceived of time in such a way that I defeat my aim." (W.308.1.1) If our aim is to wake up by reaching "past time to timelessness," (W.308.1.2) it is incumbent on us to use time only for healing of the mind so we can actually experience the fact that the only reality is love.
   
Reality is perfect Oneness. There is nothing outside of this Oneness. In fact, there is nothing outside of us. All is mind. Even the body is a reflection of the mind and is outside of the mind. It is no different than the rocks or trees except we identify with it and think it is who we are. Yet the mind is outside of the body. It is just a projection of our thought.

God did not make this world. We did. The world is a reflection of our ego thoughts, where we "keep the past and future as one" (W.308.1.3) by our investment in sin (which comes from a belief in the past), guilt (which is the present, where we are still attached to our past and feel the guilt of what we have done), and fear (which reflects our imagined future kept alive through our belief we need to atone for the sins of the past, heal our guilt of the present, and expect to be punished for our misdeeds). The only way out of this cycle is through forgiveness. Thus, we are set free of our belief in sin and guilt and are restored to "timelessness and love." (W.308.1.7)
   
If we are holding thoughts of shame and guilt for past deeds, we only need to choose again. There is nothing else to do, but choose peace in this moment, let go of the past and move on. Of course, the ego will chastise us for this and tell us we have a lot to feel guilty for so we need to keep punishing ourselves. Our responsibility, if we want to know who we are, is to choose not to listen to this inner voice of fear and to let it all go. We accept the truth of who we are as innocent now and recognize it has just been a mistake. We had forgotten who we are.

The world is a place where we have come to escape from God, Who we believe is intent on punishing us for choosing to leave His love. We are like the Prodigal Son, who seemingly ran away from his father and now is afraid to return home. Yet this is all just a dream, which we have come to accept as the truth. None of this has happened. This is the foundation for the statement in Chapter 10: "You are at home in God, dreaming of exile but perfectly capable of awakening to reality." (T.10.I.2.1)(ACIM OE T.9.VIII.65) In Chapter 4, Jesus asks us an interesting question. "Who is the 'you' who are living in this world?" (T.4.II.11.8) (ACIM OE T.4.VII.81)  

When we responded to the Call in us, we could see there was indeed Something in us that responded to this Call and now recognizes truth when it is heard. There is a responsive Self, which knows and resonates with this truth. This is the Self the Course is addressing. The ego rides along as well with this truth though it is threatened by it. Now two interpretations are available in every situation and every circumstance. One is given by the ego, which always speaks first and tells us how we should see the situation, and the other is given the Holy Spirit, which reinterprets what the ego tells us. Increasingly we are learning to discern the difference.

"Do not interpret against God's Love, for you have many witnesses that speak of it so clearly that only the blind and deaf could fail to see and hear them." (T.16.II.8.1)(ACIM OE T.16.III.18) "Reality is safe and sure, and wholly kind to everyone and everything. There is no greater love than to accept this and be glad. For love asks only that you be happy, and will give you everything that makes for happiness." (T.16.II.8.6-8)(ACIM OE T.16.III.19) This happiness is not something we can give to ourselves, much as we try. When we listen to our own voice, the one that always gives us the first interpretation of everything, it will always be wrong without exception. What we offer ourselves that we think will make us happy always brings pain instead of the happiness we seek. Something in us knows this. The ephemeral will never bring us happiness and everything we choose in the world will not meet the conditions of the eternal, which is unending joy and peace. This is our release from suffering, which comes with our refusal to listen to the ego's perspective on everything.

We have mostly accepted this world as our reality. We may say it is all a dream and we are, right at this moment, at home with God, but until we experience this, we only hold this as a concept. Our experience is of an individual in a body living in a world of form. Yet Jesus teaches separation is impossible and has never been achieved at all. How do we experience what this Lesson teaches, which is "This instant is the only time there is." (W.308)
 
Jesus teaches we need the experience of the holy instant as a way of truly knowing this very  moment as the only time there is. "The only interval in which I can be saved from time is now." (W.308.1.4) This is what restores us to timelessness and love. We can't know this as long as we are dragging in the past where we hold grievances, shame and guilt. Even something someone said five seconds ago, which concerns us or preoccupies our mind, must be released. " Now" is the only time there is. Forgiveness is the means to recognize the truth of this, and as we increasingly let go of future plans and dreams, we learn to lean on the Holy Spirit and trust His support. Imagine that only " now," this very moment, is all there is and you can quickly see how nothing of the past matters. In the stillness of this moment, there is instant release. There can be no fear or guilt, no anticipation and no requirements of any kind.
 
I remember when I knew for certain (or so it seemed at the time) the last moment of my life. I was driving to my office and a car was coming full speed at me, failing to stop at a stop sign. I had no options and in that instant time stood still. Everything went quiet in my mind and I approached this impending moment, which to me seemed like the end of my bodily existence, with complete calm and peace. I'm still here and was not meant to leave this classroom yet, but I will never forget that moment. In our meditation, we have all perhaps experienced such moments where we knew, for an instant, there was no time, no body, and nothing to do but only to be.

The Course has led us to this place where we can learn to enter into this deep silent moment of now. Jesus assures us if we are not feeling the release, we should just practice the mechanics of it. That is good enough until the experience comes. In Chapter 15, Jesus talks of the "Two Uses of Time," which discusses the practice of the holy instant. He says, time is for learning who we are and nothing else. "Can you imagine what it means to have no cares, no worries, no anxieties but merely to be perfectly calm and quiet all the time? Yet that is what time is for; to learn just that and nothing more." (T.15.I.1.1-2)(ACIM OE T.15.I.1)
 
That, and only that, is what our sense of linear time is for. Our goal is to enter the holy instant of timelessness, which takes no time at all and ultimately leave the space/time illusion, when we awaken to who we really are. "This lesson takes no time. For what is time without a past and future? It has taken time to misguide you so completely, but it takes no time at all to be what you are." (T.15.I.9.1-3)(ACIM OE T.15.II.10) Later he says "Take this very instant, now, and think of it as all there is of time. Nothing can reach you here out of the past, and it is here that you are completely absolved, completely free and wholly without condemnation. From this holy instant wherein holiness was born again you will go forth in time without fear, and with no sense of change with time." (T.15.I.9.5-7)(ACIM OE T.15.II.10)
 
In practicing the holy instant as described, we connect with our sense of the Self and can come back into this seeming world of time with our fear diminished. Why, because we have had a taste of our true reality and have had the experience that affirms we are not bodies. Our reality does not begin with birth and end with death, and with each experience of the holy instant, where we exit the experience of time, we trust the words of this Course more.

Again, we are told it takes a lot longer to get us to the point of willingness than it does to teach us how to experience the holy instant. Our minds can resist this for a long time, but since time is an illusion, let's just be happy to use it to become willing to do this work on behalf of our own happiness and release. Jesus reminds us it is never just for us alone. It is for the salvation of the world. In the present, the Christ is known to us as our Self and we give His present blessing to the world, restoring it to timelessness and love.

Forgiveness is what sets us free from the past, for it is only the past that brings the fear our sins will be punished. The past is what imprisons us, but can be undone through forgiveness. This is the only way it will not be perpetuated in the present and continued into the future. It is our perceived sins that keep the past present. No matter how much we try to change and fix things in the present and address perceived problems, it will never work, because all we are doing is perpetuating the past. The world was made to keep us distracted in trying to address all of the problems we see 'out there.' At the end of our efforts, we will see we may have moved around some furniture, painted some rooms, which demonstrated we tried to change things, but all to no real avail. The only difference we can truly make is to choose to wake up to the love we are.

It is never about cleaning the slate so we can be restored to timelessness and love. The only way to let go of the burden of the past is through forgiveness and through the practice of meditation and contemplation. He has appointed this instant and every instant for our release. Think of this moment as all the time there is. The past can't reach you here. You are free here of your self-condemnation. Let it go and see this instant as an untarnished birth where you can know your innocence. It is a moment of willingness to see no past or future. Indeed, if our aim is to know this state, we must use time as a classroom for the undoing of the ego. "Time's purpose cannot be to keep the past and future one." (W.308.1.3) And isn't that what we do when we keep perpetuating the past by ruminating on our thoughts? If my aim is truly to know my innocence, I must change my perception of what time is for. How much of my time is actually used to defeat the aim to go past time to timelessness? That is the question we can ponder today. It can be addressed simply by asking, "What is it that I want?" If I truly want to wake up, then every encounter, every event, and every situation can be used today for that purpose.