¹Beginning with today, we will have a series of review periods. Each of them will cover five of the ideas already presented, starting with the first and ending with the fiftieth. There will be a few short comments after each of the ideas which you should consider in your review. In the practice periods, the exercises should be done as follows: 

The introduction to Review I reminds us that each day begins now with the reading of the five ideas for the day and the comments that accompany each thought with at least two minutes devoted to each idea. Think about each idea and related comments as often as possible during the day. If any idea particularly appeals to you, then focus on that idea. Try to emphasize the central point for the idea and then spend time with your eyes closed, alone in a quiet place, if possible. We are now looking at the relationships among the ideas for each lesson and the"cohesiveness of the thought system to which they are leading you".

The stages of practice we are going through are 1) highly structured, quiet place with no special setting 2) bring peace with you to every situation 3) recognition of peace as inherent in us and 4) see peace in every situation.

All of these lessons affirm that we don't see at all. What we call seeing is only a reflection of the thoughts that preoccupy our minds. Instead of seeing we are projecting those thoughts and seeing them as images in the world. So in essence we are only upset because we "see what is not there." (1.1) And thus we experience fear because with guilt in our minds, we expect punishment. This is why we set up defenses, either physical or psychological. We think that we need protection. But Jesus reminds us that "reality is never frightening." (1.2) But to us, reality is frightening which is why we defend against the love that we are. We fear God because we think that we have destroyed His Kingdom in order to set up our own in its place. And thus, we fear God's punishment which explains our fear of the Last Judgment. And so we keep ourselves distracted and listen to our own thoughts to keep the Voice for God unheard. All of our feelings of worthlessness come from the belief that we have separated ourselves from love. In that process we believe that we have destroyed our own value. Now we find these feelings so painful that we project them on the world.

What we are learning through this course is that the whole story that the ego has convinced us of is just a myth. The idea that we have sinned, that we are therefore guilty and thus deserve punishment is all made up. Unfortunately for us, we have bought into this thought system and it runs our lives until we decide we will no longer listen to the ego. This requires mind watching. It requires that we stay focused on the thoughts that are not peaceful and recognize that the reason we are not at peace is because we are blocking it. But now we have been given a way out. And slowly, we let down our defenses as we take responsibility for our thoughts, recognizing that it is only our condemnation that makes everyone and everything our enemies. (2.4)

When we bring our blocks to love to the truth that is within us, represented by the symbol of Jesus/Holy Spirit, then we realize that there is only blessing, love and light within us. The ego is not the truth of who we are. With only blessing in us, now we can do nothing but "bless everyone and everything we see." (2.5) "I will look with love on all that I failed to see before." (2.7) But this requires that we remember who we are. When Don first came into my life I had my home organized exactly as I wanted it. After my shower, the towels had to be folded and put on the rack properly. He wanted his towel spread out to dry rather than folding it. For me that was one more intrusion on the order I had established for myself and thus a cause for a grievance. While he conceded to my requirements in many areas of my life, he would not concede on this one. Today, I looked at his spread out towel and I had to smile at what I had made important. Letting go of what we are holding against others even in what seem to be the smallest irritations is how we learn that the only thing that is important is to know who we are. This involves a lot of letting go of our control and putting love at the forefront. Everything in this world can show us where we put ourselves at the forefront and assert our existence as more special than anyone else. When we make demands, we are victimizing others and when they don't meet them, we see ourselves as victimized. That is the game of the ego. As long as we stay in this game, the ego is in business because the game of guilt is kept intact.

What is important in these lessons is the emphasis Jesus puts on our ability to choose. "Now I would choose again, that I may see." (4.6) And the reason he says that making a new choice is so important is that "what I have chosen to see has cost me vision." (4.5) In other words, we "see nothing as it is now." (4.1) To see with vision is to see that we are all the same. We have the same ego and the same holiness. Yes, the ego has different stories but the themes of abandonment, unworthiness, victimhood, guilt, are all the same in everyone though the characters in the stories vary. But when we see that the characters have all been cast by us, we learn that we truly are not the victims but, in fact, wrote the script for those in our play. In other words, we are the dreamers of this dream and not the dream figures. It is our dream and all there by our own bidding.  "I am responsible for what I see. I choose the feelings I experience and I decide upon the goal I would achieve. And everything that seems to happen to me I ask for, and receive as I have asked." (T.21.II.2.3-5) This is not an easy thought for us to accept because we have chosen to see ourselves as victimized by events of this world precisely so that we would not have to take responsibility for our condition.

While Jesus tells us we have no private thoughts, it seems that we are only aware of private thoughts because that is what we listen to. We think our thoughts mean something but Jesus tells us that they mean nothing and "they do not exist." (5.5) So when I look at my example of how towels should be hung, they seem like thoughts that do exist because I am thinking them. But all these thoughts do is "obscure what is really mine," (5.7) which is the totality of my Being as a Son of God one with every brother. Private thoughts assume separation and uniqueness which is in contrast to the Oneness of Love. Thus exposing my private thoughts and recognizing that their purpose is to keep separation real in my mind is what healing is all about. It is taking what is false to the truth so that we can know that we are blessed.

Jesus is showing us through these lessons that we need to examine our goal in every situation. He says that  "In any situation in which you are uncertain the first thing to consider, very simply, is what do I want to come of this? What is it for? The clarification of the goal belongs at the beginning, for it is this which will determine the outcome. In the ego's procedure this is reversed. The situation becomes the determiner of the outcome which can be anything." (T. 17.VI.2)    We are asking for help to release the  beliefs that we hold, as well as the guilt associated with them, to the Holy Spirit so our false thoughts can be replaced with His peace.  So what is being said here is that the whole process of bringing healing to our unconscious guilt takes awareness. We need to remain vigilant in watching our feelings and our thoughts so that they can be released.  Willingness is needed to look at the ego thought system which is based on scarcity, needs, and specialness.  It takes desire and willingness to have our perspectives, which are always based on wrong-minded thinking, to be given over to the Holy Spirit to reinterpret for us. This is what course-based forgiveness is. It is to bring our wrong minded thinking to the truth.  And we know we have chosen to side with the ego anytime that we are not at peace.

Jesus offers us a prayer that reminds us that if we are out of peace it is because we have chosen to be in a state of turmoil. And we can decide otherwise.

"I must have decided wrongly because I am not at peace.
I made the decision myself, but I can also decide otherwise.
I want to decide otherwise, because I want to be at peace.
I do not feel guilty, because the Holy Spirit will undo all the
consequences of my wrong decision if I will let Him.
I choose to let Him, by allowing Him to decide for God for me" (Chapter 5.VII)

Our part is to bring awareness to the beliefs that are in operation in our lives and willingly bring them to the Holy Spirit. We are not asked to practice 'holy' qualities such as detachment from what we still value or virtuous behaviors. Our only task is to bring awareness to our minds by watching our thoughts and feelings. That is the purpose of time. Using time in any other way is to keep God at arm's length and thus continue to maintain the separation. By going after ego pursuits, I recognize that I put God off into the future and refuse to acknowledge and experience that He is here right now. Any drama that is going on in my life right now does not change the fact that God's grace surrounds me and His Answer is available right now. And that answer is always some form of peace. The peace becomes available when the blocks that we put up against it are released to the Holy Spirit within. Our job is to recognize the blocks and bring them to His healing light.  He will do the rest. We can't fix ourselves. But it is up to us to make the decision that we have been wrong about ourselves and now another way is being given us that is the answer to our lack of peace and happiness.

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