 online with you and diving into the mystical Christ. That's what it's all about. We are going deeper and deeper and we're just following Jesus' instructions here step by step, day by day, moment by moment. And this is day number seven. Here we are on Sunday, the 7th of January. And wow, what a workbook lesson we have today. You know, sometimes people tell me, you know, what's the root of the problem? And the root of the problem is the belief in linear time. So we're taught by Jesus that basically the past is over, it's gone. He says the past is over, it can touch me not. Isn't that a refreshing idea full of joy and aliveness and vitality? And also, he's teaching us that the present moment is our contact point with our reality, a spirit. So some of you have read the book, Eckhart Polly's book, The Power of Now. And this lesson today is a beautiful lesson in starting to associate perception, which is time and space and images and, you know, fragmentation and everything of the cosmos, everything of the linear cosmos. It's associating that perception with the past. So in other words, when we leave the past behind, we're leaving behind an entire belief system and an entire thought system. So yeah, I'm happy you're here with me. I hope you'll join me today in lesson number seven. I see only the past. This idea is particularly difficult to believe in first, yet it is the rationale for all of the preceding ones. It is the reason why nothing that you see means anything. It is the reason why you have given everything you see all the meaning that it has for you. It is the reason why you do not understand anything you see. It is the reason why your thoughts do not mean anything and why they are like the things you see. It is the reason why you are never upset for the reason you think. It is the reason why you are upset because you see something that is not there. Old ideas about time are very difficult to change because everything you believe is rooted in time and depends on your not learning these new ideas about it. Yet that is precisely why you need new ideas about time. This first time idea is not really so strange as it may sound at first. Look at a cup, for example. Oh, I have a cup here. Look at a cup. Do you see a cup or are you merely reviewing your past experiences of picking up a cup, being thirsty, drinking from a cup, feeling the rim of a cup against your lips, having breakfast and so on? Are not your aesthetic reactions to the cup too based on past experiences? How else would you know whether or not this kind of cup will break if you drop it? What do you know about this cup except what you learned in the past? You would have no idea what this cup is except for your past learning. Do you then really see it? Look about you. This is equally true of whatever you look at. Acknowledge this by applying the idea for today indiscriminately to whatever catches your eye. For example, I see only the past in this pencil. I see only the past in this shoe. I see only the past in this hand. I see only the past in that body. I see only the past in that face. Do not linger over any one thing in particular, but remember to admit nothing specifically. Glance briefly at each subject and then move on to the next. Three or four practice periods each to last a minute or so will be enough. So how beautiful. When I look at this lesson I see only the past. There's a couple of movies that come to mind and the movies are so well made to take you into the experience of I see only the past and you can't really honestly forgive as Jesus teaches us to forgive until you can see the past as the past. If you think the past has parts, it's a mistake. If you think the past precedes the future, it's a mistake. If you think that the past precedes the present, it's a mistake. Some of you might remember Jesus taught in the Bible before Abraham was, past tense, I am. Before Abraham was, I am. The Christ presence is literally prior to time, so it's prior to the past. So it's not that the past really haunts you, it's that if you believe that the past is part of a linear construct called linear time, the past, present, future construct, which by the way the ego made up, it's just fictitious. In heaven, in eternity, there's no past, present, future. It's ridiculous. It's unheard of. There's only is-ness. I still have my band. My friend gave me a, it's a little is-ness band, so I wear it. It's a little bit brisk bracelet that I wear that says is-ness. And is-ness, it's nice little white blocks, the letters remind me that this is it. This moment is all that there is. So much to do about nothing, Shakespeare called it, is the linear progression of this world, the past, present, and future. And that's why it's so important to let prayer lead you to let your meditations and your inner nudges and inner prompts, your inner guidance, lead the way. Let go of the five senses because they're all in cahoots with the ego, meaning all of the five senses are the past. And that's also the lesson for today. I see only the past. You could also rephrase this lesson to say, I perceive only the past. Perception is the past. And that's why when Jesus says the past is gone, it can touch me not. He's basically saying, learn to listen to the inner voice, voice for God. Learn to listen to my voice, Jesus, is telling us because that's how you escape this deception of images, this deception of projection. It's like if we were in a movie theater, Jesus would just be there with us saying, now close your eyes and come inside with me. You have to come so deeply inside that you're not attracted or repulsed by the movie anymore. You're just embraced by the love of God. So to go a little deeper into, I see only the past. I was praying this morning for a section from A Course in Miracles that could really help us really, really see. Just like in the movie Knowing with Nicholas Cage, he plays the main character John. And in the end, the mind has to let go of everything. It has to let go of profession. He believed he was an astrophysicist. It has to let go of family roles. He believed he was John, the son, and the son of a minister. Interesting combination. And astrophysicist, the son of a minister. A great movie. But in the end, he has to let go of the world and realize that the perception of the world is is just part of a teaching device that the Holy Spirit is using. And he's teaching us to remember the present and to forget the past. Why? Because the present is the gateway to eternity and the past is over and gone and can no longer touch us. Unless we give it power to do so, unless we believe in past thoughts. But if we believe in past thoughts, then wow, those are grievances. Those are judgments. Those cloud the mind. Those cover over the light. So it's not really worth it to hold on to past thoughts. Our mind has been in a deep sleep and it's been caught up in an addiction of past associations that are all make believe. All of them are make believe. So let's turn to chapter 17. And this is actually section three of chapter 13 and it's titled, Shadows of the Past. And I think as I go through this, you'll get a feeling that basically we have to release these shadows of the past. We have to release all past thoughts and that when we see our brother, we see our sister as a body, we're really just seeing them as a projection of a past idea, a past belief. Remember the ego invented the body. God didn't create the body. The ego invented it. It's now, it's just part of a past script or past dream and we're here to look past that, to the light of heaven, to the vision of Christ. So here's chapter 17, section three, Shadows of the Past. To forgive is merely to remember only 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 quote, enemies of reality. What does that mean? The past is a cover up of reality, eternity, light, love, heaven. That's what reality is. And the shadows of the past are the quote, enemies of reality, meaning they are made by the ego to cover up the light. 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. They speak so clearly for the separation that no one not obsessed with keeping the separation could hear them. They offer you the reasons why you should enter into unholy alliances to support the ego's goals and make your relationships the witness to its power. It is these shadow figures that would make the ego holy in your sight and teach you what you do to keep it safe is really love. The shadow figures always speak for vengeance and all relationships into which they enter are totally insane. Without exception, these relationships have as their purpose the exclusion of truth about the other and of yourself. Exclusion of truth, exclusion of the spirit. That's what the ego is trying to do with the bodies and time and space is trying to cover up the holy instant, trying to cover up to bake a veil over the truth of love, of God's love. This is why you see in both what is not there and make up both the slaves of vengeance and why whatever reminds you of your past grievances attracts you and seems to go by the name of love no matter how distorted the associations by which you arrive at the connection may be. And finally, why all such relationships become attempts at union through the body for only bodies can be seen as means for vengeance. That bodies are central to all unholy relationships is evident. Your own experience has taught you this but what you may not realize are all the reasons that go to make the relationship unholy. For unholiness seeks to reinforce itself as holiness does by gathering to itself what it perceives as like itself. So this section is really showing us that the past, all perception and bodies of course which are part of the perception of time and space are basically they were made by the ego to keep you from knowing who you are as the living Christ. And so form is what perception is all form whatever form may be or we could even say time space linear time and space and everything that involves form is a defense against the truth. And so you start to look at opening to the holy instant and that's through the holy relationship but as he continues he's describing the unholy relationship in terms of the past of holding on to the past instead of letting go of what already is gone. That's what he's trying to teach us is that it's gone already so don't hold on to it. In the unholy relationship it is not the body of the other with which union is attempted but the bodies of those who are not there or even the body of the other already a severely limited perception of him is not the central focus as it is or in entirety. What can be used for fantasies of vengeance and what can be most readily associated with those on whom vengeance is really sought is centered on and separated off as being only the only parts of value. Every step in taken in making the maintaining and the breaking off of the unholy relationship is a move toward further fragmentation in unreality. The shadow figures enter more and more and the one in whom they seem to be decreases in importance. Time is indeed unkind to the holy relationship for time is cruel in the ego's hands as it is kind when it is used for gentleness. So if we really look at this what Jesus is teaching us is that that our one addiction is separation and that addiction plays out as an addiction to an invention and the past is invented so is the future. The future is just a projection seemingly of the past in a different form. In the mind it seems to be different but in the holy instant they're both gone they both leave your mind in awareness you have no focus or attention on past thoughts or future thoughts that's what being present is that's why the stillness the silence the presence of God's love is associated with this moment right now and it's always just a letting go of all thoughts that ever were distracting all thoughts of of ambition all thoughts of failure all thoughts of succeeding or falling behind all thoughts of loyalty or disloyalty to form all thoughts of time and space are basically blocking the awareness of the holy instant. So some of you are familiar with the line that will come much later here in the workbook in workbook lesson 132 there is no world but Jesus is so practical because he knows that you can't really really really experience that there is no world unless you start to realize that everything in perception is the past and when he's saying remember only the loving thoughts that were given in the past what he's really saying is come into the present with me and will calmly peacefully serenely look upon the world of the past will look upon all past thoughts as the same not in a hierarchy or not you know in a in a ranking or in order but basically as all the same that's what spiritual awakening is seeing everything in perception is the same not trying to follow the ego and divide it up into different parts and to dualities and multiplicities there's only one of us because there's only one mind and our identity is the Christ in the mind of God isn't that wonderful news that that's the only thing that's important if you remember only one thing and you remember your identity as the Christ in the mind of God then that's it that's that's all that there is to remember if you start to get frustrated now you're starting to forget things from the past be of good cheer be glad it's over and gone already so all you're doing is starting to recognize that it's unimportant it's unimportant because it's unreal it's and it's unreal because God didn't create it God is not a creator of linear time God is a creator of spirit spirit creates spirit creates spirit you know and and it's a continuous line of extension of love and light and that's the reality that's that's our identity that's who we are who we will forever be so this is a very wonderful lesson because it's basically saying that this lesson for today I see only the past is is the reason for all the preceding lessons so if you enjoyed workbook lessons one through six now you can smile today and go oh and here's why this is why nothing I see means anything this is why I've given everything I see all the meaning it has for me it says why nothing nothing nothing of this world is important and why love is everything love is all in all and and that is experienced in this moment that's that's our touchdown to eternity that's our touchdown to reality so thank you for joining me I hope you have a gleeful joyful day by just gazing about whatever your body's eyes seem to see it's only the past whatever your body's ears seem to hear today including these words those words are the past I hope you can feel the love underneath the words though and anything that you ever thought was a concern it was just an attempt to hold on to we'll say linear perception and in the joy of now you realize there isn't a linear perception that was a mistake god bless you amen