Regina’s Tip for Lesson 9
The three most recent workbook lessons are “I see only the past,” “My mind is preoccupied by past thoughts,” and today’s lesson, “I see nothing as it is now.” These statements are true because of the decisions we make about what we see and experience. We make unevaluated decisions all of the time, and then we experience the world through those decisions. That means we aren’t experiencing a person, a thing, or a situation as it is. Instead, we experience our past decisions about that person, thing or situation.
You can see this for yourself by paying attention to your experience. For example:
If you decide you don’t like a certain kind of person—for example, someone who talks a lot, or someone of a particular race, religion or political leaning—what experience do you have when you meet someone of that type?
If you decide that certain behaviors are unacceptable—such as being drunk, swearing or talking loudly in public—what experience do you have when someone does that?
If you decide it shouldn’t be as hot or as cold as it is outside today, how do you experience today’s weather?
If you decide that it’s bad to eat certain foods, how do you experience yourself when you eat them?
It takes very little looking to realize there is a direct relationship between the decisions you’ve made in the past and the way you experience things now. What you see and experience now is the effect of your past decisions.
Homework for this week
- Homework Assignment A: ACIM Workbook Lessons 8-14
- Homework Assignment B: Read NTI Romans Chapters 1-7 (p261-270.)
- Do not read all at once. Read a little each day contemplatively. No need to read the Bible.
- Explore the reading through journaling. Journal clarity, questions, confusion, resistance, willingness, etc.
