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My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.
This idea is, of course, the reason why you see only the past. ²No one really sees anything. ³He sees only his thoughts projected outward. ⁴The mind’s preoccupation with the past is the cause of the misconception about time from which your seeing suffers. ⁵Your [ego] mind cannot grasp the present, which is the only time there is. ⁶It therefore cannot understand time, and cannot, in fact, understand anything.
The one wholly true thought one can hold about the past is that it is not here. ²To think about it at all is therefore to think about illusions. ³Very few have realized what is actually entailed in picturing the past or in anticipating the future. ⁴The mind is actually blank when it does this, because it is not really thinking about anything.
…train your mind to recognize when it is not really thinking at all. ²While thoughtless ideas preoccupy your mind, the truth is blocked. ³Recognizing that your mind has been merely blank, rather than believing that it is filled with real ideas, is the first step to opening the way to vision. (A Course in Miracles, W-8.1-3. See also ACIM Lesson 8 Insights.)
By definition, the past and the future are not here now. If only the present is real, thoughts about the past cannot be real. They are thoughts about nothing. But these thoughts cast a veil over the present, making it impossible to experience the peace and joy that is our eternal reality.
We ask the Holy Spirit to help us remember we live in Love’s Presence and forgive our misperceptions. We want to remember that we are at Home in the Love of our Father. This is our practice today.
© 2026, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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