When I did this workbook lesson again years later, it was as if I could remember all of my previous judgments about walls and TVs and trashcans, etc.
For example, I remembered thinking that white walls are boring and different color walls are better. I also remembered being disappointed in a friend’s taste when she built a new house and had all of the walls painted white. I remembered judging people for wanting 65” or 75” TVs, thinking they are too big and unnecessary, but I also remembered judging some smaller TVs as being too small. I remembered thinking trash cans should be inexpensive—after all, they’re just trash cans—and judging one friend for wanting a $65 stainless steel trash can for her kitchen.
Workbook Lesson 17 reminds me of the reading from NTI Luke 12, which said:
“Whenever you look at anything with the body’s eyes, there are thoughts in your mind about that thing. If you look at a chair, for example, you may think it is pretty, worn out, available, desired, not desired, clean, dirty, etc., etc. The thoughts that come into your mind seem automatic, without any awareness or evaluation on your part. You may make judgments about the chair based on your thoughts, and you may choose to sit there or not sit there based on your judgment. But you never look at, evaluate or question the thought you hold about the chair, and that is only a chair.
“The process that you call thinking, of which you are mostly unaware, goes on within your mind regarding everything in your world. You make unevaluated judgments about the work you do, the relationships you have, the pastimes you choose, and the person you think of as yourself. These unevaluated judgments define everything and everyone within your world. And they are allowed within your mind without your awareness, your questioning, or your evaluation.”
Workbook Lesson 17 and NTI Luke 12 remind us that we see no neutral things because we see and experience everything through the filter of our thoughts, which are not neutral.
Homework for this week
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- Homework Assignment A: ACIM Workbook Lessons 15-21
a. Note: Lesson 20 asks us to repeat the lesson to ourselves twice per hour, preferably on the half-hour. One can set an alarm to remind one’s self, but it is generally better if one remembers because of the desire to remember. Recommend ending each 30-minute practice with a heartfelt intention to remember again in 30 minutes. Whenever you notice that you forgot, remind yourself how important this is to you and begin again in that moment. - Homework Assignment B: Read NTI Ephesians (p. 339-347).
- Homework Assignment A: ACIM Workbook Lessons 15-21
