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Workbook · Part I · Review

Lesson 51

Review of lessons 1–5

What this lesson is saying

Today is a review, not a new idea. The workbook asks you to take earlier lessons — 1 (“Nothing I see in this room means anything.”); 2 (“I have given everything I see in this room all the meaning that it has for me.”); 3 (“I do not understand anything I see in this room.”); 4 (“These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see in this room.”); 5 (“I am never upset for the reason I think.”) — and use them on one real irritation. Reciting titles is not the review.

Pick one person, one thought about yourself, or one situation that is actually bothering you. Run each reviewed idea on that same thing. Notice which one you want to skip. That one is the work.

You still need not believe any of it. Use it. Then live the hour — work, home, the next encounter — from the one you actually used.

This is not saying

This is not a lighter day and not a reading assignment. A review that never touches a real face is how the ego keeps the year as a book report.

Why this can change a day

The early ideas only become yours when they meet a life. Review is the test: which sentence did you actually use on a judgment, an attack thought, a belief about yourself, or a relationship? That is the curriculum.

In your day

Same idea, three ordinary places — a relationship or encounter, the case against yourself, and a situation at work or at home. You do not need a special mood.

  1. With someone

    You are sure a plan is in your best interest: winning, being right, getting even.

    What to do

    Say the words as written: “Review of lessons 1–5.” You are about to force an outcome so you will feel special or safe. Pause. Ask what peace would do next. Do that.

  2. Toward yourself

    A task looks like a verdict on you — if this fails, I am that.

    What to do

    Say the words as written: “Review of lessons 1–5.” Begin the task as if you had not already lost. The idea is not a substitute for the work. It is a substitute for using the work as a self.

  3. At work, at home, or in a situation

    A thought says someone else is the problem — and it feels like a report from reality.

    What to do

    Say the words as written: “Review of lessons 1–5.” The thought is not a report from God. Let it pass. If something useful must be said, say only that.

Two voices in the same mind

Hear which one is running. Then today’s idea, on a real person — or on you.

Unloving thought

This plan will make me safe. Peace looks like loss. I do not know is weakness. Reciting the titles is enough. This situation can wait.

Jesus’s way

“Review of lessons 1–5.” Review is whether you used the ideas on a real person — this situation, not a new philosophy. The ones you only admired are the curriculum.

Spalding · 2019 · episode #249

Jesus’s commentary for Lesson 51

Tina reads the official workbook lesson first. Then she channels. The video is the source. The notes below are study notes of that sitting — not a transcript, and not A Year of Forgiveness.

Open on YouTube

After the reading

In the video · Jesus speaking

This is the channeled portion — after Tina has read the lesson. Study notes of that sitting. Not a transcript.

  • Review I is not lighter.
  • Jesus through Tina treats the review as the day you find which ideas you performed and which you actually used.
  • The ones you skimped are the curriculum.

How to sit today

Review I · Lessons 1–50

The idea is above. This is the one sitting this number asks — how often, how long, and the words. Not a second lesson.

Review day
How often
Begin the day by reading all five ideas with their comments. Practice each at least once. End the day by reviewing all five again
How long
Two minutes or more for each practice period, as often as possible during the day
Through the day
As often as possible. If one of the five appeals more, you may concentrate on that one — but all five are reviewed morning and night.
When shaken
You will need this most in situations that appear upsetting, not only in calm rooms.
Eyes
Closed

How

  1. Eyes closed, alone in a quiet place if possible. Think about the idea and the related comments. Emphasize the central point; you need not cover every sentence.
  2. Use the ideas as they are given in the review, not in their original wording, and not with the original Lesson 1–50 methods.
  3. The aim is the relationship among the first fifty ideas, not a rerun of the first drills.

Longer sitting

Morning: read all five ideas with their comments. Evening: review all five again

  1. Review I. The five ideas today: 1. Nothing I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] means anything. · 2. I have given everything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] all the meaning that it has for me. · 3. I do not understand anything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place]. · 4. These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place]. · 5. I am never upset for the reason I think..
  2. Use the ideas as they are given in the review, not in their original Lesson 1–50 methods, and not with the original drills.
  3. Eyes closed, alone in a quiet place if possible. Think about each idea and the related comments. Emphasize the central point; you need not cover every sentence.
  4. The aim is the relationship among the first fifty ideas, not a rerun of the first week.

Short / hourly

Each idea at least once during the day — two minutes or more

  1. Hold Lesson 1: “Nothing I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] means anything.” for two minutes or more. Eyes closed. Think the comments, not the original drill.
  2. Hold Lesson 2: “I have given everything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] all the meaning that it has for me.” for two minutes or more. Eyes closed. Think the comments, not the original drill.
  3. Hold Lesson 3: “I do not understand anything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place].” for two minutes or more. Eyes closed. Think the comments, not the original drill.
  4. Hold Lesson 4: “These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place].” for two minutes or more. Eyes closed. Think the comments, not the original drill.
  5. Hold Lesson 5: “I am never upset for the reason I think.” for two minutes or more. Eyes closed. Think the comments, not the original drill.

When shaken

Situations that appear upsetting

  1. You will need this most in the actual situation, not only in a calm room. Use whichever of the five ideas is nearest the need.

A quiet place is emphasized now, but you are learning to require no special setting. Peace is what you bring.

These scripts follow the workbook’s own method for this number — duration, frequency, and the sentences it asks you to use. They are a study paraphrase, not a replacement. Read the official lesson at acim.org and follow any wording it gives that is more specific than this card.

Words you may not know

Full glossary

Course words do not mean what church, psychology, or ordinary English usually mean. These notes are for this lesson — tap a word.

Other voices — Tina, Ra, Carla

Short notes from the four streams. The teaching above is the lesson. These are doors if you want them.

Spalding

Review I is not lighter. Jesus through Tina treats the review as the day you find which ideas you performed and which you actually used. The ones you skimped are the curriculum.

Watch this lesson’s commentary

Ra

This lesson is practice in polarizing with the person in front of you. Service to others is not a slogan. It is whether you treat them as the same being you are.

Open stream

Rueckert

A wanderer on Earth does not need a different lesson. She needs this one, done with her hands. Carla's whole archive is the proof: contact follows a life, it does not replace it.

Open stream

Then the map, if you want it