Workbook · Part I · Review
Lesson 55
Review of lessons 21–25
What this lesson is saying
Today is a review, not a new idea. The workbook asks you to take earlier lessons — 21 (“I am determined to see things differently.”); 22 (“What I see is a form of vengeance.”); 23 (“I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.”); 24 (“I do not perceive my own best interests.”); 25 (“I do not know what anything is for.”) — 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.
With someone
An old argument is playing while someone in front of you is actually speaking.
What to do
Say the words as written: “Review of lessons 21–25.” Name it: old film. Come back to the voice that is actually speaking. The rehearsal of attack is still attack.
Toward yourself
A child, a dog, a home — something you love, and the tug when the lesson touches it.
What to do
Say the words as written: “Review of lessons 21–25.” The tug is the teaching — an argumentative position in the mind, not a failure. They are unchanged. The glue was yours.
At work, at home, or in a situation
You look at something you called ugly, annoying, or empty of God — and skip it.
What to do
Say the words as written: “Review of lessons 21–25.” Say the idea to the thing you did not want to include. If you cannot feel it, say it anyway. The exception is the lesson.
Two voices in the same mind
Hear which one is running. Then today’s idea, on a real person — or on you.
Unloving thought
I can replay yesterday and still be here. The film keeps me ready. That is thinking. Reciting the titles is enough. This situation can wait.
Jesus’s way
“Review of lessons 21–25.” 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 #253
Jesus’s commentary for Lesson 55
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.
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.
- After the reading, this sitting is a review. He checks whether you used the ideas on an irritation — not whether you can recite “Review of lessons 21–25.”
- The ideas under today: 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. Which did you actually use on a person? The ones you only admired 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.
- 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
- 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.
- Use the ideas as they are given in the review, not in their original wording, and not with the original Lesson 1–50 methods.
- 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
- Review I. The five ideas today: 21. I am determined to see things differently. · 22. What I see is a form of vengeance. · 23. I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts. · 24. I do not perceive my own best interests. · 25. I do not know what anything is for..
- Use the ideas as they are given in the review, not in their original Lesson 1–50 methods, and not with the original drills.
- 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.
- 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
- Hold Lesson 21: “I am determined to see things differently.” for two minutes or more. Eyes closed. Think the comments, not the original drill.
- Hold Lesson 22: “What I see is a form of vengeance.” for two minutes or more. Eyes closed. Think the comments, not the original drill.
- Hold Lesson 23: “I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.” for two minutes or more. Eyes closed. Think the comments, not the original drill.
- Hold Lesson 24: “I do not perceive my own best interests.” for two minutes or more. Eyes closed. Think the comments, not the original drill.
- Hold Lesson 25: “I do not know what anything is for.” for two minutes or more. Eyes closed. Think the comments, not the original drill.
When shaken
Situations that appear upsetting
- 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.
Ideas in this review
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 glossaryCourse 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 is not a lighter day. In the 2019 commentary he treats “Review of lessons 21–25” as a check: which of these ideas did you use in a real situation, and which did you only admire? Skimped ideas are the curriculum. Do the review as the workbook asks, then let him speak to the ones you still argue with.
Watch this lesson’s commentaryRa
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 streamRueckert
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