David's commentary continued: "Jesus tells us in this lesson, 'What you do is determined by your perception of the situation and that perception is wrong.' So we could say that if you have a wrong-minded perception, that ALWAYS a misguided behavior will follow or flow from a wrong-minded perception, because they are the same. Remember: thoughts and images, thought-forms and images, are all the same - it's all mind. It's all mind: my thoughts are images which I have made - there is nothing outside of the mind. So you can't figure it out in terms of actions and behaviors. What you do comes from what you think. What you do is determined by your perception of the situation. And Jesus is telling us straight out, here in lesson 24, that that perception is wrong. What does he mean by that? He's just saying that fragmented perception of linear time is wrong. He's not pointing a finger at people or different countries or situations, he's not singling out anything, he's saying that the perception is wrong. He's saying that fragmented, distorted perception is like fantasy, it's fiction, it's unreal; it has no spirit because God did not create linear time and specific objects; this is not pantheism - the belief God indwells in objects. This is the beginning of looking at how perception operates and remembering that you have no need of this distorted way of thinking or this distorted way of perceiving. The only goal that we really have in any situation correctly perceived IS our own best interests: is forgiveness. And then he's asking for humbleness, for humility. He says if you realized that you do not perceive your own best interests, you could be taught what they are. But in the presence of your conviction that you DO know what they are, you cannot learn. So this is a step in opening the mind so that learning can begin. This is a step in really seeing that there's a need for another way, a fundamental need, not a need for another action, another form, not a need for the world to change or for things to be better in the world, not a need for better so-called form outcomes/specific outcomes, but actually a need for another way of looking at the world, a right-minded perception inspired by aligned THINKING with God, THINKING with Spirit. It's calling for sincerity. He's saying the exercises for today require much more honesty than you are accustomed to using, much more honesty. What he's really saying there is, just watch your mind and watch these goals come up, these ego goals, these conflicting ego goals for every situation that arises in your mind. Perhaps your thinking of an ideal place to live in this world or an ideal partner to live with, or perhaps your thinking of an ideal amount of money that you would be comfortable with in your bank account, or an ideal number of investments that you would be satisfied with and content with. These are foolish thoughts because they involve foolish goals, always ego goals about survival, looking for interpersonal love, looking for situations, people, places, events, that will answer the question: I'll be happy when….the world looks this way, my personal life looks a certain way. All of these goals-- he's saying, you can generalize this, you can search your mind for unresolved situations that you're fearful or concerned about, and you can just notice, just notice about them all that you have a number of goals in mind as part of the desired outcome, and he's also saying notice that these goals are on different levels and often conflict.