A Cup of Coffee with the Past

Yesterday I walked into a café and ordered a cup of coffee. The moment the waiter places the steaming mug in front of me, I already knew whether I’d like it or not. But how did I know? I haven’t even tasted it yet!

I suddenly realized my brain instantly made a judgment based on past experiences—how coffee smells, how it tastes, what the mug looks like, how friendly (or grumpy) the waiter is.

Image you in the same scene but a little further down..f.e. a young couple sits in silence, looking at each other. One smiles dreamily, the other nervously stirs a spoon in their cup. You see what’s happening right away: they’re in love, it’s their first date. But are you truly seeing what is happening, or are you filling in the gaps with memories of your own first dates, movies you’ve watched, stories you’ve heard?

Then there’s the man by the window. He’s staring at his phone with a frown. You think: he must be having a bad day. But maybe he’s reading a funny message. Or maybe he’s just looking up a risotto recipe. You don’t know. Yet you think you do.

Everything we see seems like direct perception, but in reality, we’re only seeing our own interpretations. Our eyes register light and shapes, but our mind fills in the rest with memories, expectations, and beliefs.

That’s what Lesson 7 of A Course in Miracles reminds us!!

“I see only the past.”

What does this mean? It means that everything we perceive is filtered through our past experiences. We think we see now, but we’re really just seeing what we think we know from before.

That cup of coffee? Maybe it tastes completely different from what I expected. That young couple? Maybe they’re just colleagues who just received bad news. That man by the window? Maybe he’s not upset at all, just deep in thought.

To truly see is to look beyond the past. It’s realizing that every situation is new, fresh, unburdened. That there is no certainty about what we perceive—unless we’re willing to let go of the past and truly look.

And maybe, just maybe… that coffee will taste better than ever.

With love and Light,

G.