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Study of Text, C 14: III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 7. 3-6-17

III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 7

7 The way to teach this simple lesson is merely this: Guiltlessness is invulnerability. Therefore, make your invulnerability manifest to everyone. Teach him that, whatever he may try to do to you, your perfect freedom from the belief that you can be harmed shows him that he is guiltless. He can do nothing that can hurt you, and by refusing to allow him to think he can, you teach him that the Atonement, which you have accepted for yourself, is also his. There is nothing to forgive. No one can hurt the Son of God. His guilt is wholly without cause, and being without cause, cannot exist.

Journal

This is such an important paragraph! I have been aware lately of the need to be in a state of universal and unconditional love and so of course I have experienced the ways in which I am not in that state. The most recent and the most difficult challenge was when someone I love very much was being self destructive. I fell right into his story and into fear. Fear is not love and is not helpful, but there I was.

Constantly my mind went to the idea of how I suffered from his choices. I was afraid, I was sad, I was grieving, and all because of him. I tried not to say any of this out loud, but it would trickle through in little ways. In so doing I was telling him that I didn’t believe in him, I didn’t trust him, and I was afraid for him and he should be, too. I was telling him how guilty he is.

Fear is so compelling. Once I let it take over my mind, it is very hard to extricate myself. It doesn’t happen very much anymore, but when it does, I feel like I am drowning in it and I can’t remember how to swim. Before I could stop teaching guilt, I had to stop giving into the fear. I kept going back to the Holy Spirit asking for help, asking for healing.

Fear kept saying that I couldn’t, that I daren’t let it go. But of course, eventually I did. I remembered that the peace of God is my only goal. I remembered that I could not be the miracle worker that I want to be unless I was free of fear. There was no way I could help if I needed help, and finally I broke free of the fear.

I wish I had not said a single word to this person that would add to his burden of guilt. But I am not without recourse. Time is not linear as we believe it is. What is done can be undone and not just going forward. Miracles Principle 25 says that Atonement works all the time and in all the dimensions of time.

And the first principle says that Miracles are both beginnings and endings, and so they alter the temporal order. They are always affirmations of rebirth, which seem to go back but really go forward. They undo the past in the present, and thus release the future. So there is no reason to feel guilty. I can ask for a miracle to undo the harm I have done.

This is from Chapter 5 and is a helpful prayer for just this kind of situation.

Your part is merely to return your thinking to the point at which the error was made, and give it over to the Atonement in peace. Say this to yourself as sincerely as you can, remembering that the Holy Spirit will respond fully to your slightest invitation:

I must have decided wrongly, because I am not at peace.

I made the decision myself, but I can also decide otherwise.

I want to decide otherwise, because I want to be at peace.

I do not feel guilty, because the Holy Spirit will undo all the consequences of my wrong decision if I will let Him.

I choose to let Him, by allowing Him to decide for God for me.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, C 14: III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 6. 3-3-17

III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 6

6 No penalty is ever asked of God’s Son except by himself and of himself. Every chance given him to heal is another opportunity to replace darkness with light and fear with love. If he refuses it he binds himself to darkness, because he did not choose to free his brother and enter light with him. By giving power to nothing, he throws away the joyous opportunity to learn that nothing has no power. And by not dispelling darkness, he became afraid of darkness and of light. The joy of learning that darkness has no power over the Son of God is the happy lesson the Holy Spirit teaches, and would have you teach with Him. It is His joy to teach it, as it will be yours.

Journal

Here is something that happens to me when I am afraid and I wonder if it happens to everyone. Something happens in my life that triggers a fear. If I am afraid of loss, maybe I will experience some loss or hear about something that could mean a loss to me. For instance, when I had a 401K, and I would hear about a slump in the market, for a time it would trigger fear of loss. I would imagine losing my money and that would threaten my retirement. Eventually, I was able to let that go and I was free of that fear regardless of what the market did.

But while I was still afraid about that potential loss of money, I noticed something else would happen. I would become afraid of other things. I would worry about my money and pretty soon I was worried about my health or my children. I would be worried about the state of the world, and I would worry about an escaped convict showing up at my door and I would go around locking everything.

The thing is that these are all different forms of the same idea, that I could suffer, that I could be vulnerable, that I am a body and subject to loss. I open the door to loss and suddenly I am looking at many forms of loss. It seems like each one is a different fear but it is not. It is just the same fear taking a different form. Depending on how far I am willing to go with the idea of fear, my life could quickly become a nightmare even though nothing is actually happening, not even in the illusion.

It is so much better if I stop the fear as soon as I see it. I do this by asking for another way to see. I open my mind and my heart to the Holy Spirit. I tell him my story and I show him how upset I am and how afraid. I ask Him to help me with this. He helps me to see that I am the only one who is scaring myself, and I am the only one who can let the fear go. He might bring my attention to a writing or to a teacher who will help me to do this. If my mind is open to it, He will simply remove the thoughts I no longer want.

The thing I always have to remember is that I caused the problem with my thoughts and I can end the problems as I become willing to change my thoughts. Suffering is never God’s Will for me, so if I am suffering it can only be because I asked the ego mind for help in deciding what something means. I can join with the Holy Spirit instead and I will see differently, without fear.

The other thing I have noticed so often that it is now a certainty is that fear always stems from guilt. I found someone guilty and this triggers guilt in me, or I found myself guilty and then I begin to see the guilt in others. It is the same process with situations. When this happens it pretty soon gets out of control and fear overtakes me.

The answer is always the same, to allow the Holy Spirit to establish the truth in my mind; there is only innocence. I can say the words, but it is the Holy Spirit that helps me to know this as truth. The world cannot have power over me. I can pretend it does and then have that experience, but it cannot be true.

As I turn again and again to the Holy Spirit this is what He teaches me. As I learn it of Him and live a fearless life, I teach it alongside Him. There are only two choices I ever make. I choose the light or I choose the darkness. I choose joy or I choose fear and guilt, and I choose it for the world. This is my function, to be the light of the world through forgiveness. This is my happiness and my peace.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, C 14: III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 5. 3-1-17

III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 5

5 The miracle teaches you that you have chosen guiltlessness, freedom and joy. It is not a cause, but an effect. It is the natural result of choosing right, attesting to your happiness that comes from choosing to be free of guilt. Everyone you offer healing to returns it. Everyone you attack keeps it and cherishes it by holding it against you. Whether he does this or does it not will make no difference; you will think he does. It is impossible to offer what you do not want without this penalty. The cost of giving is receiving. Either it is a penalty from which you suffer, or the happy purchase of a treasure to hold dear.

Journal

Happiness is simple because it is the effect of choosing guiltlessness. And it is incredibly hard because it is the effect of choosing guiltlessness. Last night someone I love very much broke a promise and did something both foolish and self destructive. I was so angry. I cannot honestly remember being so angry before. I know I used to be angry a lot but that was so long ago.

Anger is actually fear and when we are fearful the natural response is to defend oneself. Defense is often expressed as attack and to attack is to make guilty and then to feel guilty. I wasn’t very happy last night. I knew what was going on in my mind. I saw the guilt and anger and blame. I saw myself trying to control and manipulate. I saw that I was feeling betrayed and that I was feeling unfairly treated.

Sometimes when I see these kinds of things in myself it makes me laugh and the laughter pulls me out of it. Last night it just made me feel like a failure and hopeless. No, not happy at all. I went to sleep feeling defeated and hoping that morning would bring a fresh start and maybe some sanity. But I did note that even in midst of all this confusion, I knew what was happening, I just couldn’t seem to stop it.

Well, it is morning and I do feel better. I feel the pull of ego but I also feel the love and comfort of God’s Love. I did the daily lesson, read my journal of past entries and decided to keep the last one as was. Then I looked at the miracle principle number 43 and there is a message I received from Jesus when I first wrote in my journal about this one. It was a message to me this morning.

In part, this is what it said.

Jesus: Yes, this is what happens when you believe the fear thoughts. Just as the miracle is an expression of an inner awareness of Christ and the acceptance of His Atonement, fear is an expression of identifying with ego and accepting its thought system of separation. You feel battered by these expressions of fear; anger, anxiety, frustration and all the others.

You feel this way because you have told yourself that you should not feel them, and yet they are inevitable when you experience yourself as separate. Your upset is the result of believing you have sinned. You have not, but because you believe you have and because you are afraid of seeing yourself this way, the ego mind creates a fog of confusion and you feel like you don’t know what is happening.

The way to break this cycle is to realize that anything you feel is acceptable. You cannot be guilty because you were not created guilty. You cannot be guilty any more than God could be guilty because you are His extension. Feel whatever you feel, and without guilt confusing the issue, you will quickly recognize it for what it is and move through it. You already have learned to laugh at your false beliefs once you remember your self. I am only telling you how to do it faster and with less discomfort.

It is like those years ago when I received this it was really for today. The more I do this Course I am certain that my awakening is carefully planned with all the characters and circumstances in place so that when a lesson is needed it is right there. I have been working on patience and gentleness, then on relationships, then on universal love and devotion. So of course the perfect storm of a lesson will be right here when I am ready for it.

Last night, in my fear I attacked. I offered a dear brother anger, frustration, blame, guilt and fear. The cost of giving is receiving. And boy, did I ever receive it! I have asked for help to see this situation differently and hopefully I have decided to accept the Holy Spirit’s assistance in making a different decision about it.

I feel calm and I don’t feel the need to make the other person guilty. I don’t feel the need to stay guilty for my error. This makes me miracle ready and I ask for and accept the miracle so that I can give the miracle. In this sane moment, I am astounded that I thought my confused and suffering brother needed my condemnation. Clearly, he was looking for a miracle of love. Perhaps now I can answer his call for love.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, C 14: III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 4. 2-28-17

III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 4

4 Each day, each hour and minute, even each second, you are deciding between the crucifixion and the resurrection; between the ego and the Holy Spirit. The ego is the choice for guilt; the Holy Spirit the choice for guiltlessness. The power of decision is all that is yours. What you can decide between is fixed, because there are no alternatives except truth and illusion. And there is no overlap between them, because they are opposites which cannot be reconciled and cannot both be true. You are guilty or guiltless, bound or free, unhappy or happy.

Journal

Very clearly, our belief in guilt is our problem, the reason we are bound to the illusion and the reason we are unhappy. We can be free of the illusion and free to remember who we are and where we are. We are free to remember the thoughts we think with God. All of this is ours simply by giving up guilt. Jesus tells us two very important things to help us do this.

First he tells us that guilt is a choice. We choose either ego (guilt) or Holy Spirit (guiltlessness) and we do this moment to moment. In chapter 30 he is going to give us a set of rules to help us make this decision. In it he tells us, as he does here, that we make decisions continuously. This means we are always, in every second, deciding on Heaven or hell.

Just as he does here, he also tells us that our alternatives are fixed. There are only two, truth and illusion. He also tells us in Chapter 30 that all decisions are made in union so we must decide whom we will make that decision with. There are only two choices. We will choose either Holy Spirit or ego. How merciful is this necessary limit. How simple it makes our choosing.

There is nothing in between. We cannot choose alone, and we cannot choose something besides the truth or illusion. We cannot choose a little of both. We think we can and that is why we are still dreaming. We think we can love everyone except… fill in the blank here. We think that we are innocent of everything except that one really bad sin. We think the little stuff doesn’t matter, but the little stuff is just symbolic of the one thing. We think we can join with Spirit most of the time or when it is really important, and keep the other decisions for ourselves.

None of this will work. It is an all or nothing choice. Choose God and you choose happiness, love, joy, peace; choose God and you choose Heaven. Choose ego in any way or for any reason and you choose the hell of believing you are separate from God. You choose the effects, which are anger, fear, guilt, depression, jealousy, and every other unhappy effect you can imagine. Your choice will smother you in pain, suffering and finally death.

You have the power of decision. In every second you are making this choice. What will it be, guilt, or guiltlessness?

© 2017, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, C 14: III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 3. 2-28-17

III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 3

3 There is no compromise that you can make with guilt, and escape the pain that only guiltlessness allays. Learning is living here, as creating is being in Heaven. Whenever the pain of guilt seems to attract you, remember that if you yield to it, you are deciding against your happiness, and will not learn how to be happy. Say therefore, to yourself, gently, but with the conviction born of the Love of God and of His Son,

What I experience I will make manifest.

If I am guiltless, I have nothing to fear.

I choose to testify to my acceptance of the Atonement, not to its rejection.

I would accept my guiltlessness by making it manifest and sharing it.

Let me bring peace to God’s Son from his Father.

Journal

I want to be happy and I cannot be happy if I think I am guilty or anyone else is guilty. It is not true and can never be true and there is no compromise in this. As I began to realize how destructive is the belief in guilt, I began to ask the Holy Spirit to remove that belief from my mind. What happened is the Holy Spirit helped me to see the many ways that guilt shows up in my mind. By that I mean I began to become aware of guilt in all its guises.

I realized that any time I judged anyone that was guilt. Anytime I wished someone was different that was guilt. I began to notice these conversations I was having with people, not aloud, but in my head. For instance, I have a friend who gets drunk and inevitably gets into trouble. I become concerned for him and in my head I am saying things like, “Don’t you see how self destructive you are? Have you talked to your therapist about the root cause of this desire to hurt yourself?” I may as well be saying, “Do you know how guilty you are?”

I might as well be saying, “Myron, do you know how guilty you are?” I am teaching myself that I am guilty of judging him and being afraid for him and not trusting him. The ego mind calls it concern and caring. The ego mind thinks this is love. But it hurts. The more I think about his behavior, the more frightening it appears to be and the worse I feel. Love is not painful or frightening. Love doesn’t hurt. This is not love, it is guilt, and in finding him guilty of self destructive behavior, I am myself being self destructive. I am destroying my peace and my happiness.

So I asked the Holy Spirit for a different way to see this. How do I see the situation without judging it and without using it to increase the belief in guilt? Here is what I heard.

Holy Spirit: I choose to testify to my acceptance of the Atonement, not to its rejection. Accept the Atonement for this situation. I have said that Atonement is undoing. Accept your innocence and you will accept innocence everywhere. Accept innocence here and you will accept it for yourself. Guilt is the rejection of the Atonement. Love and devotion are the acceptance of it. Love and devotion will undo the belief in guilt, and innocence will assert itself. Being afraid for your beloved friend will increase guilt and will not help.

Me: How do I do this? It seems so clear that this person is going down the wrong road and is hurting himself and others. How do I not see this?

Holy Spirit: While you are focused on the problem you will be lost in the problem. Give your loving attention to the truth, to his reality, to his innocence. Give your attention to your innocence because there is nothing your innocence cannot do. Did you think that you found Nouk’s article this morning by happenstance? Have I not told you that your journey through this experience is not random? Use her words, her practice as your own and this will help you take your mind off the problem and put it on the solution.

You found your devotion and felt the joy of it. Now use it in order to keep it in your awareness. Devote yourself to the truth and to love and do this indiscriminately and universally. There is no circumstance in which love is not the answer. Your beloved friend does not need your psychoanalysis, and certainly he does not need your fear. Love and devotion do not flourish in guilt and fear. Make manifest your love and devotion by turning your attention from guilt and fear and placing it on the truth. Bring peace to your brother and you will have peace.

Here is the process I was led to this morning. It is from an article by Nouk Sanchez and the link to the full article follows.

For this exercise only, I have adapted the following review lessons in A Course in Miracles to reflect the deeper meaning within the word “holiness.” Please join me and Jesus in opening our one heart to a whole new depth of Love through first accepting and then extending our incorruptible Innocence.

This is not an intellectual exercise. This is to be a deeply tender and “felt” practice; one that is lovingly seen, accepted and expressed with great reverence and gratitude. The Holy Instant of innocence awaits us. It is ultimately realized through heartfelt acceptance of our (and others) guiltlessness which translates to our unchanging and uninterrupted state of incorruptible Innocence. This is our Holiness. This is our literal immunity from all pain, all sickness, all conflict, all loss and suffering of any kind. This is the Will of God.

W-58.1.          (36) My incorruptible Innocence envelops everything I see.

From my innocence does the perception of the real world come. Having forgiven, I no longer see myself as guilty. I can accept the innocence that is the truth about me. Seen through understanding eyes, the innocence of the world is all I see, for I can picture only the thoughts I hold about myself.

W-58.2.          (37) My incorruptible Innocence blesses the world.

The perception of my innocence does not bless me alone. Everyone and everything I see in its light shares in the joy it brings to me. There is nothing that is apart from this joy, because there is nothing that does not share my innocence. As I recognize my innocence, so does the innocence of the world shine forth for everyone to see.

W-58.3.          (38) There is nothing my incorruptible Innocence cannot do.

My innocence is unlimited in its power to heal, because it is unlimited in its power to save. What is there to be saved from except illusions? And what are all illusions except false ideas about myself? My innocence undoes them all by asserting the truth about me. In the presence of my innocence, which I share with God Himself, all idols vanish.

W-58.4.          (39) My innocence is my salvation. Since my incorruptible innocence saves me from all guilt, recognizing my innocence is recognizing my salvation. It is also recognizing the salvation of the world. Once I have accepted my innocence, nothing can make me afraid. And because I am unafraid, everyone must share in my understanding, which is the gift of God to me and to the world.

W-58.5.          (40) I am blessed as a Son of God.

Herein lies my claim to all good and only good. I am blessed as a Son of God. All good things are mine, because God intended them for me. I cannot suffer any loss or deprivation or pain because of Who I am. My Father supports me, protects me, and directs me in all things. His care for me is infinite, and is with me forever. I am eternally blessed as His Son.

takemetotruth.org/nouks-blog/a-profound-lesson-in-innocence/

© 2017, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.

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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

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