The attraction of guilt is found in sin, not error. Sin will be repeated
BECAUSE of this attraction. Fear can become so acute that the sin is
denied the acting out, but while the guilt remains attractive the mind
will suffer, and not let go of the idea of sin. For guilt still calls to
it, and the mind hears it and yearns for it, making itself a willing
captive to its sick appeal. Sin is an idea of evil that CANNOT be
corrected, and will be forever desirable. As an essential part of what
the ego thinks you are, you will ALWAYS want it. And only an avenger,
with a mind unlike your own, could stamp it out through fear.

The ego does not think it possible that love, not fear, is really called
upon by sin, and always ANSWERS. For the ego brings sin to FEAR,
demanding punishment. Yet punishment is but another form of guilt’s
protection for what is deserving punishment must have been really DONE.
Punishment is always the great preserver of sin; treating it with
respect, and honoring its enormity. For what you think is real you WANT,
and will not let it go. An error, on the other hand, is not
attractive. What you see clearly as a mistake you WANT corrected.

Sometimes a sin can be repeated over and over, with obviously
distressing results, but without the loss of its appeal. And suddenly,
you change its status from a sin to a mistake. Now you will not repeat
it; you will merely stop and let it go, unless the guilt REMAINS. For
then
you will but change the FORM of sin, granting that it was an error, but
keeping it uncorrectable. This is not really a change in your
perception, for it is SIN that calls for punishment, not error. The Holy
Spirit CANNOT punish sin. Mistakes He recognizes, and would correct them
all as God entrusted Him to do. But sin He knows not, nor can He
recognize mistakes which cannot be corrected. For a mistake which cannot
be corrected is meaningless to Him.

Mistakes are FOR correction, and they call for nothing else. What calls
for punishment must call for nothing. Every mistake MUST be a call for
love. What, then, is sin? What could it be but a mistake you would keep
hidden; a call for help that you would keep unheard and thus unanswered?
In time, the Holy Spirit clearly sees the Son of God can make mistakes.
On this you share His vision. Yet you do not share His recognition of the
difference between time and eternity. And when correction is completed,
time IS eternity.

Time is like a downward spiral which seems to travel down from a long,
unbroken line along another plane, but which in no way breaks the line,
or interferes with its smooth continuousness. Along the spiral, it seems
as if the line must have been broken. Yet at the line, its wholeness is
apparent. Everything seen from the spiral is misperceived, but as you
approach the line, you realize that it was not affected by the drop into
another plane at all. Yet from the plane, the line seems discontinuous.
And this is but an error in perception, which can be easily corrected in
the MIND, although the body’s eyes will see no change. The eyes see many
things the mind corrects, and you respond, not to the eyes’ illusions,
but to the mind’s CORRECTIONS.

You see the line as broken, and as you shift to different aspects of the
spiral, the line looks different. Yet in your mind is One Who knows it
is unbroken, and forever changeless. This One can teach you how to look
on time differently and see BEYOND it, but not while you believe in sin.
In error, yes, for this can be corrected by the mind. But sin is the
belief that your perception is unchangeable, and that the mind must
accept as true what it is told through it. If it does not obey, the mind
is judged insane. The only power which could change perception is thus
kept impotent, held to the body by the FEAR of changed perception which
its Teacher, Who is one with it, would bring.

When you are tempted to believe that sin is real, remember this: If sin
is real, both God and you are not. If creation is extension, the Creator
must have extended Himself, and it is impossible that what is part of
Him is totally unlike the rest. If sin is real, God must be at war with
Himself. He must be split, and torn between good and evil; partly sane
and partially insane. For He must have created what wills to destroy
Him, and has the POWER to do so. Is it not easier to believe that YOU
have been mistaken than to believe in this?

While you believe that your reality or your brother’s is bounded by a
body, you will believe in sin. While you believe that bodies can unite,
you will find guilt attractive, and believe that sin is precious. For
the belief that bodies limit mind leads to a perception of the world in
which the proof of separation seems to be everywhere. And God and His
creations seem to be split apart and overthrown. For sin would PROVE
what God created holy could not prevail against it, nor remain itself
before the power of sin. Sin is perceived as MIGHTIER than God, before
which God Himself must bow, and offer His creation to its conqueror. Is
this humility or madness?

If sin were real, it would forever be beyond the hope of healing. For
there would be a power beyond God’s, capable of making another will
which could attack His Will and OVERCOME It; and give His Son a will
apart from His, and STRONGER. And each part of God’s fragmented creation
would have a different will, opposed to His, and in eternal opposition
to Him and to each other. Your holy relationship has, as its purpose
now, the goal of proving this is impossible. Heaven has smiled upon it,
and the belief in sin has been uprooted in its smile of love. You see it
still because you do not realize that its FOUNDATION has gone. Its
source has been removed, and so it can be cherished but a little while
before it vanishes. Only the habit of LOOKING for it still remains.

And yet you look with Heaven’s smile upon your lips, and Heaven’s
blessing on your sight. You will not see it long. For in the new
perception, the mind corrects it when it seems to be seen, and it
becomes invisible. And errors are quickly recognized and quickly given
to correction, to be healed, not hidden. You will be healed of sin and
all its ravages the instant that you give it no power over each other.
And you will help each other overcome mistakes by joyously
releasing one another from the belief in sin.

In the holy instant, you will see the smile of Heaven shining on BOTH of
you. And you will shine upon each other, in glad acknowledgment of the
grace that has been given you. For sin will not prevail against a union
Heaven has smiled upon. Your perception was healed in the holy instant
Heaven gave you. Forget what you have seen, and raise your eyes in faith
to what you NOW can see. The barriers to Heaven will disappear before
your holy sight, for you who were sightless have been given vision, and
you can see. Look not for what has been removed, but for the glory that
has been restored for you to see.

Look upon your Redeemer, and behold what He would show you in each
other, and let not sin arise again to blind your eyes. For sin would
keep you separate, but your Redeemer would have you look upon each other
as yourself. Your relationship is now a temple of healing; a place where
all the weary ones can come and find rest. Here is the rest that waits
for all, after the journey. And it is brought nearer to all by your
relationship.

As this peace extends from deep inside yourselves to embrace all the
Sonship and give it rest, it will encounter many obstacles. Some of them
you will try to impose. Others will seem to arise from elsewhere; from
your brothers, and from various aspects of the world outside. Yet peace
will gently cover them, extending past completely unhindered. The
extension of the Holy Spirit’s purpose from your relationship to others,
to bring them gently in, will quietly extend to every aspect of your
lives, surrounding both of you with glowing happiness and the calm
awareness of complete protection. And you will carry its message of love
and safety and freedom to everyone who draws nigh unto your temple,
where healing waits for him.

You will not wait to give him this, for you will call to him and he will
answer you, recognizing in your call the Call of God. And you will draw
him in and give him rest, as it was given you. All this will you do. Yet
the peace which already lies deeply within must first expand, and flow
across the obstacles you placed before it. This will you do, for nothing
undertaken with the Holy Spirit remains unfinished. You can indeed be
sure of nothing you see outside you, but of this you CAN be sure:The
Holy Spirit asks that you offer Him
a resting-place where you will rest in Him. He answered you, and entered
your relationship. Would you not now return His graciousness, and enter
into a relationship with Him? For it is He Who offered your relationship
the gift of holiness, without which it would have been forever
impossible to appreciate each other.

The gratitude you owe to Him He asks but that YOU receive for Him. And
when you look with gentle graciousness upon each other, you ARE
beholding Him. For you are looking where He IS, and not apart from Him.
You cannot see the Holy Spirit, but you CAN see your brothers truly. And
the light in them will show you all that you need to see. When the peace
in you has been extended to encompass everyone, the Holy Spirit’s
function here will be accomplished. What need is there for seeing, then?
When God has taken the last step Himself, the Holy Spirit will gather
all your thanks and gratitude which you have offered Him, and lay them
gently before His Creator in the name of His most holy Son. And the
Father will accept them in His Name. What need is there of seeing, in
the presence of His gratitude?