OrEd-T-19.4-The Unreality of Sin.1
25. The attraction of guilt is found in sin, not error. Sin will be repeated because of the attraction. Fear can become so acute that the sin is denied the acting out, but the mind will suffer and not let go of the idea of sin while guilt remains attractive. For guilt still calls to the mind, and the mind hears it and yearns for it, making itself a willing captive to guilt's sick appeal. Sin is an idea of evil that will forever be desirable and that cannot be corrected. That I will always want sin is an essential part of what the ego thinks I am. And only an avenger with a mind unlike my own could stamp sin out through fear.
26. The ego brings sin to fear, demanding punishment. Yet punishment is only another form of guilt's protection, for what is deserving punishment must really have been done. Punishment is the great preserver of sin, treating it with respect and honor. What must be punished must be true. And what is true must be eternal and will be repeated endlessly. I want what I think is real and will not let it go. An error, on the other hand, is not attractive. What I see clearly as a mistake I want corrected. Love, not fear, is called upon by sin, and love always answers.
27. Sometimes a sin can be repeated over and over with obviously distressing results, but without the loss of its appeal. Changing its status from a sin to a mistake, now I will not repeat it. But if guilt remains, I will have changed the form of sin, calling it an error, but keeping it uncorrectable. This is not really a change in my perception, for only sin calls for punishment, not error. The Holy Spirit cannot punish sin. Mistakes He recognizes and would correct them all. But He does not know sin, nor does He recognize 'uncorrectable' mistakes. For a mistake which cannot be corrected is meaningless to Him.
28. Mistakes are for correction, calling for nothing else. What calls for punishment calls for nothing. Every mistake must be a call for love. What, then, is sin? It could only be a mistake that I would keep hidden--a call for help that I would keep unheard and thus unanswered. The Holy Spirit clearly sees that the Son of God can make mistakes in time, and when correction is completed, time is eternity.
29. 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 I approach the line, I realize that it was not affected by the drop into another plane at all. Yet from the plane, the line seems discontinuous. This is an error in perception which can be corrected in the mind, although the body's eyes will never see change. The eyes see many things that the mind corrects. And I respond, not to the eyes' illusions, but to the mind's corrections.
30. I see the line as broken, and as I shift to different aspects of the spiral, the line looks different. Yet, in my mind is One Who knows it is unbroken and forever changeless. This One can teach me how to see beyond time. I can believe in error and see beyond time, for this can be corrected by the mind. But while I believe in sin, I will not see beyond time. For sin is the belief that my perception is unchangeable, and that the mind must accept as true what it is told through my perception. If the mind does not obey, it is judged insane. My perception of time can be changed by the Holy Spirit's power of correction. I can receive this power He brings of changed perception by not holding on to my fear.
31. When I am tempted to believe that sin is real, I will remember this: If sin is real, both God and myself 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 of Him. 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 I have been mistaken than to believe this?
32. While I believe that my or my brother's reality is bounded by a body, I will believe in sin. While I believe that bodies can unite, I will find guilt attractive and believe that sin is precious. The belief that the mind is limited by the body leads to a perception of the world where the proof of separation seems to be everywhere. God and His creation seem to be split apart and overthrown. For sin would prove that what God created holy could not prevail and remain holy before the power of sin. If sin is perceived as mightier than God Himself, then God must bow down before sin, offering His creation to this conquerer. This cannot be humility, only madness.
