ACIM Chapter 13. IX. The Cloud of Guilt, P 1-3

ACIM Chapter 13. IX. The Cloud of Guilt, P 1-3

IX. The Cloud of Guilt, P 1

1 Guilt remains the only thing that hides the Father, for guilt is the attack upon His Son. The guilty always condemn, and having done so they will still condemn, linking the future to the past as is the ego’s law. Fidelity to this law lets no light in, for it demands fidelity to darkness and forbids awakening. The ego’s laws are strict, and breaches are severely punished. Therefore give no obedience to its laws, for they are laws of punishment. And those who follow them believe that they are guilty, and so they must condemn. Between the future and the past the laws of God must intervene, if you would free yourself. Atonement stands between them, like a lamp shining so brightly that the chain of darkness in which you bound yourself will disappear.

“Guilt is the only thing that hides the Father, for guilt is the attack upon His Son.”

Over and over, Jesus tells us that guilt is something we must let go. We must let go of placing guilt on others and of believing we are guilty. Both are attacks on the Son of God and hide from us the awareness of God. Guilt is what keeps us from peace and happiness and keeps us from remembering Love. It is the cause of all suffering and the reason we choose death over God.

“The guilty always condemn, and having done so they will still condemn, linking the future to the past as is the ego’s law.”

Here is how that worked one time while I was still working. When everything changed at work, I felt resentful. I projected the blame for my feelings on my boss and everyone else. I made them guilty of my unhappiness with my situation. The thought that they were guilty stained everything they did. It was like their actions were passing through a dark filter, and all that came through was stained with guilt.

I interpreted their words and actions from the standpoint that they were guilty, and so what they said and did seemed wrong to me, and I felt further resentment. Not only that, but having attacked, I expected to be attacked. I thought about what they would do next and how that would affect me. So, I was linking the future to the past and thus sustaining the ego.

“Atonement stands between them, like a lamp shining so brightly that the chain of darkness in which you bound yourself will disappear.”

This went on for as long as I could stand it. Finally, my desire for peace kicked in, and I asked for healing. I accepted that healing. That is, I accepted the atonement for this situation and the beliefs that were driving it. It was truly, as Jesus says, the Atonement that stood between the past and the future broke the dark chain of guilt. I began to hear and see differently.

They suddenly seemed like friends instead of enemies, and during the time we spent together, I learned that I liked them and enjoyed working with them. I was happy to retire, but at the same time, I wished I had more time to spend with these people. It is truly a miracle when we accept the Atonement. I am eternally grateful for this experience, both because I left that job with all relationships healed and because I will never forget the lesson I learned about the value of letting go of guilt.

IX. The Cloud of Guilt, P 2

2 Release from guilt is the ego’s whole undoing. Make no one fearful, for his guilt is yours, and by obeying the ego’s harsh commandments you bring its condemnation on yourself, and you will not escape the punishment it offers those who obey it. The ego rewards fidelity to it with pain, for faith in it is pain. And faith can be rewarded only in terms of the belief in which the faith was placed. Faith makes the power of belief, and where it is invested determines its reward. For faith is always given what is treasured, and what is treasured is returned to you.

Do I want to undo the ego? Oh yes! Release from guilt is the way to do it, and since I am meant to undo the ego, I can let go of the belief in guilt. This phrase stood out to me: Make no one fearful… It stood out to me because I have had occasion lately to decide if I want to make someone fearful. I was afraid for someone I love, and I thought I could manipulate and control his behavior through fear.

Of course, that was only my fear talking, and I caught it right away, thank God. I knew immediately that I did not want to do anything that would increase his fear. It would have been cruel to do that, and it would have increased his and my guilt. I am trying to release guilt, so projecting onto others is counterproductive, to say the least.

When I desire to project guilt or accept it in myself, I am putting my faith in guilt.

I am saying that guilt is my salvation, and I believe in it so strongly that I am willing to suffer and willing for others to suffer just so that I can have guilt. Guilt is of the ego, and putting my faith in the ego is always going to cause me pain. Pain is what the ego does and what it is.

I used to treasure guilt, but now I am learning to treasure innocence. Guilt is not real but rather the effect of having made the ego. I have already decided that I want to let go of the belief in guilt, and I want to stop using guilt as a tool to control and manipulate. I want to stop using guilt to punish myself and others. It is time to stop projecting guilt in a fruitless effort to make myself feel better and appear innocent through comparison. Decision made, I am spending my time mastering this choice. Letting go of guilt is letting go of the ego.

IX. The Cloud of Guilt, P 3

3 The world can give you only what you gave it, for being nothing but your own projection, it has no meaning apart from what you found in it and placed your faith in. Be faithful unto darkness and you will not see, because your faith will be rewarded as you gave it. You will accept your treasure, and if you place your faith in the past, the future will be like it. Whatever you hold dear you think is yours. The power of your valuing will make it so.

This paragraph reminds me of one of my favorite lessons. In Lesson 325, he says this is salvation’s keynote: What I see reflects a process in my mind, which starts with my idea of what I want. From there, the mind makes up an image of the thing the mind desires, judges valuable, and therefore seeks to find. These images are then projected outward, looked upon, esteemed as real, and guarded as one’s own.

The world is what I want it to be.

I can tell what I want because I see it in the world. I keep the world as I want it by desiring it to be that way, by valuing it, and by placing my faith in it. The sooner I accept this, the better. Pretending that it is not my fault will not change anything, and I want to change it. I know that I have wanted drama and suffering because I have had that. On the other hand, I have asked for and received healing, and I also have joy, peace, and abundance.

I have spent most of my life feeling like I was powerless and a victim, and for most of my life, that was my experience. I used to think that I felt like a victim because I was a victim. Now I understand that I believed in victimhood, and so I was a victim. It all came from my mind; the experience of being a victim occurred because it was what I wanted. Jesus can’t point out my insanity enough, it seems.

All of this points to me being very powerful indeed. I make the world I see by desiring it to be what it is. I keep it in place by giving what I see value. And by placing my faith in the past, I guarantee the future will be the same. I do this to myself. I can also change it myself by deciding to go to the Holy Spirit for advice instead of to the ego.

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