The Guiltless Learner

As we finished doing the washing up after breakfast this morning my housemate said “Ah, now I can guiltlessly carry on with the rest of the day.” This struck me as an unusual statement to come from her lips and as such resounded strongly within me. It brought to mind the concept of the guiltless learner from ACIM. Cycling into work the words guiltless learner bounced around in my thoughts bringing the sense that this phrase would illuminate my day.

At work I ‘caught’ myself spending time distractedly reading a business magazine when opening the morning post and was tempted to feel guilty upon realising the distraction. Aha, a guiltless learner doesn’t feel guilty! It is not a matter of right and wrong (I was wrong to spend time reading the magazine) but rather how I would choose to perceive things. Guilt is a choice! This is not something I realise when the guilt goes unquestioned. Unless I am watching my thoughts I seem to be acting responsibly by reprehending myself for allowing the distraction. "When I am 'at work' I ought to be working not reading a magazine" etc, goes the argument for separation! Until I question the validity of the guilt I have no idea that I am making a choice and that there is another way of perceiving the situation.

Having looked at the situation more clearly I notice that the subject of guilt is closely tied in with identity. When I experience guilt I am clearly identifying myself as the body, the employee, the individual entity who creates her own identity- good/bad depending on how responsibly she acts. When willingness to see things another way is held in mind then the door to truth stands open, nothing is left to come between truth and experience.

My identity is never in question it is not changed by the fact that I experienced being distracted. My identity is safe in Christ. The Source from which I was created extends only that which is like itself. God, Love, Truth would never create a reflection capable of making the need for guilt real. The temptation is to believe that I NEED to feel guilty, that it is the natural outcome of being a responsible person who makes mistakes. The alternative view depends on my being willing to let go of a self-created identity, and to rest in the identity given me by my Creator.

As I defined myself according to the qualities outlined in ACIM I felt a sense of peace. I am as God created me. Innocence is my natural state. In that moment I chose as my purpose the opportunity to learn from the Holy Spirit, allowing the Voice for God to speak of my true identity. I chose mind-watching; allowing all thoughts to be and simply letting go of those which are not true.

Later on in the afternoon I was sorting through the newly received invoices in order to file them and I noticed that the seafood company we use print PEACE OF MIND in huge letters across their invoices. My initial reaction was to think- how crazy that a seafood company use the words peace of mind as a logo! What has peace of mind got to do with a supplier of fish?? How can they hijack the concept of peace and use it to support a monetary commercial business? etc etc

Ooooh, another chance for the guiltless learner to step forward. Who am I, infact, to decide where and when the Holy Spirit is able to communicate? Those thoughts did not arise from my identity in Christ but from the darkness where separation is a fact. There are assumptions there about all kinds of things!!

As I noticed a list of assumptions and judgements the thought came to me "All that happened was an attempt to deny the light." For a moment I had been tempted to try and identify all the errors in my thinking but the Holy Spirit spoke clearly of the fact that simplicity is all powerful. All those thoughts which rushed in were simply a way of keeping peace stuck as a concept rather than an experience- and thus at a distance. As soon I saw the situation with clarity there was another choice available. A joyous lesson- the Holy Spirit can reach me even in the seemingly murky world of invoices!! I am in constant communication with the Holy Spirit if I allow the possibility.

In the afternoon there is a perceived sense of tiredness. I don’t want to be here doing this. That is basically what this tiredness is tied to- a thought that there is somewhere else I would rather be. I have noticed it as a recurring theme when at the desk. I am reminded of the book that I read last night- The Thing about Jane Spring. This was a great lesson from the Holy Spirit concerning purpose. Change the purpose and everything else changes as a result. What would have seemed impossible or quite out of character becomes natural, easy, enjoyable. Reading the book emphasised for me how behaviour can be changed in a moment if there is a strong and clear sense of purpose. The fact that in the book the story seems to be about a woman trying to make a man fall in love with her is immaterial. There was a clear message from the Holy Spirit.

The message applied to this moment means that there is a possibility for a complete turnaround in perception if the purpose is changed. I could experience this moment in a completely new way if I allow the purpose to be different. It seems related to the purpose of the body. Would I use the body as a means to an end? Is the function of the body to bring me pleasure with its opposite of pain? By locating the body in a different part of space/time would I thus give myself the opportunity to discover happiness where previously it was lacking? Am I (who??) in a position to know what will bring me happiness? When I begin to question it there is a clear sense that I have no idea on what basis I am deciding that to be located bodily in a different location would somehow bring a release of this apparent tiredness.

The Holy Spirit can reach into every moment, every location, every situation, every event, every interaction, every conversation, every object, every perception, every space, every gap. Nowhere is excluded. I am open to the presence of the Holy Spirit in this moment.