Inner Cities of the Self

Neville's Inner Vision

I see the builder not as a stone-metter but as the I AM, the ever-present awareness. The cities named are inner dispositions you cultivate to guard and sustain the inner kingdom. Bethlehem becomes the home of rooted hospitality, Etam the quiet patience, Tekoa decisive action, Bethzur the protection of boundaries, Shoco the kinship that invites others, and Adullam the gathering of the downcast into fellowship. By arming your mind with these states, you form a ring around your central awareness, not with walls of fear but with organized living principles. The outer act of building mirrors the inner act of choosing thought, feeling, and action in concert, creating a stable, unified field where the Kingdom of God can flourish. This is stewardship and creation: you tend your inner landscape as a craftsman tends a village, aligning daily choices with a coherent, defending order that supports unity, work, and care for all life. You are the builder of this inner realm, and your present awareness is its ground and crown.