The Humble Thorn Within

Neville's Inner Vision

Within the consciousness of man, the abundance of revelations can inflate the small ego into a great idol. The 'exalted' state is not a place you go to but a condition you awaken within—the I AM you, the awareness that witnesses all experiences. The thorn, however, is not an enemy but a stabilizing reminder: it checks the mind's tendency to identify with what it discovers and thereby to believe it is the source. When you accept the 'buffeting' as a deliberate discipline of the inner self, you resist self-exaltation and invite deeper alignment with God, the I AM. In this view, Satan is the resistant thought that objects to your rising state; it is the inner wind that keeps the vessel from breaking under the weight of revelations. The remedy is not rebellion against the thorn but a revision in feeling: declare that your ego is subordinate to the divine I AM, and your revelations flow through you as expressions of that unity. By this revision, the trial becomes a teacher, humility its fruit, and growth a natural consequence of aligning with your true self.