Inner Return From Exile

Neville's Inner Vision

Consider the passage as a map of inner life: Absalom's flight is not a literal escape but a movement of a rebellion within your own consciousness; the watchman who lifts his eyes stands for perception catching the swell of coming thoughts; the crowd behind him is the chorus of beliefs, fears, and hopes that press upon awareness. The king's sons arriving and the weeping that follows reveal the cost of separation from your true nature—the sense that something precious has been lost to circumstance. Neville would say that God is I AM and that all scenes are but images of your inner state. When you view the event as inner movements, you discover that exile and return are two sides of the same coin: the feeling of distance births the longing for reunion, and reunion is already present in the sense of awareness itself. So the “kingdom” in your belly is not elsewhere but within, awaiting recognition through deliberate imagination and feeling. The apparent tragedy dissolves as you hold to the truth that you are the I AM in whom all scenes arise and pass.