Stand Up, I Am God

Neville's Inner Vision

To the Neville ear, this scene is the theater of inner states. Cornelius’ act of bowing is a picture of the mind clinging to outward forms and identities. Peter’s reply is not a denial of service or dignity, but a correction of awareness: the I AM, the Living Presence, cannot be worshipped as a person; he is the awareness in which all persons stand. The narrative says, Stand up; I myself am also a man—yet the real 'man' is the God-ward consciousness that animates us all. When you realize that every so-called authority is but a vessel, you stop projecting your God into flesh and begin acknowledging the Presence behind the scene. Imagination creates reality; therefore, the moment you honor the inner God in others, you awaken that same God within yourself. The doorway to the Presence is humility, not abasement, but recognition that you and another are forms of the same I AM. In your life, look past the figure and greet the divine in them, and you will feel the Presence rise in your own heart.