Inner Refuge Cities

Neville's Inner Vision

Think of the command not as a geographic arrangement but as the arrangement of your inner kingdom. The three cities are three distinct states of consciousness you inhabit within the I AM. One city is mercy: you withdraw into it when judgment would overflow, and you set your attention on healing and release. A second city is truth: you acknowledge what is real in your experience without feeding it fear. The third is order or calm discernment: you hold bounds around impulse so fear cannot overrule love. By imagining these refuges as already established, you are not escaping life; you are positioning yourself to meet life from a higher center. The refuge makes mercy possible; boundaries become instruments of wisdom rather than weapons. As you repeatedly assume and feel it real that these cities exist for you, your reactions soften, your decisions become measured, and your relationships reflect the dignified tone of a law that only serves growth. In this way, the decree to separate three cities becomes a practical method for cultivating a disciplined, compassionate self in the present moment.