Jerusalem Within: Desolation Reimagined

Neville's Inner Vision

Jeremiah’s scene is not a distant judgment upon a city; it is a vivid map of my inner life. Jerusalem represents the seat of my awareness—the I AM that I am. When fear, doubt, and old habit occupy this inner city, its walls crumble and its streets feel deserted; the dragons of distraction roost at the gates of attention. The desolation of Judah’s cities mirrors the lifeless forms of experience that arise when imagination is asleep and I identify with lack. Yet this is no punishment but a law of consciousness: I become what I repeatedly imagine myself to be. I can reverse the decree by assuming a new state. I claim an inner Jerusalem that is whole, safe, and alive; I imagine the heaps rewritten as temples rebuilt by confident imagining; the dragons quieted by steadfast attention. As my inner state changes, the outer world begins to reflect a recovered order. The decree is undone by the simple act of present-tense assumption: I am the I AM, and my inner cities awaken to peace, order, and generous life.