The Inner Good Shepherd

Neville's Inner Vision

John 10:11-13 speaks of the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep and contrasts that steadfast care with the hireling’s fear-driven retreat. In this domain of your consciousness, the shepherd is not a man in the sky but a steady state of awareness—the I AM that you are right now. The sheep are your circulating thoughts, feelings, health, and purpose. When you identify with this inner shepherd, the wolf of fear, doubt, and lack cannot scatter you, for you are not the ego fleeing, you are the consciousness that remains. The laying down of life is the voluntary surrender of the old, limited self and its stories; it is the decisive shift from protection by self-will to trust in the I AM's constancy. Your true self, the Good Shepherd, guards you by facing every threat from a state of calm, unwavering attention. So, in practice, begin to dwell as the very perception that notices both fear and faith and watch how the world rearranges itself around that awareness.