Inner Rejoicing, Outer Radiance

Neville's Inner Vision

Let us see the page as a map of inner life. The great sacrifices outwardly offered correspond to inner offerings you make of fear, doubt, and limitation, surrendering them to the I AM. God had made them rejoice means the inner state of God-consciousness, the awareness that I AM is the source of all joy, is choosing to rejoice now. When that inner disposition resonates, the wives and children—symbols of intimate, everyday life—rejoice as well, because your feeling of abundance touches every relationship. The joy of Jerusalem heard afar off is the ripple of your inner happiness extending beyond private chambers into the wider world. Your imagination becomes the altar; your belief becomes the priest; your gratitude becomes the song that travels. This verse asks you to practice as if joy is already present, and to dwell there until great joy is not an event but a state. In that reverent state, the city itself glows.