From Sorrow to Inner Restoration

Neville's Inner Vision

Here the king's question is your awareness asking, What is your present state of consciousness? Nehemiah's sad countenance is the inner sign that the self, the I AM, sees a distance between what is and what should be. The city, the place of fathers' sepulchres, lying waste, and its gates burned, is your own inner city—the pattern of your life, your habits, your beliefs—that has suffered neglect. The fear that follows your confession is not to be resisted; it is the pulse of awakening, the sense that something real must change. In Neville's psychology, this sorrow is a signal that you have an investment in a future state. The only healing is to assume the end: see the city restored, the walls intact, the gates aflame with light, and feel your I AM approving as if it were already true. Your confession becomes the initial revision that guides imagination toward the fulfilling idea. Do not seek permission from the outer king; grant it to your inner sovereign. In this sense, the exile is over the moment you decide to live from the inner restored city.