Inner Price of the Sluggard

Neville's Inner Vision

In the stillness I call the I AM, the sluggard is a state of consciousness that resists the action demanded by life. The line about vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes points not to a person, but to a mind that refuses the immediate act of being sent. When I am sent forth—when I assume the feeling of completion and take the step in imagination—I reverse the souring effect. The outer world becomes a sign of my inner station. The sluggard irritates those who depend on him because my inner cadence is out of sync with the demand. To heal it, I revise: I am the sender; I imagine the task accomplished; I feel it real within me as now done. I listen to the inner voice that says, I am prompt, I am reliable, and I persist until that feeling settles as fact. In that quiet redefining, the vinegar turns sweet, the smoke clears, and the outer persons move in response to the I AM that has already acted.