The Inner Holy Kiss

Neville's Inner Vision

Notice that the greeting is not a mere custom but a revelation of your inner state. The 'holy kiss' is the outward symbol of an inward acknowledgment: you and your brothers and sisters in Christ are one in the I AM. Saluting them is the act of recognizing the divine I-ness in another, and by extension, in yourself. The churches of Christ salute you; your inner community, the never-changing Church within, acknowledges your wholeness and your responsibility to express love. In Neville's terms, every person you meet is a mirror of your own consciousness, and unity arises as you assume already having unity with them. The kiss becomes a practice of imagining that your awareness is shared, that separation is only an appearance, and that the I AM animates every face. So the practice is not ritual for its own sake but a mental act that shifts your state: when you greet someone, imagine yourself greeting the divine presence within them; feel the instant alignment of your inner and outer churches, and let that alignment shape your reality.