I’ve experienced lies.
Been terrorized.
Confronted by spies.
Left alone to die.

I’ve been cast aside,
a victim of pride;
unseen by seeing eyes,
a master of disguise.

I’ve been misused,
I’ve been abused,
emotionally confused,
spiritually diffused.

I’ve been lead on;
turned around and he was gone.
I fell for a con
who vanished like the dawn.

Again and again I’ve been disrespected,
misconcepted,
beaten down, undone, and misdirected.
I’ve been infected…

Torn down,
tossed around,
on the ground…
I might drown.

But wait! Aren’t I
sold out?
Set apart?
Stripped of doubt
with a sacred heart?

It somehow really, truly doesn’t matter,
not now and not ever. Not one single, solitary ounce.
It seems I’m insane and half deranged like the Mad Hatter
since the first chance they get, they always bounce.

To be fed heaps of dishonest truths,
to accept them with the unadulterated trust of youths,
only then to have your eyes opened to see the light…
Is there anyone out there who understands my plight?

We come into this world full of hopes and dreams,
pure and innocent, unaware of all things mean,
until one day we get cruelly met by malicious schemes
and suddenly our hearts and our hands are no longer clean.

The world comes at us like a predator after its prey.
It bites us and claws us and leads us astray.
It takes us, and rapes us, and has its own way,
not thinking, nor caring, when we’re left bare on display.

We’re taught growing up not to trust strangers,
and the ones at our backs are our friends.
How could we have anticipated the most danger
from a friend whose plastic mask finally descends?

It’s funny how those closest to us can cause the most damage,
because the second we let them in we’re at a disadvantage.
Or how we can feel the most lonely in a room full of people,
as if we’ve been banished for life to a solitary prison steeple.

Undervalued, unappreciated, unwelcome and unwanted;
overlooked, obnoxious, offensive and outcast;
hideous, heinous, horrifying and haunted;
disruptive, dysfunctional, desolate and downcast.

These are the words, the marks, that brand me like cattle;
but hush, don’t speak of them; it’s unwelcome prattle.
Well I’m sick of it, sick of the quiet; I want the whole world to rattle
from my cries of injustice, drawing all eyes to this battle!

I’ve experienced Truth,
allowed it to soothe
every scar from my youth.
I’m living proof.

I’ve been embraced;
the Victim replaced
like toxic waste.
I’ve been given a taste…

I’ve been rescued.
I’ve been excused.
I’m new and improved,
spiritually transfused.

I’ve been bought,
turned around and was sought.
I fell, but was taught
by a Love that burns hot.

Again and again I’ve been selected,
resurrected,
raised up, dusted off, and then corrected.
I’ve been protected…

Made new,
I got a clue.
I’ll give Him His due,
and He’ll change my view.

But wait! Aren’t I
full of doubt?
Failed art?
Foolish and stout,
with a faulty heart?

Even if that’s so, it really, truly doesn’t matter.
My God died to be with me eternally,
and now His redemptive blood covers me in a splatter,
to cleanse and revive me internally.

To be lavished with waves upon waves of the purest love,
and to receive them from Someone so gloriously high and above…
How could it not open your eyes to your immeasurable worth,
and give you insight as to why you were placed on this earth?

We were put in this world to be a light and a joy,
vivid and childlike, unaffected by all things obscene.
And one day we’ll touch someone and teach them to enjoy
this world of splendor and light that was previously unseen.

So next time, when the world is after us like a hunter on the prowl,
we’ll stop it, and face it, and kick it in the jowls.
Because no matter how harshly it screams or how loudly it howls,
we’ll know that its bite doesn’t come close to its growl.

We’ve been taught by sweet Love what we mean to the Savior,
because He shaped us and designed us all for His glory,
and when we grasp this knowledge it changes our behavior,
and this revelation and redemption become our own story.

Yes, it is true that our friends beat and bruise us.
They stab us in the backs, hurt, and confuse us.
But that doesn’t make it right, and doesn’t define who you are,
for the King of all Heaven has declared you a bright, shining star.

Warm, wise, welcome and wanted;
approachable, affectionate, adorable and accepted;
upbeat, useful, upstanding, and undaunted;
rare, regal, remarkable and respected.

These are the words, the promises, that cover me like a cloak.
When I hushed and asked God what He said of me, He spoke.
Now I can’t contain it; something inside of me broke,
And I feel for the first time that my true being awoke.