Because I Love You

You come to my home and leave without a word.

You forget I’m there, though it sounds absurd.

When things go right, you forget me;

When they go wrong, you hate me.

When I laugh with you, you don’t notice.

When I weep with you, you push me away.

When I do great things for you, you take them for granted.

When I hold you in your pain, you say I don’t care about you.

You are unhappy without me but refuse to let me in.

You open your door to me but then leave me alone by a cold fireplace.

But I knew I could save you.

So I made myself look like you.

I made myself talk like you.

I showed you the way.

I gave you the truth you had craved.

You did not listen, you did not follow, and you did not believe.

So I let you mock me.

I let you beat me.

I let you flay me alive,

And I let you string me high on a tree for all to see the contempt you paid me.

And I let myself die.

And then I rose again to show you your death is not the end.

I left this earthly realm to teach you that this is not your home.

I sent you guides and teachers,

My spirit in your preachers.

And now, I wait for you to look at me and recognize, if only for a moment,

That everything I do is…

BECAUSE I LOVE YOU.