All I wanted was a simple, peaceful life.

Baggage found me without permission.

Catching hold of my body and weighing me down.

Darkness blinded me from the light.

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."

Fear was a word I understood.

Grace was unimaginable.

Hate became my core.

Imposter of the faith, I copied my peers.

Jesus saw my fickleness and wanted none of it.

Knowledge comes at a price.

Lack of knowledge does too.

My knowledge, or lack of, was worth more than I could afford.

"No one can save me" was my constant cry.

Onlookers mocked me, despised me, and fickly helped me.

Prayers reached no further than the trees.

Questions and pleas ranted from my lips.

Ropes containing my burdens burned my back as I strained.

Scars of old tore open again.

Tension increasing moment by moment.

Upward I looked, hope filling my blackened heart.

Visions of glory came to my eyes.

Where there was once darkness, there was now light.

XV years I was trapped, wishing for an easy way out.

Years of torture that became my only memories.

Zion, my eternal rest.