beneath the skin

It is the rapist who is ruined,
                not the victim;
      the cruel parent who is marked,
          not the whimpering child;
   the master who is dehumanized,
               not the slave;
the torturer who is broken,
           not the prisoner.

It is when we crumble to our cruelest thoughts,
             our basest fantasies,
         our darkest selves,
  that we become the exact opposite
        of what God meant us to be.

        Light shiners.
    Hope bringers.
           Life givers.
    Image bearers.

   When we set out to destroy another human,
            we become anti-God.

It is the monster that is branded,
         not its prey.