I wrote this piece when I was still in Africa shortly after The Language of the Heart and Listen to Your Heart. This was before I had any idea of the long journey that awaited us. The words that came to my heart then have stayed with me ever since.

THE CLAIM

You claim pain, and pain you have delivered
You claim blood, and blood, you have received
You claim victory as you ride the throne of the Seven Seas,
Sucking life out of the living,
And denying breath to the unborn.

You claim hearts, and hearts you have been given
You claim souls, and souls you have received
You claim everything that is pure and precious
Sucking purity out of the innocent,
And denying breath to the unborn.

You claim our visions, but they are not yours to take
We stand upright in the presence of our God
You claim our hope and steal our light
Yet your darkness has no claim on our hearts
You claim her life, yet she is in a safe-place
Her deeds remain untouched and her legacy lives on
You claim his soul, but it is not yours for taking
Flesh is all you can penetrate,
And God holds a claim on his heart.

You will hide in the shadows no longer
You will battle no more in the unseen
For years you have been sucking life out of the living
Denying breath to the innocent
And feeding on the unborn.

Tonight, we challenge your evil
We stand upright in the unseen
Small and brittle, yet well aware
That our bleeding heart has a claim stronger than yours
We will not fight evil with evil
But let our heart bleed until it bleeds no more
Living or dying matters little anymore
For we did not rise to watch you suck life out of the living
And steal the breath of the unborn.