I defy you.

You would have me see the world your way. You would have me play by your rules. You would have me use lies and manipulation, deceit and flattery, subterfuge and silk to win a prize of smoke.

I defy you.

You would have me climb into the muck and wrestle with you until I am as dirty as you are. Until I am as enmeshed and embroiled in the quicksand as you have become, all for shadows.

I defy you.

You would have me go blow for blow, fist for fist, and insult for insult. You would have me stoop to your level and fight a futile fray for mist.

I defy you.

You would dance me like a puppet on a string, dragging me into the dark, making me skip, swing, sway and strut to your every whim for a crown of vapors.

But I defy you.

I refuse to use your weapons. I refuse to frame, formulate, fashion, and fix. I refuse to ply, plot, plan, and perform. I refuse to deceive, dupe, delude, and devise.

For I am a child of the light and I renounce, repudiate, rebut, and reject your ways. I am a child of faith and I will flummox, foil, foul, and frustrate your plans for me. I am a child of another place and I will disavow, disclaim, discredit, and disown your designs for me.

So go ahead. Play your games. Hatch your schemes. Use your wiles. Seduce, scam, sucker, and snare.

Because there is one universal and immutable law even you must eventually submit to–

You reap what you sow.

I pity you.

Who in your life is tempting you “play the game” their way? Are you?