On a deeply personal level, “I am the resurrection and the life” is my bold inner declaration that no matter how deeply I’ve been torn down, betrayed, erased, or buried—by life or by others (especially by communities of developmentally arrested adults who are addicted to hierarchy, Pharisaic ideological expectations, and counterfeit performances of collective care rooted in image maintenance, and not true connection)—I carry the power to rise again and again—over and over.

This means:

My self-worth is not defined by things like rituals of communal betrayal or periods where my light was excommunicated. Nor is it defined by soul-crushing chapters of life where my spirit was broken, my light was nearly extinguished, and I was demonized—forced to carry the weight of a community’s unresolved pain just so they could avoid the discomfort of honest self-examination.

And yet, in spite of it all—I carry within me the power to come back to life—not as who I once was, but as someone reborn with a sharper sense of discernment, deeper wisdom that only trial by fire could forge, and a resilience of spirit that no amount of collective scapegoating, targeted demonization, or soul-level betrayal by a community could ever destroy.

That’s why today, I stand as the embodiment of renewal—not in theory, but through lived experience, where I am now someone who knows what it means to regenerate from soul-bruising seasons of life, who has learned how to alchemize even the darkest of nights into resevoirs of inner gold, and who can soulfully walk forward resurrected—not as a shell of who I once was, but as someone expanded by everything I’ve survived.

And because of that, I can now bring life into spaces where others try to impose spiritual desolation and psychological stagnation. Even when they try to write me off, use me as a communal scapegoat, vilify my character, or treat me as disposable—as if their rejection could erase the essence of who I am. But the truth is, beyond all their communal blame narratives, I rise as living proof that their attempts to define my worth, distort my identity, or erase my purpose will never have the final say. Because what was born in me through the fire of their betrayal is far more enduring than their need for a scapegoat—where their hunger for upholding traditions of exclusion and blame just to avoid real self-reflection only exposes the depth of their own spiritual avoidance.

So when I say, “I am the resurrection and the life,” it’s not just a spiritual affirmation—it’s a declaration of reclaimed selfhood outside of the reach of systems of punishment, exclusion, and developmentally arrested power structures that use hierarchy and shame to erase anyone who dares to take up space in their own innate radiance. And it’s a line drawn in the sand of my own becoming, where I am the resurrection of everything that they tried to kill in me.