Religious Life and Tattoos.
Not really sure what you think this post is about, but I don't think it's what you think it is.
For the past two-ish years, I've been contemplating getting a tattoo. I have an idea of what I would want and how it would look and where it would be. The thought has been nagging at me recently, and I've been making my way through a list of people whose opinions I value on what they think about tattoos and the people who have them.
In more seriously thinking about getting a tattoo, I started to ask myself what the deeper reasons were behind getting a tattoo. It has taken me a while to get to the deepest reason. Sure, I would like the way it looks and I would like the artistic aspect and I would like the opportunities it would give me for a conversation about my faith.
But the deepest reason? I suppose it is the same reason I think about religious life and find it beautiful. The habit, the clerics, whatever outward sign it is to show that one belongs wholly to Christ.
That is what I want I want to be claimed for Christ. To put it bluntly, to be branded for Him. To show that I would do anything, even mark my skin for the rest of my life, to show that I am His.
And in that, the truth is revealed, isn't it? That desire to be claimed as someone's.
That boggles my mind some times. That Christ claims me. That the Father looks at me and says "Hey, little girl, you're my daughter."
It is a truth that has been working its way into my heart slowly, surely for the past couple of years. I know I haven't accepted it all the way yet. That's a hard truth to get your head around, if you ask me. Some times I go looking to be claimed by someone else, and it always ends up empty, as it would.
And so I go looking for outward ways to claim myself as Christ's when perhaps I should focus on accepting that fact for myself and letting it be rooted deep enough in my heart that I don't need outward sign anymore.
'Cause tattoos will fade anyways.
In more seriously thinking about getting a tattoo, I started to ask myself what the deeper reasons were behind getting a tattoo. It has taken me a while to get to the deepest reason. Sure, I would like the way it looks and I would like the artistic aspect and I would like the opportunities it would give me for a conversation about my faith.
But the deepest reason? I suppose it is the same reason I think about religious life and find it beautiful. The habit, the clerics, whatever outward sign it is to show that one belongs wholly to Christ.
That is what I want I want to be claimed for Christ. To put it bluntly, to be branded for Him. To show that I would do anything, even mark my skin for the rest of my life, to show that I am His.
And in that, the truth is revealed, isn't it? That desire to be claimed as someone's.
That boggles my mind some times. That Christ claims me. That the Father looks at me and says "Hey, little girl, you're my daughter."
It is a truth that has been working its way into my heart slowly, surely for the past couple of years. I know I haven't accepted it all the way yet. That's a hard truth to get your head around, if you ask me. Some times I go looking to be claimed by someone else, and it always ends up empty, as it would.
And so I go looking for outward ways to claim myself as Christ's when perhaps I should focus on accepting that fact for myself and letting it be rooted deep enough in my heart that I don't need outward sign anymore.
'Cause tattoos will fade anyways.
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