In my quest to read a book a week this year, I recently read a suspense novel in which the antagonist is killing victims by tattooing them with poison. Throughout the book, there is interesting information about the history of tattooing and body modification. From scarification to piercing, tattooing and branding there is a significant human history associated with marking ourselves.
As I was reading this book I paid much more attention to the tattoos and modifications we commonly see in public – pierced ears, ear disks, eyebrow rings, nose rings and more. At the basketball game I read the tattoo on the arms of the girl at the concession stand “Breath in the moment, breath out the past”. At the grocery store I noticed the imprint of a baby’s foot on the forearm of a young mother. At the gym a detailed cross on the back of a weightlifter. And I started thinking about the reasons that we choose to permanently mark our bodies.
In the book, and in this article from the Biblical Archaeology Society https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/hebrew-bible/what-does-the-bible-say-about-tattoos/ there is mention of the practice of tattooing as a method of reflecting ownership. This horrible assault on humanity was seen in times of slavery in the United States, slave ownership in the ancient Near East and during the Holocaust in the marking of those held in concentration camps. Beyond that we also see cultures with temporary markings – henna tattoos to celebrate a special event like a wedding, an ash cross for Christians on Ash Wednesday or the wearing of a bindi in Hindu and Jain cultures. All of these are marks that we use for a short time, or may repeat multiple times, but they are not permanent like a tattoo.
By definition, all of these modifications create some kind of scarring on the human body. They reflect things we are passionate about, or perhaps ways that we have been harmed. They mark a celebration. We use them to memorialize the people we have loved and lost. We may even use them to reflect our beliefs, with crosses, scriptures and prayers. Since they are only a marking on our human body and we believe that our soul is forever with Christ does it matter if we mark ourselves during our time here?
Prayer: God who knows every inch of our human frame, help us to remember that our time on earth is short. We know that we are yours with or without any additional markings.
Christi Moock
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