The Why of Getting a Tattoo

I grew up thinking Christians with tattoos were spiritually suspect.  That judgment must not have run very deep, however, because I was simultaneously in love with the idea of them.  I'm a symbolic person, and engraving symbols onto your body?  That is right up my alley.  I love the physicality, the permanence, the commitment.

Once I concretely decided that Leviticus was referring to cultic practices and being a holy temple was more about the insides than the outsides, I got serious thinking about tattoos.  For a while in college I wanted a name of God or a title of God in Greek or Hebrew.  But I didn't really like how they looked aesthetically, and then I got weirded out by the idea of labeling myself with a name for God.

A few short-term desires later, I landed on "Courage, dear heart."  This is a quote from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  In this scene, the Narnians have sailed into the Island of Darkness, where all their dreams come true.  Sounds good, but actually those dreams are nightmares, and everyone is freaking out.  From the top of the ship, Lucy sees something, a bright something which guides the ship out of darkness into light, a something that reveals itself as an albatross, but which whispers to her in Aslan's voice, "Courage, dear heart."

My love for this quote is many-fold.  I've always known I would want a word as my tattoo.  I am a word person far more than a picture person.  I love that it is a quote from a book.  I love both books and quotes.  I love that it is spiritual, and very much refers to Jesus and my walk following Him, but isn't IN YOUR FACE.  I think it invites conversation rather than blocks it.

More specifically, I love the command to be courageous.  I've heard that "be strong and courageous" (and similarly stated phrases) are the most numerous commands of the Bible, and I believe it.  When dealing with a mysterious and great God as well as a dark and scary world, the thing people most need to hear is, "You can get through this.  Keep walking.  Be strong."  So the courage part of the tattoo is necessary.

And the "dear heart"?  That is the icing on the cake.  Not only does God desire for us to be courageous, He reminds us WHY we can act courageously.  We can follow Him through darkness and fear and uncertainty because He loves us, because He looks fondly upon us and calls us "dear heart."  That mix of bold determination and loving tenderness is just the best.

Alright, so it's a great quote.  But did I really need to tattoo it to my body?  Yes.  Because here's the thing.  Tattoos are permanent.  Gasp!  People have frequently asked me whether I will regret it, or maybe grow out of it.  And yeah, I'm 100% sure there will be times I wish this were not on my wrist.  And I'm getting it tattooed because of that.  I want to be reminded of God's promises and affections, because all too often I try to run away from those truths.  I don't want to be courageous.  I want to run away from God and do my own thing, and hearing His loving voice is the last thing I need.

In those moments, I can't run away from my own skin.  I now carry around with me a physical, permanent reminder of God's goodness, grace, and call.  Someday I may fall away from the faith, temporarily or permanently.  I don't know.  But I do know that I don't want that decision to be easy.  I want it to be painful, and I want as many obstacles in place to make it difficult.

I also want the reminder for more immediate pains, not just the long slide into doubt.  There will be deaths of loved ones in my future.  I'm going to lose people, and I'm going to run into things that make me cry out, "God, what are You doing!?  Why do You allow these things to happen!?"  I am sure that the worst times in my life are in my future, and when they come, I want to take desperate comfort in my tattoo that reminds me that in my darkest hours, an albatross might fly by and whisper in my ear.

Also, I definitely want to be a grandma who sits her grandkids on her lap, and one of them might touch my wrist and giggle, because what?  This old wrinkled lady has ink on her skin!  I want them to laugh at me, and ask about it, and I'll share my stories with them.  I'll be buried carrying this tattoo (unless my arm is amputated at some point, in which case I will definitely need to re-ink the reminder to be courageous!).  Then I'll walk into the next life, and I won't have the ink anymore because I'll no longer need to be reminded to be brave, and I'll never again doubt the reassurance that God considers me dear.