Off on a very different thought today.
Most things I blog about I find. I may have read something or
observed something or seen something that I want to put into written
format so I can analyze it in print rather than in the recesses of my
mind. When you lay thing out in written form it helps clarify the
thought. Writing forces one to make sense of each thought. Having to
choose just the right way to present an idea often clears up
unreasonable leaps and twisted logic.
Other times things come to me. And
today that just happened. For whatever reason in going to my web
based email an article popped onto my screen titled Eight Things No
One Tells You About Tattoos. I will say at the outset I find I don't
care for tattoos.
My position on tattoos goes hand in
glove with piercings and other body art forms. I realize body shaping
has been going on since humans found out they could reshape body
parts, but I still find it incompatible with genteel living. I know
neck stretching has been carried on in Asia in a number of countries,
as well as binding of feet to keep them small. I know in Africa
pretty much any body part that can be pierced and stretched has been
done. I realize that nearly every advanced society in existence today
seems bent on piercing little girls ear lobes so they can accommodate
ear rings. I also realize many males now are following suit.
But to me anything you do to your body
that results in permanent or semi-permanent disfigurement makes a
person less attractive. The inserting of bolts, lugs and pins into
one's body is in my opinion is disgusting and macabre. For me,
tattooing, piercings and body art are barbaric and a reproach to God.
I have friends and family members who
have very discreet tattoos in discreet places. What is done is, of
course, done. But for me, I believe no one should alter their bodies
except to correct disfigurement.
I remember an evening at a church I
attended choir practice had just let out and three women were just
enough in the way of the door that I had to squeeze by them. I do not
even remember who they were, and in fact one I am very sure I did not
know at the time. It was that woman that had begun to gather a small
crowd of other women to admire new tattoo on the back of one of her
legs. The other women were ooing and awing over the tattoo and I was
thinking “how disgusting.”
I once heard a speaker speak on the
topic of what influence causes people to get tattoos. Who are they
emulating? I am not aware of any New Testament scriptures that
address the idea of tattooing, but I do know there is one in
Leviticus
chapter 19, verse 28, which says: “You shall not make any cuttings
in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am
the
LORD.”
I
also know that just a few verses before this one the law forbid the
mixing of fibers within clothing. So if you believe tattoos are sin
you have to wear clothing in which there is not a mixture of fiber.
That seems a bit extreme and unnecessary.
But
I believe it still remains that when a person alters their body in
any sort of permanent or semi-permanent way they are not considering
what others will think about them.
Now
if you have a tattoo, you have my sympathies. But that doesn't make
you any less of a person or Christian. But if you are a Christian and
considering a piercing or tattoo, be sure you carefully examine your
motive and the consequences.
In
addition I want to make it clear I firmly believe this corporal body
is never leaving earth. It will be consumed in the grave and totally
returned to dust unless by some amazing stroke of circumstance it
gets fossilized like many other humans and animals of ages past. I
firmly believe that all of the prophecy concerning people coming
forth from the grave is figurative and won't be happening literally.
I, like you, may be wrong, but I believe the lifespan of the earth is
billions of years longer than the existence of humans.
Humans
came on the scene several billions of years into the life-cycle of
earth and will disappear long before the end of that life-cycle.
Human existence is far too fragile to withstand catastrophic events
this earth has seen and will see. Hundreds of thousands of years
before humans came into being dinosaurs were wiped off the earth by
the impact of a single comet. And it is highly unlikely many more
epochs will pass before earth is impacted by another.
So
what we do to our bodies, in my own opinion, has no eternal effect.
It is the spirit that will live on. We still have no conclusive
answer on what or where our spirit is, but it is the only part of us
that is eternal. Of course we can add in our reputation, our
influence, etc, but those are even less tangible than our spirit.
But
the why we do things to our bodies definitely has eternal
consequences. And that is the reason I do not care for tats or
piercings. I believe they are distractions and are mostly used as
attention getting devices. As for me, one's looks is a bit down the
list of things I pay attention to. Looks change so quickly. A good or
toned figure fades very quickly if not extremely well maintained.
Good looks are internal, not external. Sure, we all appreciate nice
looking men, women and children. But so many things can go wrong so
quickly and the looks are gone.
It
is my belief that anything done to one's body, whether it be put in
or on the body to attract attention, is wrong. And along with that
goes putting less on the body to show off the skin. You can look nice
wearing clothes from Wal-Mart or K-Mart, you don't need some fashion
line from an expensive boutique or upscale men's store. Keep what you
do to your skin, especially makeup, very subdued. Loud make up
reminds me of clowns. And I like clowns. But only in their particular
genre.
