Day 17: On Tattoos and Jesus

 "Before the law of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by law.  We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.  Let me put it another way.  The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.  And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian." ~ Galatians 3:23-25

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love." ~ 1 Corinthians 13:13 

Today was our second free day of the trip, and while some chose to go into Athens for some last minute shopping, we took the last group of students to get their tattoos today.  It was a looooonnng day to get everyone's tattoos done, but all are thrilled with the result!

For many of us who grew up in the church, tattoos were a very taboo thing.  People were often looked down on or judged for having them, and many of us were forbidden to get them as teenagers growing up.  Shame has been associated for many about marring one's body and fear often associated with what it will look like when you're old and wrinkly or how you might regret it someday, etc.

Interestingly in Christianity, we tend to focus a lot on behavior and the law that we must keep that we often forget we have been made to live and to live abundantly.  It is interesting to consider the Scripture passage at the top of this blog and wonder what would change for each of us if we truly understood that the law we are bound by now is love.  

I have been counseling clients for twelve years now, and one of my very wise mentors gave me some advice years ago that has stuck with me.  She told me that as counselors, it is very easy to live vicariously through our clients.  Because we are helping people heal and grow and become more complete versions of who they have been made to be, they often go out and live more fulfilling lives and experience grand adventures that they wouldn't have done otherwise.  She cautioned me to make sure I didn't get to the end of my life and look back and realize I had spent my life helping others live lives of grand adventures but never actually did that for myself.

I worry sometimes that we do the same things as Christians.  We can get so trapped in the law and behaviors and a black and white mentality that we get to the end of our lives and look back and realize we never actually lived.

This trip has been an invitation to living and to taking the time and space to understand who we have been created to be, experiencing a deeper grounding in ourselves and in God.  Thomas Merton said, "There is only one problem on which all my existence, my peace, and my happiness depend: to discover myself in discovering God.  If I find Him I will find myself and if I find my true self I will find Him."  This statement can be hard to wrap our minds around because we often try to separate God from everything else, but He is in everything else.  And so on this trip, we invited the students to seek themselves in a much deeper way, and as they have done that, they have discovered more about God as well.  It has been a beautiful thing to bear witness to.

As I have gotten older and continue to walk on my own journey towards being the most authentic version of myself, I have come to understand that tattoos can be very creative expressions and markers of deeply personal truths and groundings that we do not want to forget (I got my second one on this trip!).  They aren't for everyone, but now when I see tattoos, I love to hear the story and meaning behind why someone chose to get it.  It always gives you so much insight into parts of their story and deep parts of the beauty of their unique humanity.  It has been an honor on this trip to sit with the various students as they got their tattoos and to hear the deep meaning that each holds.  Here are some of the ones from today...

As we wrap up our time in Greece (still a couple of blogs to go!!), I am so proud of this group of students.  We worked hard to create a place and an invitation into this deeper space, but you can't force people to go there with you.  It has been so encouraging and awe-inspiring to see this cohort walk into the hard space and emerge 3 weeks later with new growth and deeper roots.

Thank you for following along on our journey.  As we are learning all about how to be great multicultural counselors, we are challenged to remember these words from Paul: "Owe nothing to anyone - except for your obligation to love one another.  If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God's law." ~ Romans 13:8

~ Dr. Tiffany Jones