When the apostle Paul wrote:  “I bear in my body the marks of Jesus” (Ephesians 6:17), this man wasn’t referring to having been to a tattoo artist!  This essay is a response to an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune of Nov. 11, 2016, titled “Easing a Pain That’s More Than Skin-Deep.”

My brief summary of the work of Misty Chastain of Rochester, Minnesota, who hopes someday to open a shop in Austin, is a marvelous look into the larger world of the tattoo. She has developed a healing world that is more than decoration or personal monographs, pictures, and mottos.  It may be considered a form of ink therapy; a Zen kind of process combining endorphins and empathy.

Ms. Chastain is a part of an organization called Warrior’s Ink; at this time, embraced by veterans who suffer from trauma, pain, or mental discomfort as a result of military service.

Writing these words on our nation’s Veterans Day, moves me in a particular manner. It brings to my deeper emotions, funerals that I have conducted for persons who served our country with their very lives. Also, it creates consternation and confusion when political thought is aimed at demeaning our country.  Vets —  now dead and today our friends, say, “please honor the good, the positive, the many contributions that grant us a peaceful living space.”

About the tattoo emphasis, the artist says:  “To let someone put something personal on your body, how could you not tell a story?”  The reference is to the lengthy time this near medical procedure takes.  A veteran struggling from a combat experience, finds a healing during what may become a conversation, a first-time sharing of the emotional wounds needing healing.

Part of the procedure is the buzz of a needle pulsating into some part of the body.  In the process, there is not only military lingo.  One of the vets jokes about his Purple Heart, now calling it his “Enemy Sniper Badge.”  Another image is the man’s service dog tattooed on his calf.

A former Army Ranger came to her shop with the word R-A-G-E already tattooed on his back.  Change?  Healing?  The body addressing the public anew?  Yes.  The “rage” now became a new word:  C-O-U-R-A-G-E-O-U-S.

Writing as a person who searches for spiritual peace in a world of many religions, I am attracted to the first sentence of this writing.  In the Christian tradition, which has many divisions and interpretations, I suggest an openness to primary, even non-traditional teachings.  Surprising how the love of God gets twisted into so many intermural fights!  The body, as St. Paul’s body was broken and then restored many times, is an example of doing and being the truth as our conscience speaks to us.  Note part of the record:  2 Corinthians 11:16-33.

The apostle Paul, in his letters, as they are termed in the Bible’s New Testament, gives us an opening.  His goal was to bring healing to persons, communities, and the world.  My poster in this post-election season is: Please, Jesus , be our friend. Friendships and inviting persons to enlist in a common cause, was a tested approach by the apostle. Is it any different than knitting, weaving, or quilting groups presenting their creations for shipping to a chapel in West Virginia or an African nation?  That’s happening in the circle of my friends.  Also, think of it as a spiritual exercise when helping clean up and maintain our rivers.  Some say,” I’m not good at praying, but give me some work to do with my hands.”

A recent statistic I read, has me whirling. Why?  Because it tells of wounded bodies and minds that, it seems, gave up hope.  Hope, that resilient character trait. The statistic printed in the April/May 2016 issue of the “Neurology Now” magazine, states that there are about 41,000 persons in the United States who commit suicide every year. Can you believe it?!  The added statement; for every person who commits this life-ending act, there are at least six survivors, family members, loved ones, neighbors, counselors, pastors, and certainly nurses, doctors, and maybe a tattoo artist (and you say, what about yoga?). Our hearts wish to reach out with compassion.

There is a lot of work to be done! We in the human family are survivors and most of us have gifts, abilities, and training to be present to the bodies that we know are wishing, often crying for the many kinds of healing that are offered. One of us may have the gem that grants a breakthrough and of course, humor.

We can join the many kinds, processes, and actions that facilitate healing and/or comfort.  Sharing affection and being affirmative will always place us on the winning team.  Another poster: Lord of health, we are in your hands.