The New Tattoo

I got my first tattoo today.  It’s between my shoulders and is about 6 inches wide.  My friend Nate did the design.  Nate and I have been friends for years.  He’s the artist who painted three of the paintings in my living room.  My tattoo artist was Jersey from Eternal Ink Tattoo  Jersey’s a great guy and an excellent artist.  If someone’s going to gnaw away at your back for four hours with a 80 hz 5 needle gun you want a guy who is interesting to talk to and cares about his work.  

The place I actually got the tattoo from is called Freedom 2 Ink.  They’re developing new tattoo inks so part of the process was that they took tons of photos of me as they put the ink on.  From what I could gather they were looking to see how the color held, how the ink went in and how the color looked in skin.  It was an interesting experience because all these chemists in white lab coats were standing around watching and talking about how the colors blended, held etc.  I think I’m the first person to get the orange.  They finished it in the lab after he was already started, carried it out and started using it.  

I got a burning bush for several reasons.  1.  It’s cool. 2.  It symbolizes an encounter with God that draws you from the path you were on and gives you a new calling.  3.  The new calling (for Moses) was about freedom for the oppressed.  4.  The burning bush is where God revealed his name and is a symbol of God’s glory.  5.  The bush burned but was not consumed.  I feel like this is what being a christian is like.  To have angst not apathy for justice and Christ’s kingdom but not to burn out or give up.  

For those of you who I know will ask this.  Yes it hurts but is not unbearable.  Feels like someone’s carving on you gently with an exact-o-knife.  Over the spine and shoulder blades hurts much worse.  The first five and last five minutes were the worst.