My Tattoo Explanation

‘The Lord is Peace’  is a reference to a beautiful story in the Bible of a man, named Gideon, oppressed by the society in which he lived, seen as the lowest wrung on the social ladder. 

Just as many individuals with ‘disabilities’ (*special abilities) are today, Gideon was placed in a mundane, isolated, inopportune job. Working in a cellar, Gideon is approached by a messenger of God, who challenges his ideas of his own identity. The messenger, an angel of the Lord, tells Gideon he is capable of saving all Israel. He calls him a mighty warrior, and assigns him the first task of confronting his own community and their erred ways.

Gideon then begins to separate himself from the views of other people, which had been placed upon him from his birth. Gideon adopted God’s definition of what he was capable of, and traded a lowly position in the cellar, to go out into his community, and then far beyond that, and fight the oppression.

Before entering 40 years of battle, in which he would be victorious, Gideon sees God in this moment and builds an alter titled, “The Lord is Peace”. This monument was constructed to symbolize a renewed perception of who God is, and subsequently, who he himself was. He displays this shift in thinking and belief outwardly, with a visual representation of the peace and life God offers. His visual speaks, if you will, very much like a tattoo.

I am excited for the day when my children question the significance behind this small image, built with ink upon my skin. I cannot wait for my sons and daughters to hear of how Gideon courageously grasped a new idea, a truth of worth, and separated his potential from the assumptions of those around him. They can see this image and be reminded of how a once-lowly man named Gideon faced his current state of oppression by becoming all God said he already was-mighty.