August 27, 2020

August 27, 2020

I don’t have any tattoos.  Scars yes---tattoos no.

And I confess, I cringe when I see that “ink” on a young person.  I think, “You are going to regret that one day.”

This week I came across a story about people who have done just that, they have regretted the tattoos they got in their foolish younger years.

The good news is a tattoo parlor in Kentucky is using ink to not only help with this problem, but to unite communities across the country by offering free appointments to anyone who wants to cover up their tattoos---specifically the ones that promote hate.

Tattoo artists Jeremiah Swift and Ryun King said they decided to offer this service as a way to take a stance amid the protests calling for an end to racial injustice.

King told CNN, “It’s definitely a long overdue change. Having anything hate related is completely unacceptable. A lot of people when they were younger just didn’t know any better and were left with mistakes on their bodies. We just want to make sure everybody has a chance to change.”
King’s first client was Jennifer Tucker, a 36-year-old mother of two who wanted to cover up a small Confederate flag she had tattooed on her ankle when she was 18 years old. The picture above is a before and after shot of her leg. Ms. Tucker said, “I went to a school where there wasn’t a single black person. Everyone in my school flew rebel flags and had rebel flag tattoos and I bandwagoned and got the tattoo. It was a horrible thing to do.”

After high school, Tucker became involved in various solidarity movements and peaceful protests aimed at uniting the community and fighting racial injustice against people of color. A friend of Tucker’s sent her the tattoo shops Facebook post, offering the free cover-ups, and she immediately messaged the shop asking for an appointment.

On Tuesday, after nearly 20 years of “looking down at the tattoo regretting it,” King covered up the flag with an illustration of a pickle. “It feels so amazing, it’s life changing. I knew I had to do it, to be an example for other people who were in the same position. There’s not a whole lot I can do, but this is something I can do to spread love, not hate.”

Of course, the message of the Gospel is that God does with our sins what these benevolent tattoo artists do with tattoos.

In Isaiah 43:25 God says, “I, even I, am He Who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”

Spread the word!

Keep the SON In Your Eyes!
Mark