Covering Victory

Not long ago a gentleman came into the tattoo studio inquiring about a cover up of a tattoo that he was no longer happy with. The artist asked to see his current tattoo. As the client removed his shirt I saw that its was a Jesus fish with a scripture reference in it. So, naturally I asked him what the reference was; he looked at me with a blank stare and admitted that he couldn't remember. This got me to thinking about how often we strive to make permanent reminders of things that impact our lives such as baby scrapbooks, tattoos of song lyrics, that got you thru a rough break up, a statue of famous general and then forget why. "Why was that general important? What was his name again?"Or "I don't even know what song this is from." The experiences of life can cause us to disregard all the things we place our faith in and make us forget what comfort feels like if we don't hold fast. Anxiety is on a rise, fear, the great lie, is trying to tell you that if you forget, if you cover up all signs of victory, that you will have a clean slate.  When our personal history, and the marks it has left, is the very thing that allows us to become whole.