Tattoos, Circumcision, and Story-Telling

“Old family photos would not suffice. A grave stone was not enough. His past was so markedly influenced by his father that he wanted to carry that influence, that history, that story, into the future on his own marked skin.”

The wearing of tattoos has a long and diverse history. Be it sailors of the sea, ancient tribespeople, units in the armed forces, or the body-art associated with hipster culture, having ink injected into the skin is a practice adopted by many.

It would appear that much of tattooing is motivated by the innate human desire for story-telling. We all inhabit stories and communicate them to others around us by the way we choose to show ourselves. Tattooing is one of the many ways we do this. Perhaps tattooing is a sign that we are all story-tellers at heart. Sounds far-fetched? Here’s a short story.

Tattoos on the Bus

Last week, as I rode the bus to university, I sat opposite a man whose forearm was tattooed with a large sailing yacht. Underneath the picture was the writing “Dad” along with dates that presumably marked his birth and death. Whether this inked art-form was intended chiefly for public display or for personal reminder does not matter. Something of this man’s story was communicated to me.

Judging by the dates given, his father died young and perhaps prematurely, only in his early fifties. Obviously, his father loved the water. Maybe this yacht was an image of the family boat bought by his father’s hard-earned money, and represented for this man sweet childhood memories of sailing on Lake Ontario with his dad.

Whatever the case may be, it is clear that this man cared deeply about the life of his deceased father and wanted to make memory of him. Old family photos would not suffice. A grave stone was not enough. His past was so markedly influenced by his father that he wanted to carry that influence, that history, that story, into the future on his own marked skin. And by carrying the story of his father upon his skin, this man shared that story with others around him.

Circumcision and Identity

We might compare tattooing to circumcision — obviously my study of Romans is ever haunting me! Circumcision is the cutting off all round of the foreskin, and has been a key practice throughout the history of Judaism. The mark of circumcision is more than just physical, however. By no means is it an arbitrary measure of a primitive people.

Rather, circumcision is highly symbolic. It represents covenantal inheritance, where each male Jew stands in the long lineage of the Israelite people reaching back to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (see Gen 17.10–14). Circumcision marks distinctiveness. It signifies belonging. It tells a story.

Indeed, perhaps just as some have come to be embarrassed of past tattoos and seek to conceal them, so too with circumcision. In the Maccabean period, a number of Jews underwent epistasm (all I shall say is that it involved suspending weights on string) to reverse the effects of their former circumcision and allow them to participate (nude, of course) in the athletics of the Greek gymnasium. Circumcision was seen by some Greeks to be repulsive, and some Jews who wanted to partake in the Hellenic culture and society around them took extreme measures in order to do so. Though this was met with strong opposition from more conservative factions, clearly such Jews felt that circumcision was not so intrinsic to Jewish identity.

What Is Your Story?

If you’re wondering where the post’s train of thought is going, let me ask as you this: What story are you telling?

What story are you telling? We inhabit and communicate stories all the time. We see it in what we wear; how we speak; with whom we associate; our attitudes to work or rest; how we behave around family; how we act when we’re alone. Just as John Donne’s famous aphorism ‘No man is an island’ rings true, so also no single aspect of who we are can be detached from the governing stories that we hold to be central to our lives.

Where does your story come from? Sometimes we inhabit and share stories with a great degree of intentionality, forging and constructing our own identities. Sometimes we are much more passive, and we are formed and shaped by external influences without realising. Are you in control of your story, or is your story being dictated to you?

Does your story make sense? Take a step back. Consider the story you inhabit, which you share with those around you. Does your story only make sense to you, or can others understand and relate to it? If you perceive there to be a higher good, a greater reality than yourself, how does your story fit into that? If you believe in God, can your story be incorporated into His story?

And lastly, are you happy with your story?

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