There are two things in life that are very hard to cover. You can’t erase them. And you can modify them but can’t totally change. Tattoos and the truth. I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a new part of this blog or maybe a podcast that’s a little more hard hitting on matters of truth.
You see I’ve never really been one to mince words when it comes to truth. If I see it, I call it as I see it. Some don’t like that. Some of us are used to people dancing around hard topics. And I can respect that, but it’s just not how I operate on the daily. So I have made it my practice to be honest, truthful but tone down the blatant hitting between the eyes with the truths they don’t want to hear.
I’ve lost friends because they didn’t like the truth when it came out. I’ve angered some people who weren’t ready to have the truth of what they are saying or doing shined back at them. I’m not laying total blame on everyone else by any means. I’m just as much at fault as they are. I can’t help it if someone else doesn’t like the truth, but I can adjust how I go about saying the words. So I try to filter the delivery of truth without changing the message of the truth.
It may come as a bit of a shock to some, repulsive to others, and cool to still others that I am a huge fan of tattoos. For me, they have to be tastefully done and tell a story. So I have a couple of stories that are permanently etched into my skin. Just like the truth is etched into my heart and mind, these images are etched into my shoulders. And no matter what, they can’t be erased or changed. Sure some won’t like them and might stay away because they know I have them, but they’re part of me. They’re a story that I carry with me wherever I go. And I am not ashamed of them or the story the convey.
Some day, maybe on that tattooed truth page to which I was referring at the beginning, I’ll tell you the story. But if you see them popping out underneath my t-shirt and if you’re interested go ahead and ask me. I am not ashamed of the tattoos or the story they tell anymore than I am ashamed of the truth in which I believe.
There’s a line from the movie A Few Good Men that really applies here. And many of you who are of the right generations are probably saying it in your minds, if not out loud. You can’t handle the truth. That’s the line. You can’t handle the truth.
Unfortunately there are people in our circles today who simply can’t handle the truth. They say they can, but when the truth they apply to other people is applied to them, they flip out. We are living in a culture dominated by thin-skinned people who in general have a hard time with matters of truth.
So it’s time to toughen up a bit. If you’re going to belittle someone for something you better make sure you have your story straight. And you better darn well make sure you know what you’re saying. There’s a passage in the bible that I love to refer to in my own life, so I’ll share a summary of it with you. The gist is this – don’t go picking someone else apart for something they said or did if you haven’t addressed your own shortcomings first.
Here’s a truth for you. Finding a problem with something someone else is doing, then turning around and doing the same thing yourself makes you a hypocrite. Don’t do that! And for those of you who are a little soft skinned and need that tamed down, that is the tamed down version of the truth. It’s just not cool to put someone down at all, but even worse to do it only to turn around and do the very thing you were just belittling someone else for doing!
There you have it. As bold, direct and unapologetic as the tattoos on my right and left shoulders. I sure hope you can handle the truth, because we don’t change the truth to suit our desires.
Can you handle the truth?
I’m not sure why but I’m intrigued by tattoos. I’ve even thought about getting one. I have a friend who has many tattoos and every time I see them, I think of the story that they tell. Like the dog-tags on his arm that tell the story of his love for his dad and brother who served in the Army and Air Force. Or the many tattoos of his favorite college sports teams. They each have a story associated with them. It’s like he has marked his story on his arms to let others see who he is and what’s important to him.