Tatted and Burned (“Hello, Gentlemen…”)
I have never been incarcerated.
But I do have something in common with these “unlikely gentleman” prisoners.
I’m “tatted and burned.”
Cancer made sure that happened.
Life made sure that happened.
As it has done for those “in jail.”
(“Hello, Gentlemen…” Book Excerpt)
Tatted and Burned
Hello, Gentlemen.
It’s me again, Sheryle.
I have received, I believe, another message. The Most High willing, I will pass this onto you.
You and I have something in common, as unlikely as that may be to believe.
So, before we get into it, this is a TMI-“Too Much Information”- warning about me.
Part of what led me to touch base with you again is the holiday season, and how it intersects with my breast cancer diagnosis.
Several Christmases ago, I was undergoing a course of radiation. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017, had a double mastectomy that October, and then, six weeks later, went through a course of radiation.
Yes, double mastectomy, Gentlemen. My tatas are gone. I am officially an ironing board now.
Anyway, to prepare for radiation, I needed to get tattoos.
Not one of those exciting peacock tattoos, draped across my back. Not one of those full-on sleeves, like those the Yakuza gang gets.
Nope.
These tattoos looked like the black beauty mark on Marilyn Monroe’s face. I was tatted with three tiny black dots, in triangle form. This arrangement helped the radiation target my chest area, ensuring the best shot of eradicating any leftover cancer cells.
I had to be marked. I had to “get inked.”
Tatts were necessary. A matter of life and death.
Like your tattoo history has, perhaps, meant matters of life and death for you throughout your life.
Getting these tiny dot tatts summoned the next phase of my preparation/ healing: the burning from radiation.
Six weeks, day after day of getting increasingly burned, again, to wipe out cancer cells.
Because of the timing of my radiation, December, I was very much Rudolph, the Red-Chested Reindeer.
Christmas red. Festive.
Anyway, you may be eye rolling and asking, “What does any of this have to do with me?”
Tatted and burned. You are too.
And He, The Most High, is working in and through all of it.
Scripture puts it this way…
“See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.”
Isaiah 49:16
Different translations of this scripture use words like, “engraved,”“etched,” and yeah, even, “tattooed.”
I know that there can be a stigma about tattoos from the Christian world. You have probably been made to feel less-than, disqualified, and maybe even like the scum of the earth, largely because of your appearance.
To that, I offer…
“‘…Elohim does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but Elohim looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
And…
“The traditions of man make the Word of The Most High to no effect.”
Mark 7:13
To me, that signifies that Our Savior and Our Father (for they both are “One,” according to John 10:30) have decided to override man’s silly, judgy, and pointless opinions, opting instead, to qualify you, my Tatted/Marked One, for His Power and Glory.
He uses whomever He chooses. He qualifies them without anyone else’s permission.
“There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless Elohim’s counsel—that will stand.”
Proverbs 19:21
His Plans will stand.
Not any uptight, hypocritical, judgy, or stupid person’s opinions or plans.
HIS Plans!
You are exactly who you are supposed to be. You look like you are supposed to look, tatts included.
“…‘You are My servant. I have chosen you and have not cast you away.”
Isaiah 41:9…
“Remember those in prison as if you were bound with them, and those who are mistreated as if you were suffering with them.”
Hebrews 13:3
