I have a lot of tattoos on my body, only one do I regret getting. The others sometimes I think back to the day I got them and what they meant to me. Sometimes I think has the meaning changed in any way, maturity of definition.
Proverbs 3:3-4 I have tatted on my left shoulder blade. When I got the tattoo it didn't define what it defines to me now. I don't know why I was brought back to this verse today; however the meaning I received today was inspiring.
The verse reads: Do not let mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
As I researched this verse today I came upon this (from the Online Parallel Bible):
1. Mercy - shutting out all forms of selfishness and hate
2. Truth - shutting out all deliberate falsehood, all hypocrisy, conscious or unconscious
The Eastern custom was to write sacred names on pieces of papyrus or parchment, and wearing them around the neck, as a charm and talismans against evil.
Binding them around your neck also meant keeping them in constant view. I am sure some of us have special necklaces that were given to us with meaning from someone special. Sometimes holding them while they are around our necks brings peace of a memory. Writing them on the heart is what moves you to feel them. If you have ever done a mediation that focused on feeling the love within your heart then this will make sense to you too.
I felt a sense of power as I studied this verse, then to know that it graces my shoulder blade made me feel encourage in my stance. I had to remember at all times to shut out selfishness and falsehood. I had words to guard me against all evil. I also knew what it meant when someone said "Lord have mercy on their soul", Lord shut out their selfishness and hate that they are showing.
Research is a beautiful thing, nothing should mean the same to you years later or nothing has grown within you.
(c) 2011 Ebony Larijani
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