This Tattoo

One of my favorite music artists is David Wilcox who has a way of words to express all of life whether it's a watershed birthday, about love's addiction or the Waffle House. You have to check him out to know what I mean.

Anyway, he wrote this song about tattoos that always stayed with me. It's a reminder of not only the permanency of a tattoo but also of one's commitments. So, as a way to honor my mom and mark my 50th birthday, I decided to take the leap and get a tattoo. Yup, I did and it hurt like heck.  But what I love about my tattoo is that it has the double meaning of my mom's name and the spiritual reality of God's ultimate love.

It's unmerited favor.

It's Grace.

This Tattoo
With this tattoo you make a promise of who you are and what you think
this will be your binding contract written down in blood and ink
She had a life to live, the day she left home;
She vowed no surrender, No company drone
She wrote it down in crimson, she wrote it down in black
She wrote it down so deep, she's never gonna take it back

Make your clear and solemn vow before the age of compromise
Write it here and write it now always right before your eyes
This tattoo, this tattoo will hold your vision, always looking back at you
This tattoo, this tattoo, this tattoo

It isn't on the surface, it doesn't need to be
She wrote it down so deep, only she can see
She doesn't have to show it, it isn't made for show
She spells it out in action, its written on her soul

Make your clear and solemn vow before the age of compromise
Write it here and write it now always right before your eyes
This tattoo, this tattoo will hold your vision, always looking back at you
This tattoo, this tattoo, this tattoo

© David Wilcox, all rights reserved
Lyrics reprinted by kind permission of Soroka Music Ltd., all rights reserved

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