As a millennial Christian, it is almost a norm to have some type of body modification, whether a piercing or a tattoo. I am one of the many that has both, and multiples of both. And because of that, people frequently point me back to the Scripture about body modifications (Leviticus 19:28). However, I did not get piercings or tattoos to rebel against the Bible (feel free to ask for more info). Both of my tattoos have meanings behind them, deeper than the image that they are, and my most recent piercing has a deeper meaning, besides my desire to get it and what people say it is beneficial for.
Historically, many people have had gotten piercings, whether as a symbol of their nobility (King Tut and Julius Caesar) or as a way to pay for funeral costs (sailors). The modern practice of piercing has transitioned to more aesthetic purposes, but that is definitely not the only reason that people are still getting piercings today. There are so many different types of piercings and each with different benefits, whether physically or socially, including ear, nose, septum, tongue, lip, navel, and more.
Since I only have pierced my ears, we’ll focus on that a bit. There are a few common types of ear piercings (lobe and cartilage), but there are some that are becoming more popular. My teammate Mantha has her rook, conch, and forward helix pierced; one of my squad leaders has an industrial bar, and I recently got my daith pierced. One of the reasons that people go through the extended healing periods and the extra pain is for the look of it, but there have been claims of medical benefits over some of them as well. For example, the daith is said to help with migraines and motion sickness (I’ve never experienced either). But, I did learn that historically, Jewish people would get their faiths pierced as a way to monitor any information that enters into their minds, under the assumption that metal has the ability to block off any bad spirits. The Hebrew word for knowledge (da’at) sounds similar to the English daith (rhymes with “faith”). For me, having my faith pierced reminds me of the knowledge and wisdom of the Bible and God that I have gained so far and will continue to, which will allow me to only allow sound knowledge and wisdom into my mind and to then impact my life.
Angie
Prayer Requests
- Quick recovery of my squadmate Amanda,
- Quick & successful application processes for my entire squad so that we can enter India, and
- Rain for Botswana.
Praise Reports
- We had a very good and restful debrief before we started this month,
- I am absolutely loving our ministry and community this month (working with Africa 4 Jesus alongside Team Sequoia), and
- More and more of my squad is being fully funded.
