Sacred Ink

“You have changed the way people are thinking about church!”.

“Even if you fail on the outside, you are already a success in this congregation”.

“What a great idea, we need more people like you”.

These are some of the things we have heard since we started the Sacred Ink project. Granted they are as close as I can recall them, but you get the point. Why would I be repeating them now? Because I would like to point out some of the good we have done here. There are people who have spent hours with a minister, who otherwise might never have even wanted to talk to one. There are people sitting in churches reevaluating their views on outreach. And there are people walking around with tattoos that they will talk about the rest of their lives. Someone will ask; “Hey, nice tattoo! Where did you get it?”. And they will answer; “Believe it or not, a bunch of ministers did this!”. Yes, we have changed a small corner of the world in our own small way. But now for the bad news…

We regret to tell you all that we have had to close Sacred Ink. The plain truth of the matter is we messed up. We were operating under some false assumptions, and misinformation. We expected to have a years worth of operating expense, but we were wrong. We expected a certain amount of business, and we were wrong about that too. The bottom line is we are broke… worse than broke actually. We have a $20,000.00 debt hanging over us, and no way to pay it back. Believe me when I say that my heart is broken! Our group poured all that we had into this, but still were unable to make it work under the circumstances. Now don’t get me wrong, I still believe in the idea! Tattooing is an intensely intimate process. You make a very personal contact with your client, and bond in a way that is impossible in any other short term interaction that you could expect in a church setting. For counseling it is an open door. For forming relationships, it is fantastic. I have had people come in to celebrate their faith in Jesus, and walk out permanently changed in a physical, as well as spiritual, sense. Trust me, this is powerful stuff!! The idea of Sacred Ink is not dead. However the current shop is.

As humbling as it is, I am forced to ask for help. I am not sure what else to do at this point.  We are asking for help in shouldering this burden. If there is anything you can do, and/or you feel like contributing financially, please contact us. If you would like to send money, please send it to (and make checks payable to)

Rochester Church of Christ

250 W. Avon Rd.

Rochester, Mi. 48307

(Please indicate on the check that the funds are for Sacred Ink).

We don’t know what the future holds for us, but we will continue to try to honor our God, and reach our world. Please prayerfully consider lending us a hand. And we will prayerfully consider our next move. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement.

Pete

preacherpete@comcast.net

    Sorry I haven’t written much lately.  I guess I have not had much to say.  For those of you who have known me for some time, or have had to sit through my sermons, I know this will come as a shock.  But there you have it none the less.  I guess I have been a little down lately.  Things at the shop are slow, winter refuses to go away, and the paper has some new tragedy every morning.  But what’s new about that?  Let’s face it, the world has been messed up for a long, long time.  So, this is generally the time I have to try just that much harder to see the good stuff around me… the God stuff!

    I have had the chance to do some pretty cool tattoos this past week.  Both artistically, as well as spiritually.  (I will try to get some pictures posted soon).  Artistically… well, I guess you will just have to take my word for it.  Spiritually… we had a few different clients this week come in to commemorate their faith with tattoos.  I think that is just great!!!  Not only because I get to do them, but (and I may be overstepping a little here) I think this is one of the highest (if not highest) purposes of tattooing.  Basically you are permanently changing your very physiology to represent the changes you have gone through spiritually.  It is kind of like writing upon your flesh the story of your soul.  Wow, I kind of like that one!!

    I am a very ritualistic person.  All my piercings, and tattoos have some deeper meaning behind them.  They mark losses, transitions, victories, and promises.  They help me mark my past to navigate my future.  They remind me of where I have been, and give me hope of where I may be going.  And hopefully that is what we are helping other to do down at the shop.

    So that’s about it for now… oh!  One more thing… some of you will get the humor in this, and some may not, but here it is anyway….  I was tattooing someone recently, and about the middle of it, she said “You know, I still think it is kind of weird that a Church of Christ is ok with a tattoo shop.  For a group of people who spend so much time being upset about women talking, having music at church… well, it’s kind of progressive don’t you think?”.

There may just be some hope for us yet huh?

Pete

“When a man says ‘How do you like my new coat?’ you must not say, ‘It is horrible,’ unless you can manage to give him a better one…. You cannot teach by disagreement’”

-Author unknown

    Not too long ago, I was asked by one of our clients, “Why are you here?”.  It is a good question, with more answers than you might guess.  I am here to give tattoos.  I am here to talk.  I am here to listen and learn from others.  I am here to follow Christ.  I am here because I am not somewhere else right now.  The list goes on and on, from the metaphysical to the poetic.  Perhaps it would be better to say what I am NOT here for…

    For one thing, I am not here to fuel the fire of hypocrisy and prejudice.  I am not going to lend any credibility (if I can help it) to the viewpoint that Christians are judgmental and self centered.  I am not going to look for opportunities to ‘spring my best argument’ for this, that, or the other thing on people.  Now if you have spent any time with my particular religious tribe, you know exactly what I am talking about.  Conversations are used as hunting grounds for “false doctrines”, and when we find one, we are positively salivating at the opportunity to rip them apart (in love of course).  There are two big problems with this.  One, all that is accomplished is you have shown yourself to be the south end of a north heading donkey.  Two, I have never seen Jesus do this!  Aren’t I supposed to be following Jesus?  Jesus understood ‘teachable moments’ (He should, He invented teaching, as well as moments).  If people weren’t interested in what He was saying, no problem, He moved on.  The only time you see Him getting all up in someone’s face, was the religious professionals!  No, I’m not here to tell you how wrong you are, and how right I am.  But if you are interested, I can simply tell you my stories, and answer some of your questions.  If not, I can still give you a tattoo!

    For another thing, I am not here to “bring Jesus to the world”.  I’m pretty sure He is already here!  (If He isn’t, we’ve got BIG trouble!).  Now I don’t know about you, but God was certainly acting in my life long before I was a Christian.  If He hadn’t been, I would have never become one.  Now don’t get me wrong, I know what people mean when they say “bring Jesus to the world”, but there is a fundamental difference in mindset between that statement, and “let’s go see what Jesus is doing in the world”.  God is active, our job (at least as I see it these days), is to go and be present in the situations.  Come along side, and offer to help, to talk, to teach if need be.  But to think that we are the keepers of the God Stuff, and only we can dole it out…. What arrogance would this be?!

    I guess when you come right down to it, I don’t know why I am here.  I only know that I am supposed to be here right now.  In the past, I have been sure of the whats, whys, and whos of my life, only to find out how wrong I was!  God has never done the predictable in my life, so why think He is going to start now?  We feel that God lead us to start this project.  What He is going to do with it is anyone’s guess.  What I do know, is that I plan to simply be here, and be available.  Available for talking, listening, and some very cool tattoos!  You know… that whole salt and light thing?!

Pete

For those who do not know, my wife lost her mother this past week. She died of a massive stroke at the age of 89. She lived a vibrant and independent life right up to the end, and you really can’t ask for more than that! Her favorite expression was “this too shall pass”. The phrase is credited to King Solomon…

One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him, "Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it." "If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty," replied Benaiah, "I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?" "It has magic powers," answered the king. "If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy." Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility. Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of he poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day’s wares on a shabby carpet. "Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?" asked Benaiah. He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile. That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity. "Well, my friend," said Solomon, "have you found what I sent you after?" All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled. To everyone’s surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, "Here it is, your majesty!" As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: _gimel, zayin, yud_, which began the words "_Gam zeh ya’avor_" — "This too shall pass." At that moment Solomon realized that all his wisdom and fabulous wealth and tremendous power were but fleeting things, for one day he would be nothing but dust.

I will never hear those words without hearing my mother in law. They are great words to keep in the front of your mind, no matter what situation you find yourself in. Even now in our grief, we know that it too will pass away, and give rise to joy. Yet that joy in turn will pass away, and the cycle will keep rolling till one day, when we too shall pass. Then, and only then, will we know a place where that phrase will be rendered useless and nonsensical. There will be no turning of our joy to sorrow any more. There will be no more transience. No laws of negative entropy. And in that day, I will look at ‘muzzy’ and say “You were right! It all did!”.

Keep it in mind my friends!!

Pete