Ephesians 1:15 + 8 more verses (and a tattoo idea)

This past week I ran my fastest 3200m run since my senior year in high school.  Perhaps since my junior year in high school, as I don't recall if I Coach Fisher made me run the 3200m race that I was not particularly good at.

In any case, I have not written about a bib number or race time since Boston--despite being in two races since Boston.  For Boston, I wrote about my bib number, my race time, the time on the clock when the explosions occurred and the actual time at which the explosions occurred.  I used to write about nearly ever bib number and every race time.  

This week was not even a race but it was a good reason to think about the meaning of what I doing.  

So, I looked for something to take inspiration from having to do with my 11:58 time in the 3200m.  I really thought that the fact that I had broken twelve minutes should be noted.  

So, I came upon Paul's letter to the Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 15, plus 8 more.

In the New American Bible Revised Edition, the verses read:

Therefore, I, too, hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus and of your love for all the holy ones, do not cease giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him.  May the eyes of [your] hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come.  And he put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

It is comforting to think that St. Paul--who was responsible for spreading the word of God far and wide--would be thankful for and praying for anyone--perhaps me.  It is also comforting to think that God would give me a spirit of wisdom and revelation.  The revelations regarding God for the past three years have been tied to my running in ways that I had never expected when a started running and teaching Sunday school and participating in church in ways that I never would have imagined as a kid.  

I also find this set of verses interesting as it refers to the eyes of your heart.  This is a line from one of the songs that we performed many times when I played with Forty More Days at church although I don't play any more--Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord.   

Of course, the entire faith is built around the notion that Jesus rose from the dead.  And I have taught about being a part of the body of Christ on earth many times.

So, this set of verses is stuff that I find easy to relate to.  While it is not a single message that I can easily summarize it just felt right when I read it and spent time thinking about it.

What was even more interesting was when I started thinking about how I could turn it into an idea for an epic tattoo.  (Just in case I ever really get the idea to open a tattoo consulting shop that might be called Tattoo Wisdom).  To turn this set of verses into an epic tattoo, I would begin by thinking of where--probably on the back to make it big enough for what I thought of.  St. Paul is often represented by a book or a sword.  So, I would begin with a large book held open by a sword.  On the hilt of the sword, I would put praying hands.  I would also put the praying hands in the lower outside corners of the pages the book is open to.  On the left hand page, I would have a combination of a brain (looking anatomically correct) and a cartoonish heart with eyes next to each other.  Above these would be a sun that would symbolize revelation.  The rays from the sun would be clearly shining on the right hand page.  From the brain would be a thought cloud that would overlap to the right hand side.  In the thought cloud spanning the whole right hand page, I would have Jesus sitting in a chair to the right of an empty chair.  I would make sure that Jesus looks like someone from the mideast and not looking overly European.  The chair to his left would be empty as I do not presume to know what God looks like.  Then, there would be a long scroll from below the chair in which Jesus is sitting that would be blank for quite some way and then be filled with names--representing how high above the others Jesus is.  Finally, I would find some way to represent the rest of the members of the church--the body of Christ.  Perhaps it would be possible to have many small characters incorporated into the robes Jesus would be wearing.  This is just a first set of ideas, but it could be pretty cool to expand on over time.  

Just so Sherry knows if she reads this, this would not be a plan for an actual tattoo for me.  Of all the things I could get a tattoo of this would not be something I would picture for myself.  It is just an idea to try out thinking about things like this and thinking about how to integrate ideas creatively into art.