naked

Naked. Butt-naked. Au natural. Birthday-suit. Bare. Buff. In today’s world cultures, the human form has oft been portrayed in its superlative beautiful form and as its most ignoble pornographic depiction. Nakedness, per se, is nothing of which to be ashamed (unless you resemble this writer). The shame comes more in the eye, or, more precisely, in the mind, of the beholder. Our species has a tendency to seek the basest elements in nature and to lift them to an art form, thus diminishing the beauty of what our God has created in all of us— a reflection of Himself. [Inordinate use of fast-foods, sugars, and salts hasn’t helped either, not to mention the prevalence of our “couch-potato culture.”]

So we hide ourselves in post-Eden attire, brightly colored and reflective, to hide the form with which God has endowed us and we have abused. We hide in hides, as it were. Or cotton, wool, silk, or polyester, eye-liner, flushed cheeks and dangly thingies from our ears. Not that any of these are bad, mind you…, given the alternative. Gross nakedness of a Creature gone awry.

Moreover, we extend hiding to our relationships with our Creator and our fellow creatures. Though decked in the latest fashion, we cover-up further with a personal façade to prevent others from truly knowing who we are underneath. Concealing our true selves from one another, for whatever reasons, seems counter-productive to Truth and truth to this writer. Attempting to hide from God…, well, that’s just ridiculous. Yet we find ourselves in a culture where being accessible and being secretive aspire to go hand-in-hand. We want God to be there when we need him; otherwise, we do not want him meddling in our stuff. We want our friends there to Blog with, FB, IM, or Tweet. But responding must remain on our turf & time.

We humans have such a desire to be known, to be loved, and to know others intimately and safely. We want to love freely, like we could when we were just children: but our world has become such a frighteningly unsafe place. It takes more effort to earn the trust of someone today than it did in the past. My word is my bond and a handshake is no longer enough. Saying “I love you.” even needs a prenuptial agreement. How did we arrive at such a deplorable, tragic state?

Might I suggest that a modicum of nakedness might be in order; baring our souls for others to see, opening our lives to people who need to know they are not alone. Isn’t it time we all took the risk of standing naked before our Creator so as to stand unashamed before one another?

Have a nice week,

Gary