What do you think of when you hear that word? Perhaps that's a dumb question, but in the last few months it's taken on such a different meaning in my head, so that I almost forget that to most people "naked" means no attire, birthday suit, the way God made ya, etc. All true according to dictionary.com, but it's definition #11 that got my attention; "Exposed to view or plainly revealed". If you haven't already caught on, that's what this blog is all about. Exposure.
Exposure sounds scary, doesn't it? Makes you feel vulnerable, maybe just a bit self-conscience? For 26 of my naive 27 years I'd have felt the same way, but this experience has allowed me a new perspective. To be revealed means there is no longer effort spent hiding. It allows light to heal what the dark allowed to rot.
In the Victorian Era, women used to remove all the clothing from their trunks on sunny days and lay them out in open windows. The sun would bleach the stale stench of closet clothes and moth balls. It would freshen the linens, so when they were worn, they were clean, gleaming and bright. Same goes for our hearts. When we take what we've hidden inside; those little secrets, the ones no one should care about, the ones that happened so long ago, and we bring them out into the open air we allow the light to bleach the dirt and the wind to carry away the smell of decay.
We all have dirt in our closets, we all have scars, so why do each of us think that ours our too ugly for anyone else to see? Begs the question, "what makes you so special?"
I have a scar on my eyebrow from where I jumped off a suitcase at my grandparents house when I was 2 and hit the corner of the coffee table. My eyebrow has never looked quite the same...neither has the coffee table. I don't think the bandage had been put over my stiches before Grandpa hauled the table into his shop and lobbed off the edges. My scar is still there, but it doesn't bother me anymore. The table will never get it's corners back. Maybe you've been scarred, or maybe you've caused one. Both leave marks. My grandfather could have tossed the offensive table, but he didn't. Still sits in my grandmother's living room. I supposed my parents could have discarded their now dinged and imperfect daughter, but they didn't. God could look at you with all your scars and blemishes and condemn you, but He won't.
Who can you trust with your scars, dents and dings? All of them? Most scars don't leave marks on the skin. Have you let someone in that far? Particularly if you're married, has even your spouse seen you that close? That naked? In all, the word naked has 14 definitions: WIthout clothes, without barriers, without container, without protection, plain, unadorned, simple, not supplimented, exposed, defenseless, plainly revealed. You'll notice only the first refers to clothes. The rest refer to a state free of guards and defenses. It's utter vulnerability and it can be both scary and thrilling. Getting naked requires an environment of trust, forgiveness, at for at least one definition..warmth.
I guess at some point it all comes down to choice. I can choose to be seen, or choose to hide. I can be ashamed of my scars, or I can have a house full of no-corner coffee tables and a story to tell about all of them. Not everyone needs to see you naked (regardless of which definition your using), but hopefully everyone has one person in their lives that allows them to be "unadorned" and "plainly revealed". So write it down, monumental moment here, a self-proclaimed "good girl" is going to tell you to go get naked (just so I can sleep tonight, I have to reiterate all 14 meanings...13 is fine if you ain't hitched...okay, I can sleep now)
*Special thanks for this blog post is owed to Kris and Kathy. Thanks for reminding us of the beauty of bare.
