“It’s a jungle out there, it used to be a garden.” – Tonio K.
You are probably familiar with the story.
It’s a tale as old as time.
The Maker created the happiest place on earth for His kids.
They came along and threw away the FastPass.
They broke the small world after all.
In the beginning…
Adam and Eve chose to nibble on the forbidden fruit.
That changed EVERYTHING!
They broke the ONE rule and broke EVERYTHING else.
The change was immediate for them…
They looked down at their suddenly public privates…
GASP!!!
They realized that they were NAKED.
Genesis 3:7 “Suddenly their eyes were opened to a reality previously unknown. For the first time, they sensed their vulnerability and rushed to hide their naked bodies, stitching fig leaves into crude loincloths.” (The VOICE)
It was a shock!
For the first time they had something to hide!
They created their own crude loincloths.
Suddenly vulnerability was a shameful thing.
It makes you wonder, who were they hiding their nakedness from? It was just the two of them and God (and the lying, thieving snake).
But, in the beginning, they were created naked.
Nothing to hide…
Here I am.
Vulnerable…
Honest…
Real.
Since then every single human being has been born naked.
But, live naked?
What if living naked is the original ideal idea?
Relax! I’m fully clothed as I write this.
I’m not talking about losing your shirt.
I’m talking about losing your shame and secrets.
I’m not suggesting a nudist colony, I’m talking about symbolically dropping the fig leaves and living with nothing to hide.
Living naked is simply being honest about the fact that we are imperfect and broken.
But, that’s really hard.
It’s not like us to like us.
So…
We still make our own crude loincloths to cover up our true selves.
We find new fig leaves…
Performance,
Appearance,
Possessions.
We cover up our shame, secrets, and shortcomings.
When I first found out that I had cancer, a few people asked me how I was going to handle it. Was I going to keep it private?
Was I going to let people know about what was happening?
My answer was easy, I wanted to live wide open.
I wanted to share the story with anyone who cared to listen.
The whole story…
The beauty and the beat down,
The process and the pain,
The wonky side effects,
The weakness,
The chemo farts,
All of it.
In the course of tests and treatments, I have dropped my pants and lifted my shirt for a whole lot of people.
At first, it was embarrassing, but I eventually got to the point where it just didn’t matter.
I suddenly felt no shame in symbolically doing that for anyone else.
In doing that I connected with people on levels that I could have never imagined.
I connected with my Maker on levels that I could have never imagined.
We all hurt, we all screw up.
We might as well be honest about it.
When we live raw and wide open it opens the door wide for real connection.
It creates the opportunity to hear two raw, powerful words…
“ME TOO.”
The key to being your “best self” is actually being yourself!
Life is much less complicated when you live naked.
It’s harder NOT to live naked.
You have to have a better memory. You have to remember where you put all of your fig leaves. You have to remember all the lies you told.
It’s easier just to live honest (or naked).
Get real, get raw.
The crazy twist of fate and fashion is that when we live naked the Maker clothes us in HIS garments of grace…
Righteousness,
Peace,
Joy!
Drop the fig leaves…
Let’s get naked.
carbonated joy 