# Naked day 1 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. > ### Opening Prayer: *O Lord my God, how I long to recapture the purity and joy of the Garden—when I was able to stand before you (and others) naked and unashamed. That, indeed, is what I was made for. But this side of heaven that is not my reality. My reality is filled with fear and shame; hiding and covering—terrified that I will be exposed, found out, not enough. How I genuinely long for true communion with you; total vulnerability; deep trust—to be fully known and fully loved. Have mercy on me! Amen. (JLB)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 30 #### A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple. *30 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me.2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.3 O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.[a]4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,and give thanks to his holy name.[b]5 For his anger is but for a moment,and his favor is for a lifetime.[c]Weeping may tarry for the night,but joy comes with the morning.6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”7 By your favor, O Lord, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face;I was dismayed.* *8 To you, O Lord, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy:9 “What profit is there in my death,[d]if I go down to the pit?[e] Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?10 Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!”11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, 12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!* #### Scripture for the Day: Genesis 2:18-25 *18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for[a] him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed[b] every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam[c] there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made[d] into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,* *“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;* *she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”[e]* *24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.* #### Reading for Reflection: *Naked. How does that word make you feel? What is the first response that comes up from within you? Terror? Embarrassment? Anxiety? Shame? Or does it bring about more positive feelings? Freedom? Intimacy? Delight? I have to admit that my first response is closer to terror than anything else. Even the mention of the word makes me want to grab for cover. Because at my fearful core being naked means being exposed and uncovered—which seems so unsafe. It means being seen for who and what I really am, not just who I project myself to be. And surely if anyone were ever to see me completely naked it would most certainly lead to rejection. Thus the very idea of being naked leads to overwhelming amounts of fear and insecurity.* *But there is another side to this story. Because somewhere deep within me (and really within all of us I believe) there is a longing for nakedness—a nakedness that we were created both in and for. It is the kind of nakedness mentioned in Genesis where we are told that the man and woman were both naked and unashamed. They were totally known and yet totally loved. What a beautiful picture of our deepest hopes and wildest dreams: total vulnerability and total acceptance. This is the kind of nakedness we were made for. This is the kind of nakedness that gives us a hint of the type of relationship God longs for with each of us; and the type of relationship God longs for each of us to offer one another.* *~Jim Branch January 2010* *I’m too alone in the world, yet not alone enough to make each hour holy.* *I’m too small in the world, yet not small enough to be simply in your presence, like a thing—* *just as it is. I want to know my own will and move with it. And I want, in the hushed moments when the nameless draws near, to be among the wise ones— or alone.* *I want to mirror your immensity. I want never to be too weak or too old to bear the heavy, lurching image of you.* *I want to unfold. Let no place in me hold itself closed, for where I am closed, I am false I want to stay clear in your sight. I would describe myself like a landscape I’ve studied* *at length, in detail; like a word I’m coming to understand; like a pitcher I pour from at mealtime; like my mother’s face; like a ship that carried me when the waters raged.* *(The Book of Hours by Rainer Maria Rilke)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Just As I Am *Just as I am without one plea,* *But that Thy blood was shed for me* *And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee,* *O Lamb of God, I come. I come.* *Just as I am, and waiting not* *To rid my soul of one dark blot.* *To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,* *O Lamb of God, I come. I come.* *Just as I am, tho’ tossed about,* *With many a conflict, many a doubt,* *Fightings within, and fears without,* *O Lamb of God, I come. I come.* *Just as I am poor, wretched, blind—* *Sight, riches, healings of the mind,* *Yea, all I need in Thee I find,* *O Lamb of God, I come. I come.* *Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,* *Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve,* *O yes Thy promise I believe,* *O Lamb of God, I come. I come.* ### Closing Prayer: *Lord Jesus, give me the grace and the strength and the courage to take off that which I use to cover myself; and to clothe myself only and always in you alone. Amen. (JLB)*