# Naked day 5 > 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: Ezekiel 16:1-14 #### The Lord's Faithless Bride *16 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations, 3 and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born.* *6 “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ 7 I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.* *8 “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine. 9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. 10 I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.[a] 11 And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14 And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.* #### Reading for Reflection: *Rabbi Abraham Heschel said at the Liturgical Conference in Milwaukee that what we needed, what the world needed, was prayer.* *And now I pick up Thomas Merton’s book, Contemplative Prayer, which I am starting to read, and the foreword by our good Quaker friend Douglas Steere brought back to my memory a strange incident in my life. He quotes William Blake: “We are put on earth for a little space that we may learn to bear the beams of love.” And he goes on to say that to escape these beams, to protect ourselves from these beams, even devout men hasten to devise protective clothing. We do not want to be irradiated by love (By Little and By Little—The Selected Writings of Dorothy Day edited by Robert Ellsberg)* *It is jarring to learn that what He went through in His passion and death is meant for us too; that the invitation He extends is Don’t weep for me! Join me! The life He has planned for Christians is a life much like He lived. He was not poor that we might be rich. He was not mocked that we might be honored. He was not laughed at so that we would be lauded. On the contrary, He revealed a picture meant to include you and me.* *It makes me happy to be suffering for you now, and in my own body to make up all the hardships that still have to be undergone by Christ for the sake of His body, the Church. Colossians 1:24 NJB)* *By extinguishing the spirit that burns in the gospel, we scarcely feel the glow anymore. We have gotten so used to the ultimate Christian fact—Jesus naked, stripped, and crucified—that we no longer see it for what it actually is. We are to strip ourselves of earthly cares and worldly wisdom, all desire for human praise, greediness for any kind of comfort, spiritual consolations included. The gospel is a summons to be stripped of those fine pretenses by which we manage to paint a portrait of ourselves for the admiration of friends. (The Furious Longing of God by Brennan Manning)* #### 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)*