November 17, 2010

• Naked Without Shame

  I have been listening to a lot of talks by Christopher West lately.  He does several series explaining and expounding on Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.  The concept is not only very deep but it is fascinating.  Along with listening to the talks and reading both Christopher West’s books and Pope John Paul’s books I have been doing a lot of digesting of the information.  Having the concepts of the Theology of the Body in my head tends to color everything else that goes in.

  A couple of weeks ago when I was teaching my fifth grade religion class we were talking about the Church’s teaching on the Resurrection of the Body and how when the body is brought up to heaven it is believed that all defects will be made perfect.  Thus anyone who, for instance, has had an amputation will be whole again in the Resurrection.   One of my smart mouthed students asked if ugly girls would be pretty in the Resurrection.  I told him I didn’t know but that it wouldn’t matter one way or the other because the earthly concept of beauty wouldn’t be at issue in heaven. 

  That conversation stayed in my head for a long time after and it sort of got washed through what I have been learning about the Theology of the Body.  The following is what I came up with, it is very rough, as my concept about what we are supposed to be shooting for here on earth.  This is what I feel is what naked without shame is supposed to be.

  He stood before her naked except for a tentative smile.  The first time that they had been together since his hospitalization.  The time spent in bed has wrought havoc on his frame.  He had never been large before, she had always seen him as wiry, but now he was downright emaciated.  But she smiled back at him with a confidence that she didn’t feel and a reassurance that she knew he needed to see.

  “What is it that you see when you look at me like this?” he asked.  “I’m not a young man anymore.”  She knew what he was referring to and suddenly she was on solid ground.  Words had never been a friend to him but they were something that she had always hid behind.  Now, rather than being a shield for her she was determined to make them into armour for him.

  “When I look at you, I’ll tell you what I see.  I see the feet that walked the floor countless nights with our children, soothing their cries and calming their fears until they fell asleep.  The feet that trod the stairs up and down when I was unwell fetching whatever it was that you thought would ease my pain.  I see the knees that bent and straightened so many times, over and over day after day earning our daily bread without a word of complaint.  I see the back that lifted and carried whatever it was that needed to be carried in the service of those who called out for help.  I see the arms that held and hugged, shovelled, climbed, turned, twisted, and swung in strength.  I see the hands that are deceptively calloused from the hard work of service and amazingly gentle with the service of love.  I see the eyes that can reassure me with a look and make me smile with a twinkle.  I see the mouth that speaks words of discipline, love, tenderness and prayer. And I see the man that I married so many years ago, made in the image and likeness of the God that he serves with such faith, love and devotion.  That is what I see when I look at you standing there like that.”

  With tears streaming down his face the man allowed his wife to help him dress for bed knowing that the words that she had spoken were true.  He knew that when he had occasion to be exposed to her in that way he need not fear for she saw in him what God had created and not what man would ridicule.  He knew he need never feel shame with her.

  • 2:49 pm
  • 6 Comments