Why are you in your underwear, I asked. Because I’m naked. That was not the response I was expecting.
The other day Monica and I were invited over for dinner with some friends. Now this friend has two really cool boys. I was highly entertained with their action figures, wrestling, and costumes. The youngest, a 3 year old, greeted us with a superman t-shirt. After dinner he came downstairs in a full Superman costume. I’m talking full suit with the cape and all. I was loving it! But then out of no where the costume disappeared and this lil 3 year old was running around in nothing but his underwear.
He quickly ran to me to continue our game which consisted of me holding him over my head with him pretending to fly. It was great with the Superman costume, but I wasn’t so sure about this new outfit. I quickly asked “what happened to the Superman costume?” He quickly replied, “I took it off.” I responded with “I can see that. Why are you in your underwear?” He said, “because I’m naked.” That was not the response I was expecting.
At what age do we become guarded and embarrassed? I’m glad adults don’t run around in their underwear, but there is something refreshing about a child’s lack of embarrassment. At some point we learn to hide. We hide our true selves. We hide our secret sins. We hide because we are afraid someone might see us for who we really are.
In the Bible the creation story starts out with two naked humans. They we naked and happy. Then Adam and Eve disobeyed God and their response was to hide. They covered themselves because they felt shame. Imagine if they didn’t disobey God. Furniture would be really different. I mean leather sticks to skin so we wouldn’t have leather chairs and couches. I think everything would be made out of bear skin. I’ve heard it’s nice and soft. I digress…
I’m all for clothes. I think people should wear them. In fact I think some people should wear a lot more of them then they do. But with clothing came shame. What if the key to finding joy is by being who you really are and not feeling ashamed? I don’t know, maybe we were created to obey God and find comfort in knowing who He created us to be. I think we hide because we feel shame. When we know Him and that He’s proud of us it should take away our desire to hide. We should feel shame about our sins, but the key is to confess it to God and not try to hide it.
I just heard of a story on the news of a 52-year-old man who was arrested for going through a fast-food drive-thru without wearing pants. As you said, some folks need to put more on, …, and fast! But your point is smack on. The more we open ourselves to God and reveal ourselves to him, the closer we will get to him. I guess you could say, the nakeder we get, the closer to him we will be.
I have a almost 5 year old girl and a 2 year old girl and they live to be naked as much as possible. It is never an issue when company is over but when we are alone, naked all the time.
It is just a phase us parents are aware of and is pretty darned funny if you let it be!
You are so wise. I can't wait till our 2 boys run around naked! -Monica
That 3 year old kid sounds awesome! 🙂
It is interesting to see when a child does become
aware/ashamed of their "nakedness" is the same time
they begin to realize what sin is and their need to
"cover" it up. For our older son it was when he
was 4.
were you at my house?! hahaha! james and david LOVE to be "nakey" – in fact, they are more often nakey than dressed.
if you asked james (the 4.5 yr old) why he was in his underwear, he would tell you he is in his "wrestling suit." which is AWESOME. in fact, when he and andy get ready to wrestle on the bed, the first thing he does is strip down to his superhero tighty whiteys!!
i can't wait to read your blog in 2-3 years about your TWO naked boys!
Thanks Lindsey. I can't wait either.
Kristi, he is pretty awesome.
Me too!
AtomicPopcorn, I might be contacting you about a blog change. I liked your site.
I hadn't heard about that 52 year old. Crazy.