Naked in what garden?

Nudity is not neutral...
Actually it is, but people's responses are rarely neutral.   The thought of having everything stripped off may scare you, excite you, comfort you or trouble you - but you probably won't be thinking, "yeah, whatever."  But going back to the ancient biblical account of how we all began; in the beginning nudity was no big deal.  In fact, the original state of a man and woman, bound together as one, is described in this way; "And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed." (Genesis 2:25)

In the idyllic garden, there were no cover ups.  It was "very good!" Yet a quick reality check of the world around us confirms that the "very good" is gone.   All is not as it should be in the world, in relationships, and in so many marriages.  Fig leaves are not enough to cover up all we are trying to hide.

A little knowledge goes a long way....
You can't not know what you now know.  Once an image has been seen, once an idea is in your head, once your flaw has been pointed out - you can't go back to before.
         Ignorance is bliss, but incomplete.
                     Knowledge is transforming, but often painful.

In the garden of Genesis, the man and woman completed each other, saw themselves in the other, and it was very good.  But we always want more.  If we are aware we don't know something, we have an urge to discover (for great good or great ill).  Adam and Eve, the ancient us, gained knowledge, but lost so much.
They now knew: The two are different. The two may be one - but the two-ness remains.  The desire rises up to hide, to cover up our differences.... so out come the fig leaves.

We can't go back...
We can't not know, but then again there is a fullness and a richness in knowledge. We want to know, and when we begin to grasp onto the full knowledge we can move toward the end of knowledge - where shame is no more.  It requires digging into a rich understanding, having mysteries enlightened, only then we can arrive at the best place.  Once again it is possible to be naked (both literally, but more importantly emotionally, spiritually and mentally) and not ashamed.  As a man and woman become one, they can dip their toes in the refreshing waters within the garden.  They can have a safe place where hiding their differences behind wilting leaves isn't necessary.

This is the picture painted throughout the ages, of a woman and a man discovering a piece of paradise.  We can never recapture the pristine bliss of Eden.  The world, and everything in it, is tainted.  However, for those called to marriage, we can strive to find God's way to the other end of knowledge - and pre-fig leaf oneness.

It isn't paradise....

We don't live in paradise.  So, we have some work to do.  The hope of this blog is to provide some helps as you seek to build a marriage which is free from fig leaves.

Here's The Basic Idea