The small group I am part of talked about our memories around caring for the sick. The book we are reading is called What Would Love Do? and it is based on the passage in Matthew about those who are hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, estranged and imprisoned. One woman was late because she slept in after her nursing shift which ended at five a.m. We were lenient. While the rest of us discussed it, she had been doing it. 

We also bantered about the aspects of clothing the naked, and how shirts and pants help us feel safe from exposure. What we wear can make us feel special, warm, playful, attractive, powerful. Clothes protect our more embarrassing qualities, not as a form of denial but to keep a layer of modesty. Each of us have areas we are not proud of and would rather keep out of sight.

One person drew a comparison between re-covering a naked body with clothes and recovering from the shameful experience of addiction. Few things are as capable of bringing us to our knees as dependency on drugs, or drinking or unsavory tendencies. As the first step suggests, our lives have become unmanageable. But groups like AA help us to recover those parts of us that have spilled out of control

Marriage is intended as a place for nakedness, yet free from shame. In the sacred space of a shared life two people can find safety. Because that is precisely what love would do.