Ha, Gotcha!! I knew with that title I would get some readers. Stick around, you may be pleasantly surprised. A few years ago I had the opportunity to purchase a personalized license plate for my zebra-striped vehicle. I wanted a plate that would draw attention and requirements stated the plate could only contain seven letters, no more. This is a bigger chore than you may imagine. I had seen cute phrases such as "FLEWBYU", "HUMPDAY", and one on a hearse, "EXPIRED". But, what better configuration than "GONAKED"? It contained seven letters and just like the title of this blog, it got your attention. But, after some consideration and some stern looks from others, I opted to go with "GOZEBRA", instead.

 The word "naked" is found in the Bible a little over one hundred times. Contrary to much belief, it is not always shameful to be naked. For instance, Job fell to the ground naked, humbled before the Lord. David danced and praised God while being naked. Isaiah was ordered by God to preach naked. Of course, Adam and Eve were naked in the beginning. It is only after Adam complains of being naked that God clothes them. God asked, "Who told you that you were naked?" Hence, we were created naked.

 But, what is the difference between being naked and being nude? Robert Graves summed up the subject in the following poem:

   The Naked and the Nude

For me, the naked and the nude
(By lexicographers construed
As synonyms that should express
The same deficiency of dress
Or shelter) stand as wide apart
As love from lies, or truth from art.

Lovers without reproach will gaze
On bodies naked and ablaze;
The Hippocratic eye will see
In nakedness, anatomy;
And naked shines the Goddess when
She mounts her lion among men.

The nude are bold, the nude are sly
To hold each treasonable eye.
While draping by a showman's trick
Their dishabille in rhetoric,
They grin a mock-religious grin
Of scorn at those of naked skin.

The naked, therefore, who compete
Against the nude may know defeat;
Yet when they both together tread
The briary pastures of the dead,
By Gorgons with long whips pursued,
How naked go the sometimes nude!

 Although this poem is not spiritual or religious, the poet does hit on some human traits that demand some attention. Graves compares Naked as truth and Nude as a lie. Naked is honest in her appearance while Nude hides behind a facade. Naked is humble and Nude has forgotten its nakedness and become somewhat arrogant. We, too, have a tendency to become arrogant with our social status, our career positions, or our wealth. We judge others on that basis, totally blinded as to how naked we really are. Graves concludes the poem saying that there is no difference as we are all destined for death. Bummer.

 Sometimes it is best to just go naked.

Image by Alphonse Maria Mucha