Disrobing the Soul: A Reflection on our Lenten Journey

In February, my community sat down to discuss what we wanted to do for Lent. We agreed that we all wanted to commit to something that would make us live more intentionally and thoughtfully and something that would be deeply humbling. We threw around ideas a bit but didn´t settle on anything and decided to revisit the topic later.

Our conversation then turned to the upcoming school year and classroom management. One of my community mates, a second year, told us a story of her most embarrassing moment from early on in her first year of teaching. She finished with the words, “It was horrible and the kids were staring at me like I was crazy… as if I was standing naked in front of them or something! But, it was also one of the most humbling things that has ever happened to me.”

Humility comes through the discarding of all pretenses; through discarding whatever untruths or fears cloak your soul. To be truly humble would mean to bare your soul – to your community, friends, family, and the people with whom you work. Would baring our souls be easier if first we shed the tangible items that cloak and hide our bodies? Could accepting our faults and shortcomings be possible if we first accepted and embraced our physical selves?

The light bulb went on.

The idea seemed absurd at first, but it was the type of challenge we wanted – something slightly uncomfortable that would, hopefully, be immensely rewarding. As so, we created weekly challenges to intentionally move towards acceptance and love.

In our first week of Lent, we instated “Private Self Acceptance” in which we committed to being naked whenever we were alone in our rooms, including while sleeping. For Spirituality Night we discussed being made in the image and likeness of God and loving ourselves unconditionally. For Community Night, we discussed image and self-acceptance on a society-wide level, both in the United States, Peru, and in Tacna.

In our second week, we instated “No Pants Dinners.” For our five community dinners each week, we undressed from the waist down (after we were all sitting down). One community mate stated incredibly poignantly, “The semi-nudity of our physical selves is a metaphor for how we generally approach relationships – we see one another only as they physically and obviously appear to us, but so much lies below the surface that we want to see but are not quite ready for. We need to be patient and loving and reveal ourselves slowly to others so that they might feel comfortable to do the same for us."

In our third week of Lent, we decided to move towards total nudity. We ate community dinners by the light of one tiny candle, undressing after the lights were all off. The dinners were unexpectedly eye-opening. We experienced heightened sensitivity to taste, smell, and sound, and communicated with one another in a new way. We found that our complete nudity, and the anonymity that darkness brings, inspired us to be our more authentic selves.

In our fourth week of Lent, we extended dinner nudity and darkness to be an all-night affair. From 6:30 P.M. onwards, only the small candle was allowed in the house and we committed to remaining nude. Spirituality Night and Community Night that week were extra special as we themed both nights´ discussions around the idea of “secrets and fears.” Our profound closeness with one another also inspired us to build more genuine relationships with our Peruvian friends, neighbors, and colleagues. It was a unique paradox from the traditional way we had viewed nudity - we were more confident in ourselves unclothed than we were clothed. 

By the fifth week, we were more than ready to take our Lenten nudity farther. We turned the lights back on and spent most of our free time in the house nude. We were suprised how little hesitation or anxiety any of us had. It felt like such a natural and welcome progression in our desire to redefine how we approach authenticity. In this week we also recognized how a nude lifestyle complimented simple living, we had far fewer clothes to wash which meant we were conserving water (we do live in a desert after all) and spending more time with one another. We did make an exception on apron-wearing; it became rather vital in the kitchen after an unfortunate grease splatter. An apron was hung by the front door in case any visitors stopped by and we needed emergency modesty.

And now, with the end of Lent approaching, we have decided that we’re not quite ready to put all our clothes back on. We plan to continue nude Spirituality Nights because we found that our bare skin so inspired us to bare our souls. And as we move forward and meditate on how we can continue to live with the lessons we’ve learned the past month, we remember the most important lesson of all……..




Some people are so gullible. Happy April Fool’s Day.