Covering Nakedness

I.

In his wonderful book, Arabian Sands, Wilfred Thesiger describes his journeys with the Bedu of the Southern Arabian Peninsula. At one point he is giving a general impression of living with them and describes the following incident.

My companions always kept their loin-cloths on even when they washed at the wells. At first I found it difficult to wear a loin-cloth with decency when sitting on the ground. Bedu say to anyone whose parts are showing, 'Your nose!' I had this said to me once or twice before I learnt to be more careful. The first time I wiped my noise thinking that there was a drip on the end of it, for the weather was very cold.

Not only did his modest companions alert him to his nakedness, but they also had a euphemism to describe it. When I was a kid, my mom would say "X-Y-Z" if my zipper was down.

II.
And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
Gen 3:21

Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father's nakedness. 
Gen 9:23

I was naked and you clothed me.
Matt 25:26

III.
If you read lives of saints, especially monastic elders, you will encounter, over and over, their radical excuse-making for others. But then, maybe it shouldn't be that astonishing. They are simply living the Gospel.

Forgiving debts and not judging is just another way of covering someone's nakedness.

 

Don't criticize or judge other people—regard everyone else as an angel, justify their mistakes and weaknesses, and condemn only yourself as the worst sinner. This is step one in any kind of spiritual life.
--Fr Seraphim Rose of Platina