I grew up on the edge of town & being something of a loner in those days, epic walks around the local countryside suited me down to the ground. One day, I've no idea which one it was but it was probably warm, I stopped & took off my clothes. I loved the feeling of the sun on my skin & the sense of freedom it embued in me. It was something I knew I wouldn't be telling my parents about; their mores were formed in a different age & being understood by them would require a huge leap on their part. So I kept it to myself &, as life moved on, those pleasant summer strolls faded away.
I bumped up against a naturist in my first job but he wasn't keen to talk & we didn't hit it off on a personal basis. We worked together reasonably well but that was as far as it went. He was also the butt of cheap jokes, when he wasn't around; we weren't that cruel. It was something of a 9 day wonder & vanished under the hurly burly of everyday work. Fast forward a good few years &, for the second time, I found myself working with a practising naturist. She was quite willing to talk so it became part of normal conversation in our little office; the two of us & a few volunteers. This wasn't every day, more like once a month; if that. But through those conversations & meeting some of her friends got me thinking again...
I went to the Bible, looked for something concrete but found the Bible's silence on the morality of public nudity pretty much dumped the response back on me. Then I consoled myself with the thought that the Bible dosen't give explicit answers about everything; the eating of meat, for example. Some of my friends eat meat, others don't, still others (possibly from both groups) cast their votes to people whose politics I don't like. I always bear in mind the possibility they might be right & I might not. It seemed to me, this was a choice I'd have to make & cope with the responses of my friends. They've had some interesting stuff from me in the past without feeling the need to throw me out of their lives; grace is wonderful stuff, isn't it?
Since marrying in 2012 we've been on a number of holidays where topless sunbathing was OK & just part of the background. But in late 2015 we were beachwalking & found ourselves on one of the naturist beaches around here. I stripped off & it was as good as I remembered. My wife went topless & it was a very pleasant 45 minutes before our schedule moved us on. Now, in our rented villa, I have been able to develop an almost all over tan; the colours don't quite match & I'm juggling with a variety of SPF's!
Am I a naturist? Not yet but I am heading that way; I don't feel any clash with my faith. If I did, I wouldn't; I don't want to do anything that gets in the way of my relationship with God. I'm getting ever more comfortable in my skin & hopefully, one day, I'll be making friends & sharing my faith with & without clothes.