I’ve been enjoying Brian McLaren’s book, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words. In case you don’t know Brian, he became well known after writing a book called A New Kind of Christian, and has since written a wide range of forward thinking and inspirational books about a generous kind of Christianity.

Naked Spirituality is a book about dropping a lot of concepts about religion, and instead focusing on practices that help us live with God. It’s called Naked spirituality because when we drop all our ideas about who we should be, and just allow ourselves to be authentic in front of God, something real and deep and honest can happen.

And in this spirituality, God is naked too. I think what Brian means by that is we try to open ourselves up to that which is beyond words and concepts. We try to let go of our labels and our titles for God. We try to let God be something that is beyond words. A wordless but vast Presence, not covered or hidden by expectations and labels.

The book talks about seasons of our spiritual lives, stages that we go through, and in each season Brian offers three simple words that express the essence of that season. They are Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity, and Harmony.

The season of Simplicity is a season of spiritual awakening. Brian correlates it to a springlike season, and the spiritual practices are those that help us awaken to God’s presence in our lives.

The second season is Complexity. Once we’ve awakened to God’s presence and to our spiritual side, we go through a season of Spiritual Strengthening. Brian correlates it with Summer. Things are growing, but things get a little more complicated at this stage, in this season. We remember our own limitations. We need to pray for healing and intercession. We encounter the complexity of life, including our spiritual lives.

The third season is Perplexity, a season of spiritual survival. This is a kind of autumn in our spiritual development. We might come to our wits end in this stage. We have to raise our laments and get exasperated with God. Life is perplexing to us! Everything is not ripening for the harvest anymore, some things are starting to shrivel on the vine. We wonder how we will survive.

The fourth season is Harmony. Brian calls it the winterlike season of spiritual deepening. In this stage there is contemplation and rest, there is surrender and a new kind of wonder and consecration—finding the holiness in things.

For today’s Spiritual Practice@Home, I encourage you to try just the first word of the first season. In Simplicity we say, “Here.” We show up, placing ourselves before God, just as we are right now. No coverings, no hiding. Just Here. Now. I awaken to the presence of God all around me.

“When we practice awakening to the here-ness of God in solitude or out in nature, we gradually learn to stay awake to God’s here-ness in the midst of the crowds, the noise, and the rush and crush that threaten to derange us.” (Naked Spirituality, pg 46)

Try watching this beautiful, contemplative video of Brian guiding listeners to experience “Here.” Suzanne Jackson also models meditative movements. I love watching it then running it again and just listening to Brian’s voice and the music.

It’s a trailer for more videos that you can purchase, but just using this free trailer is a beautiful spiritual practice@home.