The temple

Not-withstanding all that has been written lately about Latter-day Saints, I want to write a bit about a topic which is hard to put into words for public consumption. The fact is, what takes place in an LDS temple is not understandable unless you have the right perspective.

What is largely discussed by the media, online or in print are the limited conjecture about the limited outward appearances related to the temple and the weird and falsehoods. (The weird are only weird if you don't have the right perspective and the false statements because too many people like to act as if they know something they have no idea about).

[A for instance regarding the weird...the first time I was introduced to the concept that at Wal-Mart, the store employees gather for a meeting each morning and sing the company song and chant various company chants. The rituals for being an employee of Wal-Mart seemed very weird to me. But as I studied the business reasoning behind it and started looking at what the benefits, and reasons behind the rituals were, it made much more sense. I'm sure if I were to become a Wal-Mart employee, I would gain a greater understanding of the benefits of the rituals.]

For me the temple is a symbol of someplace holy, where I have spiritual experiences, and where I go to seek for direction, and personal understanding. I also find going to the temple allows me to draw closer to my wife and step back from the mundane and set a proper perspective on what is going on in my life. The rituals which take place become almost unimportant the longer you attend. Not because they are unimportant, but the contrary. Because the ritual of attending the temple is so similar visit-to-visit, the experience of temple attendance becomes a microcosm of what a Buddhist monk's life must be like. A few hours of pondering and meditating on things holy. Time to reflect on what is happening in your life and what should be happening.

Beyond the pondering, the doctrines of performing ordinances (baptisms, marriage, etc) for those who have died is also important. The greater principle being that we as humans are one big family. We lived together before being born and we're going back after we've learned a few things in this life. However to get back to Our Father's presence, we must be saved both personally by having a relationship with Christ (as most Christians believe) and by receiving a physical ordinance performed by someone who Jesus Christ authorizes to work on his behalf. In both cases, the reality is that you must better know who Christ is to receive either the physical or spiritual ordinance. The fact is, that for someone who really understands what the temple is about, your relationship with Jesus Christ is strengthened and you are drawn closer to heaven by your preparation to attend or your actual attendance at the temple.

Some of the most spiritual work I have accomplished to date involved gathering names and doing family history/genealogy. At the time, the purpose was not to perform ordinances for the deceased. Instead, the simple spiritual nature of doing family history was released upon me as I did the work to understand one family in my mother's line. I cannot yet share what attending the temple to perform the saving ordinances for my family members is like. But if the work preparing the family names is anything like performing the ordinances, I need to get to work.

Like I said at the beginning of this post. There has been much written and said about Mormons and their temples. I have touched on a few personal feelings and thoughts regarding the temple and why it is important to me. The reality of going to the temple for me is that it isn't about all the weird stuff that the media likes to point out. Instead, it is about a place where my personal relationship with my God can be deepened.


BTW, thanks to LDS.org for providing the pictures of the temples. Salt Lake City Utah and Dallas Texas temples.