I had to write a paper on any topic of my choice and find out all that I could that the Prophet Joseph Smith had told us about it. After turning that portion of it in, I decided I wanted to expand on it. I now have a 7 page paper, which is still not even close to finished. And might I just say, I love the temple.
Here are some of the few great things I've learned and now have answers for when people say that the temple is so "hush hush" and we do some crazy things there. If you know where to look, you can find out so much, and it's so wonderful and glorious and enlightening.
From President Brigham Young: "Let me give you a definition in brief. Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the House of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angles who stand as sentinels, being able to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell (Discourses of Brigham Young, 416)."
Many do not understand the urgency and importance of a temple marriage. To them, it seems like it’s just “a good thing to do” but not a requirement. They believe that somehow, they can do a wedding and ceremony so much better than what the temple has to offer. However, as Elder Kofford of the Seventy once said: "They simply do not understand. You cannot improve on the Lord’s way. It was planned by Him. The ordinance is His. The authority is His. The words are His, and the house is His. Who would dare to compare the tinsel of the temporal with the gold of God?" There is nothing more perfect, nothing more sacred, than a sealing of a husband and wife together for time and all eternity; to have children born within that covenant and bound together forever by the Priesthood of God. What more could someone want than to be with their spouse and children for not only this life, but the world to come?
Here are some of the few great things I've learned and now have answers for when people say that the temple is so "hush hush" and we do some crazy things there. If you know where to look, you can find out so much, and it's so wonderful and glorious and enlightening.
From President Brigham Young: "Let me give you a definition in brief. Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the House of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angles who stand as sentinels, being able to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell (Discourses of Brigham Young, 416)."
Many do not understand the urgency and importance of a temple marriage. To them, it seems like it’s just “a good thing to do” but not a requirement. They believe that somehow, they can do a wedding and ceremony so much better than what the temple has to offer. However, as Elder Kofford of the Seventy once said: "They simply do not understand. You cannot improve on the Lord’s way. It was planned by Him. The ordinance is His. The authority is His. The words are His, and the house is His. Who would dare to compare the tinsel of the temporal with the gold of God?" There is nothing more perfect, nothing more sacred, than a sealing of a husband and wife together for time and all eternity; to have children born within that covenant and bound together forever by the Priesthood of God. What more could someone want than to be with their spouse and children for not only this life, but the world to come?
John A. Widtsoe stated: "We live in a world of symbols. We know nothing, except by symbols. We make a few marks on a sheet of paper, and we say that they form a word, which stands for love, or hate, or charity, or God or eternity. The marks may not be very beautiful to the eye. No one finds fault with the symbols on the pages of a book because they are not as mighty in their own beauty as the things which they represent. We do not quarrel with the symbol G-o-d because it is not very beautiful, yet represents the majesty of God. We are glad to have symbols, if only the meaning of the symbols is brought home to us. I speak to you tonight; you have not quarreled very much with my manner of delivery, or my choice of words; in following the meaning of the thoughts I have tried to bring home to you, you have forgotten words and manner. …We live in a world of symbols. No man or woman can come out of the temple endowed as he should be, unless he has seen, beyond the symbol, the mighty realities for which the symbols stand. (“Temple Worship,” page 62.)"
Each of these symbols has great meanings. A Star of David, for instance. Many are curious as to why Mormons have a Jewish symbol placed on their temples and other such places. This is because they do not understand the symbol and what it truly means, behind the thing it is called. As many scholars and historians have dug deeper into religious meanings, they have found some truths about these symbols. The triangle which points upward is a representation of man, while the downward triangle is representative of woman. The way that it is intertwined together is to show how husband and wife must be with each other. They are not one without the other, but they are together in bond and purpose. (I'll add more to this later, I just don't have the book with me that has this information at the moment.)
The point is this; go to the temple. Go to the temple often. Prepare spiritually and allow yourself to be enlightened by what God is willing to share with us. We need the temple and the covenants and ordinances performed therein. There’s no truer statement than what Joseph declared to the Saints in Nauvoo, “We need temples more than anything else!” (History of the Church, 6:230)
No comments:
Post a Comment