Today I’ve stolen(with permission of course) a guest post right off another blog: letstalkaboutreligionandpolitics(ooh, we’d love to see you there!) Ruth Mitchell is a quilt-tying, cookie baking, secretly novel-writing mother of 4. Happily, her husband’s schooling has landed her in beautiful Southern California where she can see the spires of the San Diego Temple from her front yard.

Tonight HBO has decided to make more mammon by desecrating religious ordinances on national television. They plan to show parts of the Mormon Temple ceremony on a show about polygamists. To members of my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, this news is like hearing about the dead body of a loved one being dragged through the streets. Possibly a mangled body depending on how much they distort the truth–something I worry about since polygamists aren’t Mormon and therefore don’t attend our temples. I know I feel a little sick, every time I think about it. The dead body metaphor is apt since the temple ceremony portrayed by non-believers will reveal as much about the real ordinance as a corpse reveals about the soul who once occupied it: not much. The power of the temple lies in the holy spirit which dwells in the building and in the hearts of those who attend. Without this spirit the ordinances will be meaningless, empty and a little weird.
Those who attend the temple covenant not to talk about sacred details of the ceremonies outside the temple walls. I understand how secrecy can make people nervous. People may wonder what we are trying to hide. But it’s not about keeping secrets as much as keeping some things sacred–a novel idea in a time when so many delight in baring the most intimate details of their lives with the masses. Still, there is actually much more that members can say about the temple than we can not. I realized this week, that I do not talk enough to those not of my faith of how I love the temple or of why every time I see it’s spires shining in the distance, my heart gives a little leap. One reason for my reticence is because I sense (or imagine) people getting nervous when I mention the temple. Another reason is that I know some things will sound weird and sometimes even Mormons get tired of being weird. I think the biggest reason I don’t talk about the temple is I don’t want to risk others misunderstanding or mocking something that is so dear to me. But I guess that is already happening. So in an effort to stop more misunderstanding, I thought I would share in this blog how I see the temple.

Actually, for all the talk of secrecy most of what goes on in the temple, we are free to disclose. And I must say the few details and actual wording of ordinances that I can’t share are all in the same spirit as the things I can, there are no deep dark secrets. (I’m certain this came as a big disappointment to HBO.) In fact there is so much I can tell you about the temple (there are books and books on the topic in LDS bookstores) that I decided to limit this to just five things I love about the temple.

1. The Temple is a refuge from the world.

Since we consider the temple the House of the Lord, we attend in our Sunday best. However, once inside in a locker room (in a very private booth) we change from our street clothes into temple clothes which are all white. As I do this I feel like I’m shedding all my worldly cares. I often think of a scripture from the Book of Mormon which tells us to put off the natural man and become a saint. I mentally shed for a few hours my pettiness, my greed, my pride, and my selfishness. The interior of the temple is exquisite. In general our church is thrifty. Our chapels are more practical than pretty. But we go all out for our temples–gold leaf, marble, antique furniture, crystal chandeliers–only the best for the house of God. One woman I know said she loves to go to temple just to be in a place that is perfectly clean and sit on couch and know that there are no Legos or crumbs in the cushions. Inside the temple is peaceful. I visited the Manhattan temple this fall which stands almost across the street from the Lincoln Center. To keep out the din of sirens and honking cabs, it was built as a building within a building. It may be the quietest spot in all of New York City. It is a place one can truly be still. There is much good in the world, but there is also much corruption and sorrow. It is good to have a quiet place to escape the ugliness of the world and the ugliness within my own heart and seek the Lord’s help and comfort.

2. The Temple is a place of inspiration.

If I go to the temple with a question, I usually come back with an answer. Sometimes, I go without a question and still get surprising but sound direction for my life. My husband made an important career decision several years ago out of inspiration he received–almost out of the blue–in the temple. This decision has opened many doors for him. Inspiration in the temple generally comes in thoughts and feelings. I believe God gives everyone some of this sort of personal revelation in their lives–some call it a gut feeling. But for me, this inspiration comes much more frequently and clearly in the temple

3. The Temple gives us perspective.

We sometimes refer to the temple as the Mountain of Lord. The temple is like a mountain in many ways. As I mentioned before, like a mountain the temple is a great place to escape the trappings of the world and to receive inspiration. Temples are also like mountains because they give us a chance to look at the big picture; to stand on a peak and look down on our lives and see things as they really are. In the endowment ceremony we review highly symbolic stories from scriptures. As we review these stories we learn about God’s dealing with his children as well as our own spiritual journey. In this retelling we are reminded of some key doctrines of our religion: 1. That God has a purpose for his children. 2. that He knew of and prepared for the existence of evil. 3. That the atonement of Christ is powerful enough to overcome the evil of this world and to bring us home to God our Father. Underlying all of this, is the conviction of the immortality of the soul. In the temple we have the chance to think about where we came from, why we are on earth and where we are going. It reminds one of what really matters which is my next topic: the family.

4. The temple strengthens families.

The Mormon heaven is all about family. One of our prophets, David O. McKay, said, “It is possible to make home a bit of heaven. Indeed I picture heaven as the continuation of the ideal home.” And we want that ideal home to have all of our family, I mean all of it. Even a great great great great ( I don’t know how many greats) grandma who lived 200 years ago in Bavaria. We’ll call her Marie. So we take Marie’s name to the baptistry–the first ordinance necessary to begin bringing families together. This leads me to baptisms for the dead, the term that makes everyone squirm. It might be more palatable if you think of it as the Mormon form of ancestor worship. Though we are not worshiping our ancestors as much as we are trying to serve them. By being baptized in her name, we hope we are giving Marie the opportunity to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe in a generous God who gives all his children many chances to return to Him, including some after death. I know this practice offends some, as if we are forcing the dead to all join our church. But it is more like offering a prayer for a loved one. Doing baptisms for some of my ancestors has been some of the sweetest experiences of my life. I felt I truly understood what Malachi meant when he wrote about Elijah returning “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers…” (Malachi 3:5-6)

After baptisms we continue to take family names through all the ordinances of the temple to the last and crowning ordinance which is a sealing. In sealings husbands are sealed to wives, children sealed to parents in ties that will last beyond the grave after the resurrection. Sealings, like all temple ordinances, are done for the living as well as the dead. My husband and I were sealed 13 years ago in the Salt Lake Temple. We believe that the children born to those married in the temple are automatically sealed to their parents. To us this means, that our family bonds are stronger than death. Just last night my husband and I went to our temple, the San Diego Temple, to do sealings. It is pretty cool that on almost any given Saturday night we can go to the temple, kneel at an altar across from one another, holding hands, while the sealer repeats practically word for word what was said when were married. I know people spend a great deal of money and work to renew their vows. Something I can do almost whenever I want. Last night after doing sealings my husband and I sat on a couch in the celestial room–something we do almost every time we go to the temple. We discuss in hushed whispers insights and thoughts we had during the ceremony. Last night, we talked about our marriage and what a pleasant prospect it is to spend eternity together. We met a couple who came to do sealings because the husband was leaving in the morning to be deployed somewhere in the Middle East. For them kneeling at an altar and hearing the promise that marriages can continue beyond the grave had even deeper significance.

5. In the temple, I feel God’s Love.

People just look better in the temple, everyone says so. It’s not like on TV where everyone’s good looking and dressed nice. No, people still have paunchy bellies and big ears and age spots but they still are beautiful; the same way small children are all beautiful. I think this is because in the temple we are so filled with God’s love that you see people as He does. This may be the same reason my husband says the temple is the one place he never minds a crowd and never minds waiting. The best part is that whenever I go, I seem to bring home a little of that love with me, and for a few days I’m filled with more love for my children. I am so patient, I feel like an entirely different person. I often feel God’s love in my daily life: when I watch my children playing in the evening light, when I run along the beach in the pink of the morning, when I find a lost car key after a desperate prayer. But I feel His love strongest when I’m in the temple. It is such a strong, abiding, peaceful feeling that flows through me like a steady current. I feel like God is near. It makes it hard to leave. Eventually, I have to put back on my street clothes, go home and go back to the real struggles of this mortal life. But I always leave stronger, more full of faith, hope and love.

I realized as I wrote this how much more I could say about the temple, but I’m afraid this may already be formidably long. My goal in writing this was not to give anyone a complete tutorial on the temple but rather a sense of what it means to believers. You may have more questions. Right now LDS.org you can see a video on why we build temples. Also, info on Mormon.org might be helpful. Remember this blog is not about convincing or converting but understanding. I hope by sharing, I’ve increased understanding.