Monday, July 23, 2007

Special Places

I have many special places and they are the temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Temples are beautiful, quiet, peaceful places. To enter, you must have a temple recommend. This is a card verifying that you are a member of the church in good standing. Because the temple is a place of sacred and holy rites, only worthy church members may enter. Temples are made of the finest materials and decorated with elegance and simplicity. Everyone inside wears white and speaks in hushed voices. Quiet music plays and visitors have many opportunities to sit quietly, ponder and pray.
I especially love the temple’s Celestial Room. It is large and open, filled with beautiful chandeliers, flooding the room with light. Elegant, but comfortable chairs and couches line the room and peace reigns. You can sit in the Celestial Room all day long if you want to, soaking in the deep feeling of peace, reveling in the profound quiet. I go there to think and to pray. I love being there with my family, all of us quietly pondering who we really are, why our Heavenly Father has sent us here to earth, and what he wants us to accomplish here.
I was married in the temple in Salt Lake City. In our church, we believe that when you are married in the temple, you are “sealed,” that is married not only for this life, but forever. We believe that families will be together after this life. I find that very comforting, as my family, including parents, husband, children, and my many, many aunts, uncles and cousins, are very important to me. We also believe that we can be sealed to our ancestors, creating an endless family line stretching from the distant past, through us and to our descendants.
One thing I really love about the temple is the overwhelming sense of calm when you enter the door. Even if you have to fight North Dallas traffic to reach the nearest temple (which is near Preston and Forest), once you go inside, cares of the world slip away, and peace prevails. You go quietly to the dressing room to change into white, then you join others in the chapel for scripture study and meditation. Whether you have a temple or not, I think everyone needs such a place of quiet tranquility. Demands of the world press upon us, hurrying us from one seemingly important task to the next and often we race until we are exhausted, never stopping to consider what is truly essential for our lives.

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