The Temple

Kevin and I went to the temple on Friday morning. Thursday night I got the impression that we should do sealings, which was a bit odd. Normally we just do an endowment session-- discussion isn't necessary, it's just assumed. But as I wandered through the house that night preparing bags for the morning, I thought "sealings." It was very strong actually. Kevin was fine with it, and the Terrys agreed to it as well.

Just as an aside to those who are not familiar with the temple... The temple is a place where we perform sacred ordinances and make sacred covenants with the Lord-- not secret, mind, you, but sacred. These ordinances we believe to be essential for salvation. Therefore, not only are these ordinances performed for the living, but are done by proxy in the temple on behalf of deceased ancestors of current members of the Church. Therefore all these ordinances (which include baptism) are available to those beyond the veil to accept or reject. One of the ordinances performed in the temple is the sealing, binding a family not just till death, but for time and all eternity. Most sealings are in concurrence with marriage-- many of you may have seen a beautiful bride in white emerge from the temple doors with her new groom. Couples not married in the temple may be sealed together later on, as may entire families if the children were not "born in the covenant," as it is called when the parents were sealed previous to the children being conceived. As I said that ordinances in the temple are also performed on behalf of the dead, so it is with the sealing ordinance. We kneel at the alter as proxies, making sacred covenants with God for those who never had the opportunity while on earth. In doing so, we are reminded of the special promises we, too, made when we were sealed to our own spouse.

The sealer performed the ordinance over and over again for various persons, pausing occasonally between sealings to teach us. He even performed the ordinance in Spanish, Italian, and German, along with our native English. How cool is that?! But truly, the Spirit was strong in that intimate setting, the chandelier glowing, the neverending reflections in the dual mirrors reminding us of the eternal nature of this ordinance. The unity and love I felt for our small little group was memorable. I knew we were literally brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of God, single to the cause, single to the Glory.

And that is the essence of the temple. Unity. All are in white (an angelic vision), the work we do intending to unify us in a literal sense, binding us into one eternal family.

When we lived in Provo, I used to joke with Kev about how I wanted to stuff a pillow under my dress, pretending to be pregnant, so I could pull it out in the evening and spend the night in the celestial room of the temple. I honestly never wanted to leave-- felt no rush to do so. Of course, this was before we had children and babies that need nursing. But still, the temple is the one place on earth where we can leave the world completely behind. It is the closest to heaven we can come on earth. All are equal there-- there is no guile.

Plus, on top of that, it's so clean!

So I spent yesterday cleaning my house.