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Since we are talking about Temple stuff, I wondered if anyone has ever had problems with their experiences in the temple? It is so different from regular church attendance and I think alot of people are afraid to sound like they are unspiritual and so do not express how they really feel. I mean the inside is beautiful and the people are real nice, but my husband said it reminded him of a Klu Klux Klan meeting the first time he went through in St. George Utah. We went during the time that they still had the blood oaths and actors (no movies.) I felt strange during washings and anotings and even though I fasted and prayed to know if this crazy stuff was from God, I never got a testimony of it. I have never really had spiritual experiences there. In fact, often the opposite. One time I wanted to divorce my husband right after it. And I do not like husbands and wives having to sit on opposite sides. Nevertheless, I have just looked at it like when Adam and Eve were offering animal sacrifices and asked by God why they were doing it and they said they knew not why, but were just being obedient. I have to know something is from God before I do things that seems too strange to me. I do believe man can become like God just as a princess can become a Queen, but I don’t understand why the temple ceremonies would have to be part of the process. So, is there something wrong with me? Bridget Quote:So, is there something wrong with me?
Not at all. The temple is radically different than any other Mormon “practice” – and it’s not easy for many members to make the perspective shift required to “get it”. Fwiw, as we move further and further away from the highly symbolic and mystical/magical world of the 19th Century, I think it gets harder and harder to understand the temple – which I believe is why some of the content has been eliminated and altered over time. Symbols don’t work if they aren’t understood.
bridget_night wrote:Since we are talking about Temple stuff, I wondered if anyone has ever had problems with their experiences in the temple?
No, I’ve not really had problems, though I will say my first time through, I wondered what on earth was up with this “leave now if you don’t want to proceed with the temple covenants” statement. I thought “What!? Tell me what they are, and I’ll let you know!” —-but I sat there quietly, trusting blindly that it would all be Ok. And, it was Ok. Odd, yes, but I felt fine.
bridget_night wrote:It is so different from regular church attendance and I think alot of people are afraid to sound like they are unspiritual and so do not express how they really feel. I mean the inside is beautiful and the people are real nice, but my husband said it reminded him of a Klu Klux Klan meeting the first time he went through in St. George Utah. We went during the time that they still had the blood oaths and actors (no movies.) I felt strange during washings and anotings and even though I fasted and prayed to know if this crazy stuff was from God, I never got a testimony of it. I have never really had spiritual experiences there. In fact, often the opposite. One time I wanted to divorce my husband right after it. And I do not like husbands and wives having to sit on opposite sides. Nevertheless, I have just looked at it like when Adam and Eve were offering animal sacrifices and asked by God why they were doing it and they said they knew not why, but were just being obedient. I have to know something is from God before I do things that seems too strange to me.
I guess you know that is antithetical to ‘faith’, and nothing in the spiritual realm comes into manifestation here on earth without faith…
bridget_night wrote:I do believe man can become like God just as a princess can become a Queen, but I don’t understand why the temple ceremonies would have to be part of the process. So, is there something wrong with me? Bridget
No, nothing wrong. The time is just not yet.The temple is the ‘mystery’ aspect of the Church. There is only one religion that I know of that has a ‘mystery’ component, and we are it. There are many ‘mystery’ groups such as BOTA, Golden Dawn, Rosicrucians, Pagans, and Freemasonry, but none of these are a ‘Church’.
I myself have only had one significant temple experience, and it occurred 29 years after my own endowment. Interestingly enough, it was a beautiful experience for me, being the third and final initiation into the mysteries.
HiJolly
I think, bridget_night, that to appreciate the temple in the sense Ray and HiJolly are proposing, you need to be of such a mind that you are prepared for revelation at any moment, and anything at all can be the catalyst. If the temple ends up being that catalyst, you may say that you have an “appreciation” of the temple. Is that fair, Ray and HiJolly? I don’t think there is anything wrong, not at all, with someone who does not have an amazing experience for the temple. I think it is a wonderful personal challenge to find meaning and inspiration from the ceremonies and rituals. Like others have pointed out, this mode of thinking is largely lost in our very literaly, material, ultra-rational, factoid-inspired modern culture.
Not loving the temple immediately is certainly normal. Our weekly worship is not very ritualized. It can be a bit of a shock for some. Also, the fact that people are so reluctant to talk about the temple at all can exacerbate that. I can’t say I had any major issues with it, although there are still some elements that seem sexist. I’m encouraged by the number of changes I’ve seen because it seems to me that the objectionable components are not essential. Quote:I think, bridget_night, that to appreciate the temple in the sense Ray and HiJolly are proposing, you need to be of such a mind that you are prepared for revelation at any moment, and anything at all can be the catalyst. If the temple ends up being that catalyst, you may say that you have an “appreciation” of the temple. Is that fair, Ray and HiJolly?
That’s a pretty good summary. I am contemplative by nature, and I’ve gone to the temple often enough that I know the ceremonial wording and actions pretty well. When I go now, I generally see what hits me as the play progresses and let my mind “wander” a bit to consider whatever hits me. Iow, I spend most of my time there “thinking” – as opposed to “listening” or “understanding”.Perhaps some would say I can do that anywhere, but I don’t believe that – for two reasons:
1) It’s hard to create a place that is as silent and reverent as the temple – where I can think and ponder without distraction.
2) It’s hard to create a place that is as God-focused as the temple – that points my mind to the type of contemplation I do there.
It helps that I view it all symbolically and figuratively – so contemplation becomes the core purpose for me.
Tom Haws wrote:I think, bridget_night, that to appreciate the temple in the sense Ray and HiJolly are proposing, you need to be of such a mind that you are prepared for revelation at any moment, and anything at all can be the catalyst. If the temple ends up being that catalyst, you may say that you have an “appreciation” of the temple. Is that fair, Ray and HiJolly?
Yes, I’d say that’s fair. I would add, though, that the instruction on the true order of prayer is REALLY important to me. I am saddened that President Kimball stopped the practice outside of temples, but I can still do it in my mind — and I do. And what he restored in that same basic time, the “special temple blessings”, are awesome.HiJolly
Tom Haws wrote:HiJolly, by special temple blessings, do you mean
thisthisthisthis
#1 — yes,#2 & 3 — not so much,
#4 — yes.
BTW, I’d not read those threads linked to on #4. Very interesting, thanks. I kept thinking as I read, I can answer that… I can explain that… That’s the opposite of how I’d speak about that…
Without the spirit none of it works, anyway. HiJolly
Yes. #1 and #4. Ray, i hope this is the thread you were meaning. It did have 25 posts and is on the temple. 
I am going to copy and paste from my previous post:
I have always felt peaceful at the temple and was not really afraid or suprised by things that occur in the temple. But as I have read about Joseph and how he started the current endowment, I am concerned that it is wrong. I know that Joseph’s original intent for the temple was so that the people could become close to God. And the peacefulness in the temple definitely can help one achieve that.
My issue is that Joseph told people that they had to accept the principle of celestial marriage. I am not sure if he always did this, or if it was just at first. I don’t like that he told Emma that she could not be sealed to him eternally unless she accepted celetial marriage and let him marry other women, whom he had already married. I think that is wrong, to tell someone their salvation is dependant on something that they completely disagree with. It seems evident to me that Emma did not agree with the principle as she disagreed with it shortly after her endowment and sealing to Joseph.
So my question then is, if it was wrong, then what in the temple is good? I can get close to God through meditation and a lone hike in the mountains. So must I go to the temple.
When did the leadership not make it a requirement to accept celestial marriage (understood as polygamy) to enter the temple? I know that they worked hard to finish the temple and help members get their endowments before heading west after Joseph’s death. I don’t feel that they made the members accept it then as section 132 wasn’t published publically until several years after arriving in Utah. So why was it ok to change that stance then, when it was so important to Joseph that Emma accept it before she could receive those blessings in the temple? It justs stinks of deception and coersion to me.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and understanding mine better.
silverboh wrote:I don’t feel that they made the members accept it then as section 132 wasn’t published publically until several years after arriving in Utah. So why was it ok to change that stance then, when it was so important to Joseph that Emma accept it before she could receive those blessings in the temple? It justs stinks of deception and coersion to me.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and understanding mine better.
I’ll vote for coercion.
silverboh wrote:So my question then is, if it was wrong, then what in the temple is good? I can get close to God through meditation and a lone hike in the mountains.
My thoughts…as way out there as they are. After reading Campbell’s “Power of Myth,” I came to understand that each religion’s “mythology” is powerful — for their members. The temple has come to be an oasis of spirituality for LDS members. Sure, there are rituals and processes that are quite rote and rigid, but that is important for many to have a consistent, comfortable system.
I’m certainly with you on the hike in the mountains bit. That’s where I get my “spiritual fix.” But I know many Mormons that can’t wait to get away from “the world” and sit in peace and recharge their spiritual batteries. I think that is good for society…to have those that believe in the power of the temple to imbibe therein.
Quote:So must I go to the temple?
If you think you must, then you must.
I was very saddened to hear of the latest changes to the initiatory
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