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Okay, here is something else. Nothing more sets the church apart from mainstream Christianity than our temples and the work we engage in there. We are taught, and we believe, that sacred works are performed there. How do we who have serious doubts about the church continue to participate in these rituals? They have changed over time, as we now know. But even if that can be explained as a result of continuing revelation, how do I as an LDS member, with doubts, continue in temple work? I am finding this a very trying part of my lived experience as a questioner of the faith. I believe that I need to continue such work, and I do, because what else do I have? But it is becoming more and more problematic for me. Curt I am reading a book called the Book of Myths by Joseph Campbell. There is quite a bit in there about the importance of myth and ritual. Perhaps that would be a way to look at it. For now I am done wth the whole business of the temple. No recommend, no temple attendence. I went only rarely before. I found that I was not happy there most of the time anyway. I was just doing my duty. I may change my view as I get closer to the end of the Myths book. I am half way through now and have at least had the thought that my mind MIGHT change later on. So, we shall see. Good luck with your choice and search and experience.
I know many may be able to explain the changes that have occurred with the actual temple practices etc, but I am not able to move past it yet and it does cause me a lot of confusion as to how I may be able to move forward LDSwise…as it seems all paths lead to the temple in the LDS faith. It may seem weird to some but I am currently just trying to be a member and not be involved in this part of the doctrine….its only early days yet so I cannot report yet whether it is working for me 
The cause of this part of my faith being very shaken is the connection with masonary in the beginning etc….I was always of the thought that temple work was in line with what we learn in the old testament etc, and LDS scholars have come forth and confirmed the link with the Masons etc. Also to me the temple is a place where polygamy is still practiced, even though GAs claim publicly that this is no longer part of our practices etc….
I don’t go now primarily to learn anything from the endowment itself; I don’t try to “figure it out”; I don’t pay much attention to the film. I go now for two specific reasons: 1) To have a place of quiet contemplation, where I can tune out the world and think about my life “in sacred space”;
2) To honor the dead.
I have come to view the second reason as even more fundamental than the first, and I wrote a short post about it just this past Monday.
Worshiping Among the Spirits( http://thingsofmysoul.blogspot.com/2008/12/worshiping-among-spirits.html Quote:1) To have a place of quiet contemplation, where I can tune out the world and think about my life “in sacred space”;
2) To honor the dead.
Those are good reasons for visiting the temple, again this is something I don’t understand very well. I have found lots of verses in the bible that helped calm my mind at one point about the temple and some of what we learn there. I like initiatory work and sealings, however, I no longer feel comfortable doing endowments: unfortunately, the celestial room is the only place besides the chapel for any sort of contemplation and you can’t get there without going through a session.
We aren’t forced to go to the temple. Yes, I know it is a focal point in the Church. I haven’t held a recommend in over 4 years. I could probably get one, but I still haven’t felt that resolution enough for myself. After saying all that, I still value the concept. I really like Ray’s personal interpretation. I have my own as well. The temple is as sacred and “real” as we want. I don’t mean that we have to buy into the more literal perspective that is more orthodox. Rituals are what *we* make of them. That’s my opinion.
Curt, if it is something that bothers you, don’t go. Life is full of enough stress and grief as it is. Things might change for you over time and you enjoy it again some day. They might not. That’s ok too.
curt wrote:Okay, here is something else. Nothing more sets the church apart from mainstream Christianity than our temples and the work we engage in there. We are taught, and we believe, that sacred works are performed there. How do we who have serious doubts about the church continue to participate in these rituals? They have changed over time, as we now know. But even if that can be explained as a result of continuing revelation, how do I as an LDS member, with doubts, continue in temple work? I am finding this a very trying part of my lived experience as a questioner of the faith. I believe that I need to continue such work, and I do, because what else do I have? But it is becoming more and more problematic for me. Curt
The truth is, temple ordinances are symbolic (like we all didn’t know that already). When you strip away the ritual, the underlying meaning of what is being taught is wonderful and completely scriptural. It teaches of how we can return to God through following his Gospel. We have fallen and need a Savior. We need the sacrifice Christ provided. We should follow his word in the scriptures. We should seek to become better step by step. The changes in the endowment have really only served to bring more attention to what is being taught and take away attention from the ritual itself. In fact, in the temple, if approached right, we can see the core of the gospel in action. The part of the gospel that we all long for.
I wouldn’t feel bad about participating in the temple. Just don’t focus on the ritual part. When you go, I would look for the good principles of Christian living and enjoy the symbolism of returning to God’s presence. The fact of the matter is, there are many things about this church that people can doubt, and they are probably right about it. This church’s history does not remain unblemished as some would like to think, but that doesn’t make the Christ centered gospel teachings wrong. If we would all focus more on Christ, many of the things that have driven us in the direction of leaving the church, would probably fade away.
To add to what I said earlier, I REALLY love the idea of being able to return to God’s presence on a regular basis – even if it is through a symbolic morality play. When I’m there to “come unto Christ” (and HF), and when I am focused there on contemplation and just relaxed worship, I sometimes have incredibly uplifting experiences. I feel better when I’m done – and that’s never a bad thing. What if you dont feel better when youre done? The 2nd time i went to the temple I was getting some very wierd and bad feelings
Like an internal radar going off saying THIS IS WRONG YOU SHOULDNT BE HERE
was that my own personal self having a problem with understanding
or was it something deeper?
I don’t know. That’s up to you to decide. If you feel bad about it, don’t go. I agree with Ray. Nobody can tell you what your experience with the temple means but you. You should explore it. I find that strong feelings like that are sign posts in my life pointing at things I should explore. magicmusician wrote:What if you dont feel better when youre done?
The 2nd time i went to the temple I was getting some very wierd and bad feelings
Like an internal radar going off saying THIS IS WRONG YOU SHOULDNT BE HERE
was that my own personal self having a problem with understanding
or was it something deeper?
The funny thing about revelation is that it often refers to what feelings and thoughts we experience and not necessarily the situation. Let me explain. When I was preparing to return home from my mission, I expressed a desire to have my mission song sung for the SM program. It was not an LDS hymn but a very popular and well respected hymn in the country I served. When we sang it in the mission, the words were very inspiring because they had a great deal to do with missionary work. When my dad read the words, he expressed concerns because they could also alude to some rather non-doctrinal legends. He objected to having it sung and very adamant that it wouldn’t be. Who was wrong? Was the song bad or good? Actually, neither. The song was a song, what we had experienced was the spirit testifying of the individual thoughts that we had. For me, it was uplifting and good principles so the spirit confirmed those. For my father, he saw false legends and other things, so the spirit confirmed that his perceptions were correct and those things were false.
If you would like to enjoy the temple, try separating out the feelings you are having. What are you actually having the negative feelings about? They may be justified. For instance, if you go in and perceive that they are cultish, weird and crazy ceremonies, the spirit is going to tell you that those types of ceremonies are wrong. Where as, if you see them as symbolic teaching tools that bring you closer to God, the spirit will tell you to participate in them. I am not sure if I am making this point very well, but I hope this helps to provide a different point of view.
One of the main problems most have with the temple is that the world we currently live in is not very symbolic. We are more interested in the practical than the symbolic. Symbolism seems outdated, incomprehensible, simplistic, and uncomfortable. Additionally, our worship service is almost devoid of symbolism (aside from the sacrament which is ubiquitous across Christianity so less startling–however, Mormonism does the sacrament in the least symbolic way possible). So there is a big disconnect between the temple experience and one’s practical experience in the church. The world we live in today rejects symbolism so soundly that you almost never see symbols except in conjunction with conspiracy theories and crackpots. It’s why symbolism and ritual is often associated with the past. It’s freaky to our modern sensibilities.
The military is probably one of the last bastions of symbolism and symbolic ritual in our modern world. Not suprising, the US Military is extremely pro-religion. Religion off all kinds are tolerated and encouraged. Prayer is not uncommon. They have a whole military chaplain system to promote it. A lot of military discipline and basic training is ritual — doing repeated actions in a precise and exacting manner, but useless on the surface as a skill. They still “get it.”
mr_musicman wrote:
If you would like to enjoy the temple, try separating out the feelings you are having. What are you actually having the negative feelings about? They may be justified. For instance, if you go in and perceive that they are cultish, weird and crazy ceremonies, the spirit is going to tell you that those types of ceremonies are wrong. Where as, if you see them as symbolic teaching tools that bring you closer to God, the spirit will tell you to participate in them. I am not sure if I am making this point very well, but I hope this helps to provide a different point of view.Thanks for that
thats really helpful
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