Susan, I started to answer you in the comments but it ended up being a bit long, so I just decided to make another post. I think you have a very fair observation, and I'd like to do my best to explain.
Doctrinally, I really don’t think there is anything you could learn in the temple ceremony that you can’t learn before you ever go. Much of what’s taught in the temple is about our purpose in life and God’s plan for his children. (God’s children = everyone in the human race). You can learn the basics of this in the very first missionary discussion. We go to the temple to make certain binding promises (we use the term “covenants”) with God, and it is the nature of these that is considered so special and ‘sacred.’ Members of the church consciously make an effort to maintain a lifestyle that will help them be spiritually prepared and worthy to make these promises, so you can see it is not something we take lightly. (Or some of us probably do, but shouldn’t.)
The church’s purpose is not to shut people out and keep them in the dark about things, in fact they invite others to partake of the same knowledge. (Which is what my little sister is doing all the way down in Chile). They just want us to have prepared ourselves and given it some serious study and commitment before entering into it. And there’s a LOT of symbolism involved in the ceremony, which is one thing I think people won’t understand. Even after you’ve been through the temple several times, there is always more to learn from the symbolism.
Anyway, I hope that helped a little bit. The ceremony itself is probably about two hours long, and I really just don’t think the HBO series is going to be a good place to learn about it. (But if you ever wanted to know more, let me know and I could hook you up with the real stuff!) :)
4 comments:
Cali, you seem like such an open and caring person and I do appreciate you explaining.
I really do love symbolism. The Catholic church is filled with symbolism and you can find lots and lots of books about it. I just feel that the LDS church could improve their image by being more open BUT I totally respect their right to keep the ceremonies private.
I've had LDS friends during of my life and when my daughter was young I spent a lot of time at Relief Society with one of my good friends. Joining the church just wasn't a fit for me but I could see how it worked for my friend and her children.
That being said, I'm not a member of any church. I grew up in the Presbyterian church, I studied the Catholic church and I've studied the Bible. I'm just not an organized religion person. But then I'm not much of an organized anything person.
Susan, that's cool, I totally respect that. On the flip, thanks for respecting me as well. You are so sweet and I'm so glad I've had the chance to get to know you a little bit! :)
PS - I could work on some organization myself... you should see my apartment right now! Eeek
Funny, I was going to add, "and if you could see my house, you'd understand about the organized issue." :-)
Ha ha, well you know what they say. Great minds think alike!
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