Lessons from the Temple

I have a new appreciation for the temple, lately, but I rather doubt that my experience of the temple mirrors the experiences of others. Many go to the temple to do a service. Others, like me, go to be "serviced". I am a selfish temple attender. I seldom focus my thoughts on the individual whose work is being done, although when he does cross my mind it feels companionable. However, I feel that I have been receiving much more from the visit than just the experience of the endowment.

I have also concluded that, for me at least, there really are things to learn every time I attend. However, I can't say I usually have new insights about the endowment itself. I worry a bit about being misunderstood, (Wow! Dad finally got religion!), but I sense that I probably ought to share a couple of the "lessons" I feel I have been given.

1. I am the creator of my life experience and I am completely responsible for everything that happens in my life.

I know...very trite and new age, but let me explain. I arrived at the temple one afternoon when I had done a lot of mental blaming of others during the day. You know what they say.....before you get mad there is always an angel on your shoulder asking, "Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy"? I had done a lot of being right that day. As I sat there, trying to find the spirit, it hit me forcefully just how completely responsible I was for everything I had experienced that day. I could visualize, clearly, how different actions and reactions on my part could have changed everything. I came away with a new perspective on the fact that I am a powerful creative being. I am always responsible for my life experience. A promise was made by me, that day, that I would spend more time focusing on my actions, and significantly less time judging (blaming) others.

2. Music can help to access the spirit.

In this case, I am speaking about music you hear internally...in your mind. The first two visits to the temple this month had been wonderful, but on this particular day I couldn't seem to find the thread. It was almost as if I was experiencing a dullness of thought, a lack of communion. About an hour in, however, a happy old pop song called "Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows" began running through my head. I know that the story would sound better if it had been Tabernacle Choir music, but I had to take what I could get. We are not discussing some holy person. My mood picked up as I began to change the words. "Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows, everything that's wonderful is what I feel here in the temple. Brighter than a lucky penny, when I'm here the rain goes, disappears, and I feel so fine! Ok, embarrassing, but you get the drift. Before the end of the session, everything had changed, and I was having a powerful, joyful experience. It struck me at the end that music, all joyful music, was a gift of God to help us access a greater portion of the spirit. I strongly feel that this is true.

I couldn't seem to leave the temple last month without a strong sense of having been taught. To my surprise, for the first time, I have had the experience of the temple as a truly joyful place. In fact, I have a very strong impression that one purpose of the temple is to help us expand our ability to experience joy. Considering the fact that I have never really enjoyed the temple in the past, and have often gone to great lengths to avoid it, this is a surprising time for me.

Looking back at the last couple of posts, I have let this blog get very dull and even preachy, which is not my usual style. I suppose, in some ways, I am treating it more like a journal, so any of you who are reading this will just have to bear with me. But I do feel, even at my advanced age, that I am learning something new, and that is exciting!

An ode to Joy

So many things have been good about this month, and this blog gives me a chance to do a rampage of appreciation.

The force has been with me this month. The force is known by many names: Divine love, the Source, the Holy Spirit, or Universal energy. It is a feeling of spiritual power that is precious and hard to hang-on to. It is stimulated by positive thought, although thought is probably not the origin. It includes a sense of being led by an intelligence beyond your own, and its prerequisite would seem to be a willingness to listen and follow. It includes a consciousness of personal power; the power one has to deliberately create ones' own environment and to positively influence events in the world.

There is a sense of good things coming toward you. There is the reward of seemingly unrelated and coincidental events, (Sychronicity), regularly working in your favor. You begin to develop an expectation of small, and perhaps even large, miracles occurring in your life. You visualize things happening, and watch them begin to take shape in reality. You are more effective at your job and more giving in your relationships. You have a taste of the actual reason for our existence: Joy!

I have been here before; perhaps most strongly during the month we visited South America, and through much of that subsequent summer. I thought I had it figured out back then, but it slipped away from me. Happily, I am in the midst of another opportunity.

As far as the actual events of the month, I can't list anything that sounds earthshaking or miraculous. We have attended concerts, visited our wonderful grandchildren, been to work daily and enjoyed each-others' company. Still, I have the sense that, amid the gloom and doom we read and hear about every day, wonderful and unknown possibilies are emerging. I am glad I was born and I love being alive.

It became apparent to me this week that, strange as it sounds, my classes have already progressed farther this year than they did all of last year. This has been my most effective year as a teacher. I am excited to see what I will be teaching for the rest of the year, since I have already covered most of what I actually know.

We received a call from Nibia, the Uruguayan sister we took to the temple. She is visiting her son, Ernesto, in Florida, and they are hoping to make a trip out here to see us, and my old companion Neil Hansen, during the next month. How terrific would that be? If it happens, we hope to find the opportunity for you all to meet her.

Anyway, I have the feeling that maintaining these good feelings is possible, and perhaps not all that complicated. It has to do with worrying a lot less, laughing a lot more, criticizing never and praising always. Not at all easy, but I suspect that to the extent we develop these patterns, we will find ourselves flowing along in harmony with the source of the power.

I would be interested in your comments and suggestions.