The Temple: Sacred vs. Secret

This morning I was listening to a talk show on the radio when one of the greatest explanations of sacred vs. secret was explained. Glenn Beck put it this way, "When I was a kid I didn't ask what mom and dad were doing in their bedroom." Meaning that somethings we don't talk about because they are sacred not secret. There is a time and a place to discuss somethings that would be inappropriate otherwise.

The temple is not a house of secrets, we do not perform secret rituals there. We, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, perform sacred sacraments within the temple. Their is nothing magical, sexual, or anything alarming that happens within the walls of these sacred buildings, but the sacraments that do take place are sacred and we covenant with God to hold them sacred, just like we should keep certain aspects of our relationships between husband and wife sacred.


We believe in the principle of learning line upon line and precept upon precept and the temple provides us with an atmosphere where we can do this. It is very peaceful and calm inside and there is a very definite feeling of reverence...kind of like the feeling you get when you are out in nature witnessing a sunrise. Everyone is dressed in white and you can't tell if you are sitting next to a millionaire or a convenience store clerk, republican or a democrat, a scholar or a high school drop out, and it doesn't matter we are all there to learn the same things.

Not even every member is allowed in the temple. Before we go for the first time we take a temple preparation class. We also have to go through an interview process to declare our worthiness to enter into the House of the Lord. Once we have gone through this interview process and are found worthy, we then are given a recommend to go to the temple. We go through this process every 2 years.

There are somethings that we just don't talk about, not because they are a secret, but because they are sacred, deeply spiritual. Anyone can go into the temple so long as they fulfill the requirements. No secret to it.

Tear Down Your Walls

The walls we put up to protect us from being hurt, and from hurting others, also keeps love out. We have to tear down our walls and risk hurting and being hurt in order to love and be loved.

Truth is, the more we expose our self to the risk of pain the greater our ability to love, and the greater our ability to love, the less pain has the ability to stop us from loving.

Emotional intelligence is not giving your trust to everyone, nor is it giving it to no one. Emotional intelligence is knowing who to let into your inner circle of trust and who to keep out of your inner circle of trust. It is knowing that somethings are worth the risk and other things are not worth the risk. 

President Ronald Reagan once stood before a wall and said these words, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" The results were historical. And if you decide to accept the challenge yourself the results might just be as historical in your personal life. 

You Just Gotta Smile...

Pick Up Your Pity Party Favors

Sometimes we get so caught up in the consequences of our mistakes that we get stuck in our own little pity party. A pity party that only leads us down a path of self destruction. There is a process that we all go through when we have made a mistake. It is as natural as mistakes come to most of us. It is the grief process. You will go through denial, guilt, anger, depression, and reflection before you finally start to turn things around. Once you allow yourself to pass through these stages then you can start to heal and your mind will begin to help you pick up the pieces and accept your new reality. Don't allow yourself to get stuck in guilt, anger or depression.

Learn to forgive quickly or you may find yourself becoming a bitter, angry person, which is much different that being a person who is temporarily angry. A bitter angry person is one who has gotten stuck in the grief process and refuses to forgive. Forgiveness is work. It requires you submit to the realization that you have no power to save yourself from your mistakes, and there is only one who can bring you relief from your pain.

There is nothing so peaceful as to know that you are forgiven and that you have the power to forgive. There is nothing so beautiful as one who has been made clean through the power of the atonement. Life was never meant to be perfect. Sometimes our imperfections are our own, and sometimes our imperfect life comes because of others, but in the end much of the pain we feel today will mean nothing to us when we pass from this life to the next. Much of the sorrow and hurt that we found inflicted upon us will have no significant lasting effects upon us in the eternities.

A tree falls, a flower blooms, and tomorrow the sun will rise again.

So, stop getting depressed over your mistakes in life. You've had plenty of time to have your pity party. Now pick up your party favors, sober up and make a game plan on how you can show your gratitude for the atonement.

You Are Not The Exception

When we are obedient the reasons for rules and guidelines are obvious and you can see that they are given to keep us safe. However, when we are disobedient we tend to think we are the exception to the rule, that we can go against the guidelines and rules and we will be just fine. I am the first to admit that I have not been one to fall in love with guidelines and rules. I have fought them and in some cases I have ignored them. Sad thing is I understand why we have them, but my natural man is sometimes thinks I can out smart the wisdom of experience.

When we are given guidelines to protect us not only from without, but also from within. Being disobedient to wise counsel is like taking off your armor in the middle of battle. Not only are you putting yourself at risk trying to look like the hero, but you are also putting your buddies at risk. In a moment of arrogance rather than being a help, you become a great burden upon those around you who are trying to protect you. That arrogance is not the spirit of freedom, but the spirit of rebellion. And in the end when the battle is over the power that we thought we had in our arrogant state will end up in a heap on the ground with our soul.

Show me someone who is the exception in excellence and I will show you someone who is exceptionally obedient... The desire to be excellent is a powerful motivator to discover and obey the laws that others do not know yet.