Holy Places and Quiet Spaces
I wish The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had sacred indoor spaces where anyone could go to contemplate, pray, or just sit in peaceful silence.
Sometimes I feel like I need to get out of my house an go to a place where my thoughts and intentions can be drawn to God and to holy things. To turn my attention to Jesus Christ. To be still.
LDS meetinghouses are only open for worship on Sundays, and Sacrament meetings are crowded and focused on the ordinance of the Sacrament.
LDS chapels (the main gathering rooms where we have Sacrament Meeting) are nice, but plain and functional. Little to no ornamentation, no religious art or imagery of any kind. And outside of Sacrament Meetings and other meetings like conferences or devotionals, LDS chapels sit closed to the public, dark, and vacant. Even on Sundays, you don't really see people quietly sitting in the chapel unless they are waiting for a meeting to start or a meeting has just ended. If there's not a meeting in the chapel, you are expected to be elsewhere.
Instead, LDS are encouraged and expected to go to the temple during the week. Temples are different from meetinghouses. We go to temples to perform what we believe are sacred ordinances, first for ourselves, and thereafter on behalf of our ancestors and the deceased. We believe that through our participation in these ordinances, we enter into covenants with God that – as long as we remain faithful to them – qualify us for eventual exaltation in the hereafter (becoming like God and living with God and our families forever in the eternities).
But you cannot go inside temples and participate in these ordinances unless you are a member of the church and have a Temple Recommend – proof that you have been interviewed by local church leaders and are deemed worthy to enter.
And even if you have a Temple Recommend, you go to the temple to work and serve. You are either participating in ordinances or waiting to do so. Unless one is a temple worker (someone who has a calling or assignment to serve in the temple and assist temple patrons), one does not usually go to straight the Celestial Room (considered one of the holiest and most sacred rooms in the temple) if one wishes to just sit and pray and meditate.
Maybe this is just due to my own misunderstanding of what is appropriate for a temple patron to do, but I would personally feel awkward entering the temple without the intention of participating in any proxy ordinances. To just be still and to think and to pray. I'm not saying it is impossible to do these things during temple service, just that we're expected to be doing other things, as well.
But again, only members of the church who have a Temple Recommend may enter the temple. For this reason, and because our chapels are not open during the week, many members and non-members alike go to the temple to walk the grounds. The beautiful temple building and well-manicured grounds are indeed a wonderful setting for meditation, reflection, and prayer. I have done this, myself. However, weather conditions are not always agreeable. And some days, the temple grounds can be bustling with activity and people when there are weddings (sealings) and such.
A couple more things about temples. While the church has accelerated temple construction to provide easier access to as many members of the church as possible, there are still many members of the church who live more than an hour driving distance away from them.
Temples are also closed on Sundays and Mondays, holidays, and for several weeks each year for cleaning.
Sometimes going out in nature can also be a wonderful way to connect with God. I enjoy doing this. But weather conditions are a factor here, too, as well as travel time depending on how far away you want to get from...everything.
We can and should learn to pray and contemplate and connect with God in our homes and, really, wherever we are. And I strive to do this, with much room for improvement. But sometimes I just want to get out of the house, away from my distractions, to a holy place with no other expectations of me than to just be. To be still and know that He is God.
And this is one of the many things that draws me to Catholicism. Catholic churches are open to the public most days if not every day. Weather is not usually a factor. Many of them even hold daily Mass. I'm sure they have events and things that need to be planned around, but if you just want to go sit in a holy, quiet place for a while and just be, there's a good chance you can. You don't even have to be Catholic. They don't check at the door.
#100DaysToOffload (No. 160) #faith #Christianity