We focus on the temple, and we have from the beginning of the Church. The temple plays a crucial role in our theology, but also a role that demonstrates tensions between principles. While the ordinances of the temple are done individually, those ordinances are often performed in groups, and the purpose of these ordinances generally looks toward sealing families and genealogies together. Where the ordinances provide us with steps and goals in a path, they also point to the behaviors and principles we should learn and a certain relationship with God, one that seems to be based on more than mere tasks and actions. In a very real sense, the temple isn’t about me, it’s about us. And if the temple is “for the salvation of Zion,” then the salvation it is talking about is the salvation of families and communities, not merely individuals.

I’m not sure that all this was clear when the saints in the early 1830s were told to build a temple. Like most of our doctrine, the temple is the subject of continuing revelation, and that revelation continues today. For us, the steps on the eternal path speak to our task-oriented society and our need to ‘progress’, but when we look further at what is taught in the temple, we can see that the temple is about understanding who we are as children of Heavenly Parents and putting our lives in eternal perspective. Like all ritual, temple ordinances are more than their simple actions. The temple is best understood as symbolic, not literal.

 

I can be “wholly dedicated unto the Lord.”

Symbolic texts or rituals benefit from repetition, where the repeated experience of the ritual allows us to see the symbols and process them as complex symbols. Repetition requires dedication, sticking with something that might be difficult or even uncomfortable until we understand it well. And this kind of dedication isn’t just for the temple, it’s also for church, and even for our entire lives. Instead of looking at the surface, and concentrating on the recent, we need an eternal perspective to understand ourselves and our lives. Dedication to the Lord makes that possible.

This poem by Luman Shurtliff was written while he was serving as a missionary in Massachusetts and Vermont, 1842-43. On April 25, 1843 he recorded this poem in his journal, saying, “I felt lonesome and … while sitting there, a verse of poetry came into my mind which I wrote…” In the context of this lesson, the poem demonstrates the frequent conflicts all of us experience between family and work responsibilities and a dedication to the gospel.

 

My duty calls me to return

by Luman Shurtliff

My duty calls me to return

In western climes to dwell

And cheer the hearts of those I love

Yes, those I love so well.

My tender wife and children too

I’ve left in western wiles

And must return unto them now

And teach them to be wise.

My dear companion of my youth

For full six years has been

A partner with me in the work

That God’s revealed to men.

And much affliction we’ve passed through

Yes, mobs and sickness too

And by the power of God we’ve been

Preserved and carried through.

When last we took the parting hand

And dropped the parting tear

I consecrated them to God

And prayed He’d hold them dear.

Now, long I’ve called upon you here

On these New England Mounts

The voice of warning you have heard

And God has kept accounts.

O now prepare to meet the Lord

For soon in clouds He’ll come

The trump of God we soon shall hear

He’ll call the righteous home.

Soon I shall bid these lofty mounts

And crooked roads farewell

Also the place that gave me birth

Far to the west to dwell.

Soon I shall take the parting hand

With these my friends so dear

To whom I’ve preached the word of God

Which did their spirits cheer.

And leave you all before that God

Who hears and answers prayers

To stand and answer in that day

To what I have declared.

For unto you I long have called

Repent and be baptized

The Holy Ghost you shall receive

And gifts shall realize.

The Book of Mormon also true

I have declared to you

The Book of Covenants ever new

I here present as true.

And when before God’s throne I stand

And you all there appear

The truth that I have here declared

Will in your faces stare.

And I a witness there shall be

And testify with grief

The truth that God did send me with

You did not all receive.

April 25, 1843

 

The Lord chastens those He loves.

When we err, correction is often necessary. Much of this correction is the natural consequence of our choices, instead of some action by a punitive God. But regardless of direct personal intervention, I think it is clear that correction must happen, and is often good for us. I think we could even argue that, to the extent that temple worship helps us change, it is correcting us. We need that correction to be able to become more like our Heavenly Parents.

Written well after he became an apostle, Orson F. Whitney suggests here that these corrections are blessings, making us more fit “for the Life Above.” Whitney passed away 6 years after he wrote this poem.

 

To The Master

by Orson F. Whitney

Saviour, Redeemer of my soul,

Whose mighty hand hath made me whole,

Whose wondrous power hath raised me up,

And filled with sweet my bitter cup!

What tongue my gratitude can tell,

O gracious God of Israel!

Never can I repay thee, Lord,

But I can love thee. Thy pure word,

Hath it not been my one delight,

My joy by day, my dream by night?

Then let my lips proclaim it still,

And all my life reflect thy will.

O’errule mine acts to serve thine ends;

Change frowning foes to smiling friends;

Chasten my soul till I shall be

In perfect harmony with thee.

Make me more worthy of thy love,

And fit me for the Life Above.

1925

 

The temple is the house of the Lord.

The phrase “the house of the Lord” is commonly used, but sometimes the concept isn’t explored in depth. If we are seeking to gain an eternal perspective, can it happen outside “the house of the Lord?”

In 1841, the Church had dedicated a temple five years earlier, in Kirtland. But the building was already showing signs of deterioration, and the main body of the saints had moved on, and at that point was in Nauvoo. There a new temple had been announced in August 1840, and ground was broken for the building in February 1841. By the time Eliza R. Snow wrote this poem, the Church was seeking donations of both money and time to build the Nauvoo Temple, and Snow here ignores the Kirtland Temple, instead urging readers to help “build up the city and Temple of God,” where, she says, “in his temple he’ll surely attend.”

 

The Temple of God

by Eliza R. Snow

Lo, the Savior is coming, the prophets declare-

The times are fulfilling; O Zion, prepare!

The Savior is coming: but where shall he come?

Will he find the palace of princes, a home?

No! O no, in his temple he’ll surely attend;

But O where is the “temple,” where Christ shall descend?

Since the ancient apostles and christians are dead

The heavens have been seal’d-they are brass o’er the head

Of a world of professors, presuming to claim

A belief in the gospel of Jesus’ blest name;

Who profess to believe it, yet boldly deny

Its most prominent feature, the gifts from on high,

And deny that the word of the Lord should come forth,

As it anciently did, to the saints upon earth!

Then, to whom shall Jehovah his purpose declare?

And by whom shall the people be taught to prepare

For the coming of Jesus-a “temple” to build,

That the ancient predictions may all be fulfil’d?

When a Moses of old, was appointed to rear

A place, where the glory of God should appear;

He receiv’d from the hand of the high King of Kings,

A true model-a pattern of heavenly things.

The eternal Jehovah will not condescend,

His pure wisdom, with human inventions to blend;

And a temple-a house, to the name of the Lord,

Must be built, by commandment, and form’d of his word,

Or he will not accept it, nor angels come down

In the light of His presence, the service to crown,

O! then who, upon earth, uninstructed, will dare

Build a house to the Lord? But the scriptures declare

That Messiah is coming-the time’s drawing nigh!

Hark! a scheme is divulg’d-’twas concerted on high;

With divine revelation the saints have been bles’t-

Every doubt has subsided-the mind is at rest.

The great God, has establish’d, in mercy and grace

The “strange work,” that precedes the concluding of days-

The pure gospel of Jesus again is restor’d;

By its power, thro’ the prophet, the word of the Lord

Is again coming forth; and intelligence rolls

From the upper eternity, cheering our souls.

“Build a house to my name,” the Eternal has said

To a people, by truths holy principles led:

“Build a house to my name, where my saints may be blest;

Where my glory and pow’r shall in majesty rest”

When its splendor will gladden the heavenly choir,

And high Gabriel’s own hand shall awaken the lyre.

Oh, ye saints, be admonish’d by Time’s rolling car;

It is rapidly onward! Hear, ye from a afar!

Come, and bring in your treasures-your wealth from abroad:

Come, and build up the city and Temple of God:

A stupendous foundation already is laid,

And the work is progressing—withhold not your aid.

When you gather to Zion, come, not “looking back”—

Let your hearts not be faint-let your hands not be slack,

For great honor, and glory, and grace, and renown,

Shall appear on their heads, whom the Savior will crown;

And the Savior is coming, the prophets declare,

The times are fulfilling—to Zion repair:

Let us “watch and be sober”—the period is near”

When the Lord in his temple, will surely appear.

1841

 

“They are accepted of me.”

It’s no surprise that our society’s growing complexity has lead to common feelings of loneliness and isolation. It’s easy to find people who don’t feel accepted in their communities or churches or even their countries. And the exclusion felt is especially common in tight groups and where there are barriers to entry, even when such barriers are necessary and justified—just think about the common protests of children who are too young or not tall enough to ride on a carnival ride. The feelings of injustice are real, even if the barriers are there for their own safety. All such barriers lead to these feelings, regardless of whether the barriers are justified.

The costs and benefits of acceptance are the subject of the following poem. Thomas Ward, one of the early presidents of the British Mission, recognizes here both the fear of persecution felt by the poem’s addressee, Mary Callaghan, and the “life, and light, and joy, of those that stand / Accepted heirs of God.” We surmise from reading the poem that Callaghan sees the former, and has more difficulty seeing the benefits. In our struggles today with acceptance, we might also be a little myopic about the balance between the benefits of being accepted and the costs, and likewise, in accepting others, we are often myopic about costs and benefits. Ward then tries to flip the case, arguing that the persecution that Callaghan sees as a cost is actually a benefit.

 

To Mary Callagan

by Thomas Ward

I met thee, Mary, in a distant land,

And if the wishes of a friend can bless,

Mine will not all be lost for thee. And yet,

I found thee, not amongst the Saints of God;

But, still, thy heart was free, and long’d to hear

The truths of Heaven, as reveal’d to man,

In these last days of mercy and of peace.

And yet, for this, and thy short intercourse

With those that knew the truth,—’twas crime in thee,

And thou must feel the persecuting rod

Of those that love it not. And so it is,

And has been heretofore; and will be still,

Till evil is uprooted from the earth,

And righteousness and truth supreme shall reign.

But what is Persecution’s rod, but that

“Which shall be made a blessing to the good?

And what to be compar’d or weigh’d against

The life, and light, and joy, of those that stand

Accepted heirs of God; his Spirit’s light

To guide, and teach, and lend its holy power

To speak in angels’ tongues, or bless, or heal,

And know the truth untaught of man; to learn

The great and mighty scheme.—” Salvation,”

And how the dead from their dark prison-house

Shall be redeem’d, with all the glorious truths,

To lead thee onward to perfection’s height,

And fit thee for celestial bliss with God.

The rod of Persecution then is lost,

Nor brought against the weight of bliss

The just shall claim. My pray’r for thee shall be

That thou may’st serve the God of Heaven, and reap

The full fruition of redeeming love.

1846

 

Zion is “the pure in heart.”

Our idea of Zion comes across as a kind of utopia. It’s the goal we are seeking, but generally know that we can’t obtain in this life. And the idea of the “pure in heart” is exactly the issue, since we can’t reach it until all in the community are “pure in heart.” Nevertheless, it is our goal, and we strive for it. We should notice in this, however, that Zion is a community. We can’t reach it alone, no matter how pure our hearts are. And I think the communal nature of the temple is part of how we reach Zion. We need the temple to bring everyone, individually and the community, to Zion.

The following poem by William Gill Mills gives us a glimpse of Zion. He seems convinced that Zion exists in the Salt Lake Valley, even though when he wrote this in 1852, he had not left for Utah yet. Mills emigrated in 1855, married polygamously in Utah to fellow poet Emily Hill (later Emily Hill Woodmansee), and served a mission to England in 1860. But he was excommunicated there and never returned to the Church. He later served as the first mayor of Gilroy, California before returning to Utah where he died in 1895.

 

I Sing of a Land, a Happy Land

by William G. Mills

I sing of a land, a happy land,

The home of the pure and free;

Whose sons are men of a chosen band,

In the courts of eternity.

‘Tis a land, by its Maker greatly blest,

And it claims our highest praise;

From the Gentiles’ curse it long lay at rest

For the work of the Latter days:

The Sun, that choice land with his golden ray paints,

As he sinks to his rest—’tis the home of the Saints.

 

The plant of Truth, like a mighty tree,

In its soil has taken deep root;

Its branches spread over land and sea,

That all may partake of its fruit:

‘Twas planted there by an Angel’s hand,

And the Priesthood tend it well;

‘Twill grow till its worth, in every land,

Will be known where the honest dwell:

‘Tis the happiest land throughout the wide world,

Where the standard of Truth and Peace is unfurled.

 

The noblest spirits that God could find

Are bearing that standard up;

Their heralds are calling all mankind

To come to the mountains’ top:

The treasures of heaven are richly shed

By the Prophets of the Lord:

The blessings of earth are amply spread,

Like a great, luxuriant board:

Revelation invites to Reason’s feast.

And the land is crying, “come and taste.”

 

All nations shall speak of that happy place,

And tread on the sacred ground,

Where the past and the present of human race.

With a mighty chain will be bound;

For the Priesthood is there, with the holy keys,

To unfold what the Gods have said;

And we shall attend their wise decrees,

For the living and the dead:

And the Temple soon shall on Zion stand,

As a beacon light to every land.

 

Oh! that is the spot where plenty smiles,

And truth and peace hold the sway;

A sure retreat from the Gentiles’ broils,

And the scourge of the latter day.

The will of our Father will there be done

On earth as it is in heaven;

For their faith, and their hope, and their deeds are one.

When celestial law* are given.

My spirit burns to dwell with thee,

O Zion! thou home of the pure and free!

1852