I went through the temple this weekend

[Mormon Red Death]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Maybe you should make a crack about PETA. That would get the mind turning things over.

In reality probably not a good idea to make jokes about whatever taboo thing you can think of to freak someone out.

i do it for levity purposes. to many people get freaked out about something that really isnt that bad

[RC Vikings]

Why do I always get the feeling when I hear "sacred not secret" that it's kinda a cop out? I understand that it is sacred but so is the taking the sacrament, baptism and ordinations. Sometimes I feel we are a little embarrassed about the temple ordinance and that is why we try keep it from the rest of the world. I will admit that I have a very hard time with the temple and my way of dealing with it is just to stay away. Someone please help me out here.

[MikeWaters]

Let's face it: to the outside American observer, it is weird stuff. Even to Jews, who had a history with the temple, it would probably be weird.

We're in a strange position where any of our friends can read about it, but we can't respond or explain.

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by RC Vikings

Why do I always get the feeling when I hear "sacred not secret" that it's kinda a cop out? I understand that it is sacred but so is the taking the sacrament, baptism and ordinations. Sometimes I feel we are a little embarrassed about the temple ordinance and that is why we try keep it from the rest of the world. I will admit that I have a very hard time with the temple and my way of dealing with it is just to stay away. Someone please help me out here.

in the age of the internet, whatever secretness there was has disappeared.

[RC Vikings]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

in the age of the internet, whatever secretness there was has disappeared.

Then why do we still not even talk about it in church?

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by RC Vikings

Then why do we still not even talk about it in church?

because we are told not to.

we are told it is one of the most important things we can do, but then we are also told not to talk about it.

and then we are told we are lazy slackers for not going enough. Why should I go a lot? Because it is amazing, they say. Well, I have been many times, it's ok, but what's the big deal?

And this is where you have a wise friend who takes you aside, tells you a bit more than he's supposed to, but it gets your wheels turning that maybe it is more important than you think.

And then you still forget to go/don't go, but think, Yeah, I'll get around to it.

I think this could describe a lot of members.

[RC Vikings]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

because we are told not to.

we are told it is one of the most important things we can do, but then we are also told not to talk about it.

and then we are told we are lazy slackers for not going enough. Why should I go a lot? Because it is amazing, they say. Well, I have been many times, it's ok, but what's the big deal?

And this is where you have a wise friend who takes you aside, tells you a bit more than he's supposed to, but it gets your wheels turning that maybe it is more important than you think.

And then you still forget to go/don't go, but think, Yeah, I'll get around to it.

I think this could describe a lot of members.

I think the hardest thing for me was that when Christ was on the earth his message seems so beautiful yet simple. I did not like all the ritual and maybe that is just part of my nature, I like things that are easy for me to understand. I'm going through with my son this next month and I want it to be a good experience for him. He's a lot better kid then I ever was so I know he will be fine but I still worry about it.

[ERCougar]

Originally Posted by RC Vikings

I think the hardest thing for me was that when Christ was on the earth his message seems so beautiful yet simple. I did not like all the ritual and maybe that is just part of my nature, I like things that are easy for me to understand. I'm going through with my son this next month and I want it to be a good experience for him. He's a lot better kid then I ever was so I know he will be fine but I still worry about it.

I'm with you. I've always struggled with the temple and similarly, the weakest part of my testimony deals with the role of ordinance and ritual. It helps if I consider the long history of ritualistic worship; an absence of ritual would actually be a sort of aberration, not the other way around.

But again--I'm with you. The temple is the weakest part of my testimony, and I typically deal with it by not going.

[Tex]

I'm confused by that approach. If the Book of Mormon were the weakest part of your testimony, would the solution be to not read it?

[ERCougar]

Originally Posted by Tex

I'm confused by that approach. If the Book of Mormon were the weakest part of your testimony, would the solution be to not read it?

For my part, I'll fully admit it's not rational. I'm probably just too lazy to do anything about it. There's a small part of me that fears that if the more I go, the more it will bug me, and the less interested in Church I'll become. But in the end, I'm probably just too lazy to put in the effort to resolve my concerns.

On the other hand, it does make some sense to spend your energies on the areas that bring you some kind of reward. Do you really give Leviticus its due time?