In a recent
short volume on the temple endowment, LDS author Anthony Sweat wrote the
following which is rather useful for those wishing to understand the temple and the endowment:
KNOWING THE TEMPLE
The temple is a place where profound eternal
truths of the plan of exaltation are presented, both plainly and subtly. As you
participate in the temple endowment, try to do so in an attitude of approaching
God to obtain further truth and knowledge from Him. He has said in scripture
that He wants to bless His faithful Saints to know “the hidden mysteries of
[His] kingdom from days of old, and . . . the wonders of eternity” (D&C
76:7-8). Even if the only prayer in your heart is to learn something new about
the Lord, His ways, and His kingdom, then let that be offered up to God, and He
has promised to pour down knowledge that will settle upon you like dew from
heaven (see D&C 121:33, 45).
As you probably have heard or experienced by
now, the temple uses symbol, imagery, and ritual to communicate spiritual
knowledge. Why these somewhat ambiguous and sometimes confusing methods?
Frankly, because they’re good teaching. You can’t be a lazy learner with
symbol, imagery, and ritual. You have to figure things out as they lie hidden
in plain sight. The Lord explained His rationale for puzzling teaching
techniques to His disciples: “Because it Is given unto you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given . . . Therefore
speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear
not, neither do they understand . . . But blessed are your eyes, for they see:
and your ears, for they hear” (Matthew 13:11, 13, 16).
In addition, symbol and ritual cut across
racial, ethnic, social, and generational divides. The endowment experience isn’t
meant to speak only to modern American Saints but to connect equally to Saints
in diverse culture s across the earth, past and present. Thus, the experience
will likely be foreign to your modern frame of reference. Mystery is the revelatory vehicle to help transport your mind and
heart to other realms-in this case, the realm of heaven. If at first you find
yourself bewildered about some things, and that causes you to study, think, and
pray, then the endowment ceremonies are effectively doing their job.
As mystery transports you to unknown realms,
ask God questions about His teaching methods. Why are we doing this? What does that setting suggest? What does this
room symbolize? What could this phrase mean? What might this clothing imply?
How could that symbol be interpreted? What could that gesture represent? How is
this related to that? All of these questions should be asked in a spirit of
reverence and meekness. This is because the truly humble and teachable get God’s
answers to their questions (see D& 112:10). The Lord has said that His
thoughts and ways are not your thoughts and ways (see Isaiah 55:8-9), so
instead of criticizing His approach because it might be confusing or isn’t how
you may have done it, inquire of the Lord why He does what He does and what it
could mean. You simply cannot be mentally passive in the temple and expect to
learn the mysteries of God. A “house of learning” inherently implies a need to “seek
learning . . . by study” (D&C 88:118-119), and study requires using your
mind to actively search, analyse, interpret, and connect.
Even if you are mentally active and seek to “know”
as you worship in the temple, you may not learn something new from the endowment
each time you participate. Some things come together slowly over time and
through repeated visits, which is why there is a need to be patient and to
return often. Even if you don’t gain some new insight through the endowment,
you may be reminded of knowledge you previously learned—truths you already
understand but that God want to bring to your remembrance or impress more
deeply upon your soul. Sometimes the things you learn will be revelatory
insights into a personal problem or decision. And sometimes the “know” from the
temple endowment will be knowing you’ve just done something great for someone
else, providing vicarious exalting ordinances for a deceased daughters or son
of God. (Anthony Sweat, The Holy Invitation:
Understanding Your Sacred Temple Endowment [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book,
2017], 47-50)
