I Love to See the Temple

I went there yesterday. It is what I am grateful for today.  I love going to the temple. I love that, while I'm there, my brain completely relaxes. I don't mean that I'm not thinking. Au contraire, I often find my mind racing along as I think of a number of different problems that are vexing me. However, when I am contemplating these concerns there in the temple, inevitably, I get new ideas that often result in solutions. Sometimes, I gain the insight that allows me to relax and give up trying to "fix" a problem over which I actually have no power. Sometimes, I think of a counter-intutitive solution. When that happens, I pay very close attention. I consider those moments pure revelation. I'm always trying to do it My Way, but in the temple I often come to realize that His Way is much more effective. Usually, it isn't what I'd have chosen at all, but always turns out to be the Best Way.

As I sat in the session, I realized that it was Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, and I thought it was entirely appropriate to be seated there, doing that, on this particular holiday. Every year in school, we have the same discussion about Halloween with my students. About two thirds of them are Hispanic. But, culturally, they range from very traditionally Mexican, to just as American as Kentucky Fried Chicken. (Which is the favorite fast-food of Japan, I recently read...so, what exactly is American???) (But I digress...)  The conversation about Halloween: many of them LOVE those icky slasher movies, and that is Halloween to them. Others come from a more evangelical religious tradition, and their families don't celebrate "The Devil's Day." So, it is always tricky to navigate through the month. Those who celebrate all share the love of Free Candy day, for sure.

I end up tip-toeing through the various debates of whether or not the Devil is part of Halloween, or if it is just for fun, or if I believe in Bloody Mary or La Llorona, or would I ever go to the Fright Dome at Circus Circus?  But, I usually steer the conversation into history and explain that "Halloween" is a contraction of the words "All Hallow's Eve" and I tell them about All Saint's Day and compare it to Dia de los Muertos, and suddenly light bulbs coming popping on over their heads. Oh! They get it! And then I tell them how my daughter lived in Madrid, Spain, and saw the beautiful tradition of visiting the cemetery on November 1 to have a meal and celebrate the memory of loved ones gone to heaven. Then, there is a flurry of stories about their grandmother doing this, or of a time they went to a cemetery with their family. We're no longer arguing about the devil, we're no longer divided into camps about the value or evilness of Halloween. We've moved on to something that everyone can relate to, and the room is filled with an entirely different atmosphere.

The temple is like that, too. I drive up the hill after a day of frenzy with the students. The view alone is worth the visit. The entire valley is spread out before you and the temple itself is a vivid refuge from the hedonistic playground glittering off in the distance. Serenity reigns inside. I'm entirely removed from frivolous conversations. No one is clamoring for my attention. There is an entire absence of clamoring, in fact. It's the best thing ever on a school night that followed the frenzy of Halloween. Sitting calmly, surrounded by the beautiful colors of the desert that decorate the interior of our temple here, being of service to a woman who was born in Italy almost two hundred years ago, was a perfect way for me to spend All Saint's Day---Dia de los Muertos--Thursday, November 1st.

(BTW: I intended this to be posted on Nov. 2nd, but I started too late, so that's why it says "Nov.3rd." Guess I've already messed up my plan to post everyday, huh?)