I Will Give Unto You a Pattern in All Things

Let’s begin with a quiz.  The quiz is easy; it only has one question, and the answer is obvious.  Here is your quiz:

Undoubtedly there are a few mavericks among you who selected option B, “disorder and insecurity,” and did so simply to be contrary.  But down deep, even those few would not really agree with that answer.  By our very nature, we both crave and seek a sense of order and security in our lives.  That remains true independent of the fact that many of you live in apartments that resemble certified disaster zones and many of you regularly fail to lock your apartment doors. 

So, why did I give you such a simple quiz?  The reason is because the implications of the answer are not near as obvious as is the answer itself.

Many years ago, Brother Hugh Nibley taught that “Order and security are the exception in this world.”^[1]  I find that to be a most interesting thought.  We can easily recognize its truth, but how often do we consciously consider just how completely foreign this telestial world is to our eternal natures?  Without question, people living in all nations of the earth are regularly confronted with disorder and insecurity at every turn.  Truly, “order and security are the exception in this world.” 

Our Heavenly Father desires that we have order and security in our lives.  And He has provided abundant guidance to help us do so.  With that in mind, let’s consider Doctrine and Covenants 52:14.

I wish to spend most of the time today talking about a few aspects of the Lord’s pattern– a pattern given to help us avoid being deceived by Satan and to help us have order and security in our lives.  But before we reflect on the Lord’s pattern, let’s first consider the thought that Satan also has what we might think of as a pattern. 

In Satan’s pattern we see constant evidence of disorder and insecurity.  His pattern is one of destruction, temptation, deception, and distraction.  It is a pattern evidenced by being acted upon and by being seduced to yield our agency one subtle step at a time.  Rarely are Satan’s tactics in-our-face, so-to-speak, but rather they target us from behind or to the side with the intent of catching us off-guard.

Several years ago in a luncheon setting on this campus, President Henry B. Eyring, who was then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, was asked what are the primary concerns currently facing the Church.  He replied that one of the more serious concerns impacting many Church members, particularly those the age of university students, is “an unrelenting creep of worldliness into the lives of active members.”  His answer struck me powerfully, and I have thought about it many times in the intervening years. 

In parallel to President Eyring’s comment are the words of President Boyd K. Packer when he taught:

Each of us has seen ample evidence of the truth of President Eyring and President Packer’s words.  But I wonder, if we are as inclined as we should be in looking inward, at our own lives, to determine the degree to which their concerns apply to us?  Please consider how easy it is for any of us to get attracted to various aspects of the ways of the world and to be pulled toward them–even while remaining unaware of the degree to which it is happening to us.

In being drawn toward the things of this world, we can be misled in how we view righteousness verses how we view wickedness.  We can easily come to the erroneous conclusion that if something is not wicked then it must be okay.  As my wife and I raised our six children, we tried to help them understand the reality that if something is not wicked then it may or may not be okay.  It is not as simple as many would like to make it.  There is, I believe, a gap between righteousness and wickedness.  The gap between righteousness and wickedness is filled with things that are frivolous and with things that are foolish.  As we honestly reflect on the reality of such a gap, we can rightfully conclude that merely avoiding wickedness is not the same thing as living righteously.

Here is a brief experience that illustrates this point.  Several years ago, in a priesthood meeting discussion that became sidetracked in considering the differences between righteousness and wickedness, a sincere brother observed that he didn’t feel that deliberately speeding would keep someone out of the celestial kingdom.  Others in the class disagreed with him.  Back and forth the discussion went for a couple of minutes.  The answer was made clear when a very wise, older brother stated, “I don’t think the action of speeding will keep you out of the Celestial kingdom, but I am confident that the attitude that will allow you to speed will keep you out.”  All of us in the class instantly knew that we had heard a profound truth.

With the spirit of that truth ringing in your ears, consider again the thought that merely avoiding wickedness is not the same thing as living righteously.  Down deep we know that is true.  Down deep we know that we are not here simply for a casual visit to obtain a body, to do a few spiritual calisthenics, and to top it off with having a great time.  Down deep, we intuitively know the essential purposes of being upon this earth go far deeper.  But we don’t always behave as though we do.

Why are we so inclined to hold onto many of the ways of this world?  Why are we so easily distracted from the core purposes of this life?  Well, of course a major part of the answer is that distraction is one of best tactics used by Satan.  If he can’t successfully tempt us with one thing or another, then he will work to distract us.  For his purposes, distraction can serve just as well as temptation.  Satan is a master of deception.  He is adept at placing non-wicked, worldly things and behaviors before us to compete for our attention.  In and of themselves, these worldly things may not keep us from eternal life, but instead they can keep us from tending to those things that are essential to our eternal welfare.

Let us now consider the Lord’s pattern for us.  I begin by acknowledging that I am neither qualified enough nor eloquent enough to describe it well, but I feel that my deep love for the gospel qualifies me sufficiently to make a sincere attempt. 

The Lord’s pattern is indeed a pattern of order and security.  We can recognize it by the feelings of calm it brings to our lives.  We are blessed to receive comforting confirmation from the Holy Ghost as we adhere to it. 

We can also recognize the Lord’s pattern by the responsibility it brings.  It requires something from us.  It requires effort and commitment.  It is a pattern of invitation where we must exercise our agency in receiving it into our lives.  While we have many commandments given to us and we are blessed as we keep them, our greater opportunity is to do as we are admonished in Doctrine & Covenants 58:26-27.

The Lord’s pattern is also a pattern of serving others.  This is particularly true in this dispensation.  No other people in the history of this earth have had the opportunity to do so much for so many people as we have today.  What an exceptional blessing you have as students at this university to be learning how to serve others.

Above all else, the Lord’s pattern is a pattern of learning how to reverence and to honor those things which are sacred.  As we learn more fully to keep the ways of the world out of our hearts and increase our reverence for things sacred, then we may be blessed in having order and security as a part of our lives independent of whatever level of turmoil is present upon the earth.

How do we learn the Lord’s pattern?  I believe the structure already set forth for us as members of the Church will show the way.  We have opportunities to attend our church meetings and to keep the Sabbath day holy, to hold our family home evenings, to pray regularly and sincerely, to study the scriptures, to study the words of living prophets, to faithfully fulfill our callings and assignments, to attend the temple, and to do many other things expected of us.  All of these are given to assist us in learning and living the Lord’s pattern.  You will note that my list contains nothing new.  It is the same outward expectations you have grown up with.  However, please consider that there are inward dimensions involved in each of those things listed–truly our greater task is to internalize all that we have been given.  This task of internalizing the gospel, or as the Apostle Paul phrased it, “having it written ‘in the fleshy tables of [our] hearts,’”^[3] is where we increasingly need to be putting faithful and consistent effort all the days of our lives.

For me the temple has been an ideal place to see the Lord’s pattern and to observe how to internalize it.  In the balance of our time together today I wish to share some of what I have learned from the temple in this regard.

First of all, it is instructive to consider that the word temple, from its Latin root word, templum, denotes a template or a pattern.^[4] The word temple can also suggest an observatory where one can take a bearing on things.^[5] Certainly, for us, the temple is a place that should become a template or a pattern from which we can view and guide our lives.  It is a place where we can observe and, more importantly, feel constant and correct patterns and take an unerring bearing on things. 

As many of you know being in the temple can touch our feelings very deeply, perhaps more deeply than others of you might suppose.  During the open house of the Rexburg Temple in early 2008, I was blessed to lead a few tours.  In doing so, I had an unforgettable opportunity to witness just how quickly and how profoundly the temple can touch people.  A temple open house will attract many different kinds of people.  In an area such as this, many will be active members of the Church wishing to bring their children or other family members to experience the beauty and serenity of the temple.  However other people, inactive members and those of other faiths, will also attend, perhaps only out of simple curiosity.   They might not be interested in the Church but just be curious to walk through a building that soon will be inaccessible to them.

Let me tell you about one such family.   It was a family of three—a father, mother, and an approximately sixteen or seventeen-year-old daughter.  Each of them had the definite appearance of being very worldly.  Certainly they did not look like folks you would remotely expect to see in your Church meetings on Sunday.  They stood out distinctly among the other people on the tour.  While they were respectful as we proceeded through the tour, they maintained a steady demeanor of aloofness and indifference.  Their very manner repeatedly seemed to say, “We are not buying into what you are telling us.”  However, this changed quite suddenly when we got to the celestial room in the temple.  I was not expecting the change that came upon them, and they were expecting it even less.

Just prior to entering the celestial room, tour groups were informed that while in that room there would be no talking, but that each person on the tour could use the quiet minutes there to contemplate the reality of a loving Heavenly Father and the concern He has for them.  As we entered the room I found myself standing directly opposite this family, where I was able to discretely observe them.  Within 30 seconds of being in the celestial room, the wife, with a sudden look of surprise upon her face, began to cry.  Her husband, sensing this, looked at her in disbelief, and then he too started to cry.  The daughter then turned toward them both and her jaw literally dropped in astonishment as she just stared at them for several seconds before she abruptly burst into tears as well.  I watched as this family then fell into each other’s arms and wept quietly together.

How beautiful a contrast in attentiveness they showed when we went next to a sealing room.  You could see in each of their eyes a depth of earnest interest regarding the message that families may be sealed together for time and for all eternity.  I would love to know if other changes in their lives have come from the feelings they jointly experienced in the temple that day.  Of one thing I am certain, they walked out of the temple with very different feelings from the feelings they had when they walked in earlier.

That family was able to get an initial feeling for the very things from which we need to be regularly and intensely feeling.  The temple will indeed help us see our lives from a correct perspective.  The temple helps us sort through or avoid the myriad of worldly distractions that compete for our attention in this demanding and perplexing telestial world.

The temple helps us see order, purpose, and beauty amidst the blur of chaos and wickedness that surrounds us.  The temple provides us a vista where we might see, and hear, and feel the calm, the peace, and the promise of eternity.

For me the pattern of learning begins upon entering the temple.  The requirement to provide evidence of our worthiness has a reassuring dimension.  Upon contemplation, we can see that the level of worthiness that allows us to enter the temple is not a price to be paid but an investment in ourselves and in our families. 

Within the temple we can learn from the basic process of setting aside the attire of the world and clothing ourselves to do the work of a better one.  In the course of changing clothes, we should learn to leave within our lockers all the cares and concerns that accompany us on a given day.  Certainly there is a wonderful lesson or two in this thought alone that we can teach and apply within the walls of our own homes.  Our homes should be a refuge, and many of the issues and problems of this world should be left at our doorstep as we return home to our families each day. 

From the designated manner of dress within the temple, we can observe an appropriate pattern for our manner of dress outside of the temple.  The lesson I learn is that our clothing should be (1) modest, (2) conservatively tasteful, and (3) not used to draw attention to ourselves.  I have found it wise to allow these three considerations to have a significant influence on my clothing decisions.  Overall though, I have learned that our attire is not nearly as effective in showing who we are as is having the image of the Savior in our countenance. 

We can readily observe that throughout the temple there are many good people in place to assist and instruct us.  In daily life, we should strive to maintain this pattern—hence the opportunity to see home teaching and visiting teaching as much more than just a monthly visit.  Further, there are opportunities to draw from this pattern in striving to be better roommates, friends, husbands and wives, more effective parents, and more dedicated teachers and leaders.

One of the vital lessons of the temple is observing how the Lord responds individually to His children.  Temple experiences are one-by-one experiences.  We can take great comfort from this pattern in learning that the Lord, indeed, does know us individually and seeks to teach us and guide us accordingly.  How evident this is as we discover that in the temple, the true teacher is the Holy Ghost.  And in the temple, more than perhaps any other area of gospel learning, we find that the deeper lessons are individually felt rather than voiced. 

As with all things on the face of the earth, we see that all things within the temple denote that there is a God and that He has provided a Savior for us.  At every turn, we feel of the love our Father has for His children.   In the temple we can observe that the very commandments are but a reflection of the attributes of God that we need to develop while on this earth.  Therefore, we can see that the commandments have been given only for the purpose of blessing us.

In the temple we find ample witness that all of the promises of the Lord are sure.  There, we feel the reality of increased faith as we move forward in our lives.  There, we feel the reality of added hope–the unequaled and unqualified assurance and confidence–that we can succeed as we persevere in our efforts to gain education, to launch a career, to marry, to raise righteous families, and to endure whatever trials may come to us. 

In the temple we are able to learn that all things possessed by the Lord, and promised to us as His children if we are true and faithful, are things that can be given freely, without limit.  Unlike the physical things of this world, the gifts of God increase and enlarge when shared.  And unlike the things highly valued in this world, their value does not increase in relation to their exclusiveness.  Rather, the value of the gifts of God appears to increase based on their inclusiveness.  Hence, when we share of our worldly substance, the outcome will be that we will have less of whatever it was that we shared.  In contrast, when we share of the gifts of God–things such as faith, hope, charity, truth, wisdom and knowledge –the outcome will be that we enlarge our portion of the very things which we share.  This reality should guide us regularly with respect to those things we set our hearts and energies upon.  Consequently, we can learn to be more content with the limited range of the things of this world that we truly need and to be increasingly free in sharing all that we possess.

We learn in the temple that the Lord has placed His messengers here upon the earth.  And we have confirmed to us that His messengers are apostles and prophets.  We see the pattern, that in many things (perhaps in most things), the Lord provides direction to His children through those messengers. 

In the temple we have confirmed to us that our natural-man tendencies have bounds placed upon them.  From this we can conclude that we would be wise to cease to seek out the outer edges of what is acceptable within the requirements of the gospel.  Rather, we should increasingly seek to find ways to strengthen, deepen, and broaden the range of our commitment.  Thereby, we will find ourselves continually growing rather than simply holding the line at a minimal level of acceptance.  I am confident that in this increasingly wicked world we need to personally be raising our own bar of righteousness and continually distancing ourselves from anything that might harm us.

In the temple we can observe that the commandments, like the covenants that flow from them and which we take upon ourselves, are ascending in nature.  Each takes us to a higher level and provides us with a more expansive perspective.  As we progress in this way, we learn that not only do the commandments and our covenants not limit or restrict us, but we see that they free us more completely.  Keeping them will, line-upon-line, allow us the expanding privilege and blessing of seeing what God sees, knowing what He knows, and feeling what He feels.  It is truly the path of becoming.

Of all that we learn in the temple, nothing in my awareness is of greater significance than what we learn of our Savior and of the breadth and depth of His works and His atonement.  That remains the pattern of the temple that we need most to be seeking to comprehend and to be led in following. 

It is both a privilege and a responsibility to attend the temple.  I testify that we should attend regularly and, in the course of so doing, we should continually take our bearing on matters of eternity and observe patterns we can apply in our homes and in our lives.

Let us take from the temple the pattern of how to live within our own homes and families.  Let us increasingly strive to have our homes become places of refuge within a wilderness of wickedness.

Like the pattern found in the temple, let our homes be peaceful and purposeful.  Let our homes be places of unpretentious beauty, free of disorder, distractions, and discord.  Let them be places where love and concern for others is fundamental.

Like the pattern found in the temple, let us build and bind the family circle both within the walls of our homes and beyond.  Let us teach our children and others to recognize how individually precious they are to the Lord.  Let us also teach the blessings and duties of being part of eternal family units.

Like the pattern found in the temple, let us foster within our lives an understanding of and commitment to the eternal purposes of our Heavenly Father and His Son.  Let us build settings where the Holy Ghost is ever invited and ever included.

It is our right and our privilege to experience these things.

Notes:

[1] Hugh W. Nibley, Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present (Vol. 12 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by Don E. Norton, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company; Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1992), 11

[2] Elder Boyd K. Packer, “Reverence Invites Revelation,” Ensign, Nov. 1991, 21

[3] 2 Corinthians 3:2-3

[4] Hugh W. Nibley, Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present (Vol. 12 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by Don E. Norton, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company; Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1992), 31

[5] Hugh W. Nibley, Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present (Vol. 12 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by Don E. Norton, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company; Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1992), 31