A visit to the Cathedral...

A very nice architectural photo, shot properly to bring the verticals close to true. This is the west facade of Washington National Cathedral, aka The Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. The towers are named, left and right, The St. Peter Tower and The St. Paul Tower.

Almost a year ago(procrastination at it's finest...), my roommates and I went on a tour of the National Cathedral!  It was absolutely fantastic!~

It was done by one of the Cathedral Docents, Andy Bittner, who knows the Cathedral and how it all fits together(He lives in the boundaries of one of my previous wards that I served in.)

The north inner aisle of Washington National Cathedral's nave, looking east toward St. Mary's Chapel.

The Seal of District of Columbia... Washington D.C.

There is peaceful, solemn feeling felt throughout the building (except for the occasional tour that passes through). During our tour we crossed paths with people who were praying, meditating, or perhaps just looking at this wonderful building and learning its history.

There were beautiful windows of stained glass throughout the Cathedral, with works of art worthy of the masters of their trade.

The heroic-sized statue of Lincoln is by "Monument Man" Walker Hancock. Lincoln is depicted in a travelling shawl, standing on the back platform of a train, addressing the people of his adopted hometown, Springfield, Illinois, as he departs for his first inauguration. He never returned alive. The speech, carved into the wall, speaks for itself, and may be one of the saddest public addresses I've ever read. I think Lincoln may have had a greater facility for packing more meaning into fewer words than almost any other in the history of written English.

The Cathedral is a place of reflection.  I could see that, I could feel it.

Throughout the halls were many places to stop and think about God's glory(if you so chose) or to pray to Him.

It is full of history, with monuments to our country's Fathers laced throughout the arches.

The very existence of these memorials help us to remember where we came from, as a country and as people.  We know that these things can help us remember so that we can avoid repeating the past.

Andy told us about the stories built into the Cathedral itself, which he called the 'Kajillion-piece jigsaw puzzle', a witness to him that God has a hand in this building.

Each small thing, whether big or small, has a place in the Cathedral, and Andy himself said that he has yet to find all the pieces.

The architectural term for the Cathedral's front hall, between the two towers, is narthex. The narthex floor at Washington National Cathedral is inset with 52 marble seals; 50 state seals from the 50 states, the Seal of Washington D.C., and a larger U.S. Seal. Indiana is the source of Washington National Cathedral's primary building stone. In fact, Washington National Cathedral is the largest chunk of Indiana one could ever walk through that is not in the State of Indiana.

It was beautiful to see.  I know that I could spend hours in Cathedral just walking around, thinking about different things, using it as inspiration for writing.

There is a power there.  I could feel it.  It is something tangible and a cause for reflection.

A quiet reverence was observed throughout the building.

Scientists and Technicians, aka "The Space Window", commemorates those in the field of science and technology. Designed and fabricated in the late 1960s and early '70s, by artist Rodney Winfield, the window asks, "Is Not God In The Height Of Heaven?". The window was installed in 1974 and dedicated on the fifth anniversary of Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon. The imagery shows a deep blue and green orb in the lower right-hand corner, which represents the earth. From that circle a white line of trajectory loops out, up and around the large, red circle in the center top. In the center of that circle is a white ring, and in the center of that ring, a dark spot. That dark spot is a piece of moon rock, brought back from the moon by the Apollo 11 crew.

The netting stretched beneath Washington National Cathedral's ten-story high ceiling, is a post-August, 2011-earthquake safety device. The colored light projecting through Rowan LeCompte's three-story high, clerestory windows, landing on the net, is something of a silver lining. Someone named that effect, "The Cathedral Borealis"

The main window in the Lincoln Bay, dedicated, of course, to President Abraham Lincoln, is called "The Agony of Civil War", and is by the artist Robert Pinart. Although Mr. Pinart has provided a much more complex intent, I simply interpret the window as... What is not flame colored is either blue or gray. Partially visible in the bottom of the frame is a carving addressing a key point in Lincoln's second inaugural address, that the war be ended, "with malice toward none". The carving is of two hands passing an olive branch.

The sun pouring through the Lineage of Jesus window, by artist Rowan LeCompte.

A distant view of the Mormon Temple in Silver Spring, Maryland, from the Pilgrim Observation Gallery at Washington National Cathedral. Distance... a little over 5.5 miles.

When Andy pointed out the Washington D.C. Temple, I started comparing the National Cathedral to the Temple...

To begin my comparison, I looked up the definitions,

Cathedral:

• The principal church of a diocese, with which the bishop is officially associated.

While the LDS definition of a temple is:

• Temples are literally houses of the Lord. They are holy places of worship where individuals make sacred covenants with God. (Full article here)

Next, the purpose of the two buildings are almost completely different.  

As it states on the National Cathedrals about page, they see the Cathedral as being, "...A catalyst for spiritual harmony in our nation, renewal in the churches, reconciliation among faiths, and compassion in our world."

On the other hand, Temples are places where we make sacred promises with the Lord and perform vicarious work for our ancestors because "...millions of people have died without having any opportunity to hear the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ or receive saving ordinances."(Full Article)

Ability to enter:
Those who enter the temple must be worthy, which means that they keep the commandments and are prepared to make and keep sacred temple covenants. In two interviews—one with a member of a bishopric or a branch president and another with a member of a stake presidency or a mission president—Church members certify their worthiness to enter the temple. In these interviews, the priesthood leader asks about the individual's personal conduct and worthiness. Those who are worthy receive a temple recommend, which allows them to enter the temple.

Dress Code:

When individuals go to the temple, they should wear their best clothing, as they do when they attend church. When they are inside the temple, they exchange their clothing for the white clothing of the temple.

Washington National Cathedral from the north, with the formerly-over-three-hundred-foot "Gloria In Excelsis" bell tower, crowned in scaffolding that is currently only stabilizing earthquake damage. Very little actual repair has taken place on the tower. In the cross-shaped floor plan, the portion of the building jutting toward the viewer, with the large, round window, is the northern arm of the cross.

Several notable non-members have commented in regards to their experience in the ensign article,

The beauty of the temple impressed the visitors, including many prominent Filipinos. Writer Celso Carunungan commented on “a feeling of holiness, that when you get inside you are going to confront your Creator.” Colonel Bienvenido Castillo, chief chaplain of the Philippine Constabulary, said the temple is “a place where you can contemplate heavenly things because you are in such an environment.” Two nuns felt the temple “is truly a house of the Lord.” Eva Estrada-Kalaw, a member of the Philippine parliament, told guides, “I wish you would build more temples here." (Article)

The Cathedral is massive, even overpowering, giving an insignificant feeling. You feel the 'power' of God. It is a holy place.

The Temple... everything is close, warm, and nearby. It feels like home.

In the temple, it feels like Heavenly Father could be right around the corner, sitting in one of the chairs.

You don't necessarily feel power, but you can feel His presence.

You do not wonder if it is a holy place or not. You can feel it.

I've come to find that it's in interesting how different religions portray God. That's one thing I've learned to appreciate during my mission.

Distant, Omniscient being.

Loving, Caring Father.

How we see him even shows in the very architecture in which we build.
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Here are some pictures of the inside of the temple!~

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Here are some videos expressing what temples are about!~

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Elder Harston walking onto the driveway for the Cathedral's underground parking garage. From this vantage point, one can clearly see the flying buttresses that are holding up the ceiling of the north transept, from the outside. The security vehicle in the background makes me want to mention that the Cathedral has it's own security division. Some of us like to call them, "The God Squad".

Check out Andy's Blog!~

Picture of Kiev, Ukraine Temple taken from 'here'
Picture of Laie, Hawaii Temple taken from 'here'
Picture of Gila, Arizona Temple taken from 'here'

Improving your weaknesses vs. Changing who you are

Remember who you are.

I think the most important thing I can say in this blog post is to remember the Savior's words when asked what the greatest commandment is.

35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question,tempting him, and saying,

 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

 38 This is the first and great commandment.

 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

So I want to focus on the three commandments. "wait, three? but there are only two..."
Well, I want to expound a bit. It says:

1. love the Lord thy God
2. Love thy neighbour
3. as thyself.

Love yourself!  Don't forget that!  God loves you so love yourself.  There's only one you in this world.  I get mad at others for hating themselves.  Don't do that!  Why?  It's so destructive and gets nothing accomplished.  Be kind to yourself.  Take some time to do "you" stuff.  

Improvement is important, and you can do so most effectively with the help of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and believing in Him and in yourself.  Say positive things.  "I can do this.  I am awesome."  Please help others remember who they are too, and give them the confidence they need to endure through times of hardship and times of improving.  Most people when improving need support.  You improve yourself if you help others improve.

Faith in Jesus Christ will help us to endure the hardest of challenges.  Build your faith. :) 

This controversial battle between improving your weaknesses and changing who you are is worth talking about.  Please comment.  I would love to hear from anyone and everyone.

Mission possible

 

Your Mission, (should you choose to accept it)

Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end  (Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service, pg 1).  

This is your purpose as a missionary.

Notice how it doesn't say "Invite others to go unto Christ..." how lame!

We are to invite, not force.  We are to bring and stay, not deliver and leave.

In order to bring souls unto Christ, we ourselves must be on the Lord's side. 

Jeffrey R. Holland speaks at a Priesthood session of General Conference

"We are all enlisted"

Here's a video of it,

 

Here are some of my favorite lines from his talk.

I especially ask the young men of the Aaronic Priesthood to sit up and take notice. For you, let me mix in an athletic analogy. This is a life-and-death contest we are in, young men, so I am going to get in your face a little, nose to nose, with just enough fire in my voice to singe your eyebrows a little—the way coaches do when the game is close and victory means everything. And with the game on the line, what this coach is telling you is that to play in this match, some of you have to be more morally clean than you now are. In this battle between good and evil, you cannot play for the adversary whenever temptation comes along and then expect to suit up for the Savior at temple and mission time as if nothing has happened. That, my young friends, you cannot do. God will not be mocked.

So we have a dilemma tonight, you and I. It is that there are thousands of Aaronic Priesthood–age young men already on the records of this Church who constitute our pool of candidates for future missionary service. But the challenge is to have those deacons, teachers, and priests stay active enough and worthy enough to be ordained elders and serve as missionaries. So we need young men already on the team to stay on it and stop dribbling out of bounds just when we need you to get in the game and play your hearts out! In almost all athletic contests of which I know, there are lines drawn on the floor or the field within which every participant must stay in order to compete. Well, the Lord has drawn lines of worthiness for those called to labor with Him in this work. 

No missionary can be unrepentant of sexual transgression or profane language or pornographic indulgence and then expect to challenge others to repent of those very things! You can’t do that. The Spirit will not be with you, and the words will choke in your throat as you speak them. You cannot travel down what Lehi called “forbidden paths”⁵ and expect to guide others to the “strait and narrow”⁶ one—it can’t be done.

But there is an answer to this challenge for you every bit as much as there is for that investigator to whom you will go. Whoever you are and whatever you have done, you can be forgiven. Every one of you young men can leave behind any transgression with which you may struggle. It is the miracle of forgiveness; it is the miracle of the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. But you cannot do it without an active commitment to the gospel, and you cannot do it without repentance where it is needed. I am asking you young men to be active and be clean. If required, I am asking you to get active and get clean.

Now, brethren, we speak boldly to you because anything more subtle doesn’t seem to work. We speak boldly because Satan is a real being set on destroying you, and you face his influence at a younger and younger age. So we grab you by the lapels and shout as forcefully as we know how:

Hark! the sound of battle sounding loudly and clear;

Come join the ranks! Come join the ranks! ⁷

From every man, young and old, who bears the priesthood, I ask for a stronger and more devoted voice, a voice not only against evil and him who is the personification of it, but a voice for good, a voice for the gospel, a voice for God. Brethren of all ages, unbind your tongues and watch your words work wonders in the lives of those “who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it.”¹⁰

Haste to the battle, quick to the field;

Truth is our helmet, buckler, and shield.

Stand by our colors; proudly they wave!

We’re joyfully, joyfully marching to our home. ¹¹

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Master, amen.

(End of talk)

I testify that the words of Jeffery R. Holland are true.

I love the hymn "We are All Enlisted."

Because God loves us, He has given us commandments.  To show that we love Him, we keep those commandments.  We can accomplish our missions and be a part of the Savior's great work of salvation.  I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Prone to Leave the God I love

Ever felt like this guy?  This is probably how it will be when I get back from my mission and see my parents again.  Big embrace of a hug.  My mom might tell me to get a haircut if it's like this guy's hair though.  Nice mullet!  Oh yeah! Business in the front, party in the back!  I got this from the church website. :)  I have fun sometimes.  I hope this made you laugh.  Laughing is healthy.

Before this life we lived with God.
After this life we will meet God.

This life is the ONLY TIME in our existence that we are separated from God.  We can feel him near when we pray.  We can feel His spirit when we read from the scriptures or when we are at church, but we are not physically with God.

Prone to wander Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.  Here's my heart, O take and seal it.  Seal it for thy courts above.

This is the chorus to one of my favorite songs, "Come thou Fount of Every Blessing."  As I wrote the title, I couldn't help but write the next line.  "tune my heart to seek thy grace."

check this out!                           

Come thou fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it
Mount of thy redeeming love

Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by thy help I come
And I hope by thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home

Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wondering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

O to grace how great a debtor 

daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness like a fetter, 

bind my wandering heart to thee

CHORUS:

Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love!
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above!

My knowledge of the Plan of Salvation has helped me understand that I came here to receive a body and to make choices.  Although I am separated from my Heavenly Father for a time, I can feel him near me when I make righteous decisions.  When I make choices that my Heavenly Father would not want me to make, I feel separated from Him even more.  I feel I am as a sheep and "wander" from the fold of God.  I am so glad I have come to the knowledge of a Savior who gave his life, so I could get up, brush off, and try again to live a Christlike-life.   If YOU have ever felt like you have wandered from the fold of the Good Shepherd, then please... please know that you are loved and invited to come back.  There is a way back.  It is the only way back and I highly suggest it.  Seek out the Savior.  Learn what faith, repentance and forgiveness really are.  I know that the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real, and because of it, we can return to God again.

Alma says: God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the atonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men into the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence, to be judged according to their works, according to the law and justice.  (Alma 42:23)

We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.  (Articles of Faith 1:3)

All mankind includes you. :)  I invite you to listen to the Holy Ghost which God gives us because He loves us.  Listen to His promptings.  Listen to... the MISSIONARIES! :)  I love being a missionary.

This is my invitation to all.  God loves you.  Sometimes when life gets rough, it makes it harder to feel His love... but sometimes God allows life to get rough, so we can turn to Him... humble ourselves... and choose to trust Him in all things and feel of the love He has for us.  

If you feel "prone to wander," keep trying to come back.  You can.

We will meet God again.  Of this I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

-Elder Matthew H. Hart

Lessons you can learn from your shoes...

So it's been a while since I've posted.

I put the blame on shinanigans.  And laziness.

Therefore I, with the beginning of a new year (a month late) have decided to rededicate myself to this blog and share the small and simple things, which is what I originally wanted to write about when I started this blog.

So, I apologize.  This is my personal reboot.

So, a couple of days ago, I was polishing my shoes (something us missionaries have to do on a routine basis to keep up a professional appearance.) and something occurred to me:

This was the first time I had polished my shoes in at least 3 months(to my shame) because I previously been in a bike area.  Consequently, my shoes looked a little... worn.

One of the laces was broken, torn by overuse, the other was almost destroyed, scuffs were everywhere, and the shoes looked like they had been through a battlefield (not entirely untrue).  Now that I'm in a car area, I had no excuse for unpolished shoes, and quite frankly, the damage was a lot more noticeable than I originally thought.

So I went to work!  Lo and behold...

They looked brand new~(almost)!  I was a lot more proud of my freshly polished shoes than I thought I was going to be.  This caused me to stop for a moment:

Sometimes, I go about life without thinking care in the world, 'scuffing', so to speak, my spirit and I don't really think much of it.

My spirit gets worn down, bit by bit, and one day, when I take the time to finally step back and evaluate the damage, it's a lot worse than I originally thought. (It's better to just 'polish' regularly)

But the beauty of repentance, is that I can 'polish' the sins away, by asking for forgiveness and trying my best to stay away from the sins that I've committed. (Still better to polish regularly, it keeps everything nice and shiny)

The shoes are still worn, but like in life, I have learned, I have grown, and those marks are apparent as I go through this existence with the wisdom that I have gained.

Moral of the story?  POLISH YOUR SHOES REGULARLY!

Shoes get dirty quick and if you procrastinate polishing them, it takes a lot longer when you actually sit down to polish them!  It took me a grand total of almost a half an hour to polish both of them, something that could've just taken 2-3 minutes!

It's amazing the things you can learn from your shoes...!

Being Inspired; A constant Challenge

 Being inspired is something that has been a challenge for me since day #1.

As I've grown older, I've since found refuge in the place known as the night sky.  Though, now that I think about it, it's not even really the night sky(though that certainly helps as I've mentioned before).

It's the darkness.

When it is dark, it's unknown.  You can't see.  You don't really know what's going on.  All you really know is your immediate surroundings.

That's an ideal situation for me, it allows me to tune out everything else.  Starting from square one, I can build up a world, a universe, the possibilities are LIMITLESS.

The future is yet unwritten.

To me, that's a comforting thought, my future is not set in stone(at least my future during this life).  I can make choices to help others, to fumble around in the dark, to do what I want...

But do you know what helps me be inspired even more?

A prayer to my Heavenly father.

A silent plea for aid for just a little more help.

I know He will help me if I just ask.  He's done it before and he continues to do it even as I speak(write?), He loves me (as any parent does).  

President Monson had something to say about this subject, 

"Not a day has gone by that I have not communicated with my Father in Heaven through prayer. It is a relationship I cherish—one I would literally be lost without." -Reference-

I would be lost without my inspiration and my inspiration comes from God, it's really just one huge cycle!

Go figure.

...who am I!?

Who. 

Am. 

I.

This is a question which plagued me at many points of my life.  

Who am I?  

What's the point?  

Why should I?

It's a question I think all of us make war with.

As for myself, I found comfort looking up at the starry (sometimes) night sky.  Back in my hometown, there's some light pollution, so it's not exactly prime stargazing material, but that's the quality that actually helped me understand the answer.

It was early December, I was waiting for a close friend of mine at the Bell Tower (an important landmark in the city of Muncie).  I took a seat at the base of it and looked up at the sky wondering what exactly was in store for me...

When you look up at the sky, especially in a city, it's quiet. It's dark.  Just a couple really bright stars here and there, maybe Venus or Jupiter, but besides that-

Nothing.  Just empty night.  It's black, unfriendly, and cold (especially in the winter).

What I found was that, as I waited (patiently), my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw what was once hidden, the stars which were concealed by the glaring lights of the city.

It was a huge step for me.

You may be thinking, "How in the world does this relate to his original question!?"

In this world, we have lot's of things telling us what to believe.  

Magazines telling us what to wear, how to act, how to treat each other, etc...

T.V. showing us what 'reality' is like.

Games showing us who's who in a galaxy that's waaaaaaaaaaay too far away.  (not speaking against them!  I love those games)

For me, that was the empty night sky so full of questions and not enough answers-  the light obscured the beauty and majesty of the universe created just for us by a loving Father.

I could see the stars, not all of them nor their full beauty, but I could see them.  

My mind made the connection for me as I sat back and enjoyed the view in the brisk December cold.

You see, I was listening a song performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, My Shepard Will Supply My Needs, it's a beautiful song.

I realized that I would always have questions.

I know I am my Heavenly Fathers' Son.  He wants me to learn and grow and sometimes, that means I'll make mistakes.  Sometimes, that means I won't have all answers, I might not even know the question I want to ask but I am His son.  That was enough for me.

The next realization that I had; I had to wait for a moment, let my eyes see what was really there, not just freak out if I couldn't immediately discern anything.  I had to 'tune' out the light to see those stars.

Likewise, we have to stop for a moment.  We have to pay attention to those divine messages we get.  The world can get pretty distracting and obscure the bigger picture but if we want to see those stars, we have to sit still for a moment.

I sat there for a few seconds, shocked at the way my mind put two and two together.

My friend came a few minutes later.  I shared the insights with her and we took a moment to enjoy the quiet peace as we listened to music...

~~~~~

That experience helped me appreciate the wonderful plan that our Heavenly Father has for us and the tools he has given us to learn more about it...

So the summary of what I learned was this;

Sometimes we need to stop our lives, put them on hold for a second, so we can learn about the bigger picture from God, the source of all Truth.

After all, in the scriptures many times in words of comfort, he says,

"...Be still and know that I am God."

 -Full Reference-

(Yes, I am still in the process of discovering of who I am but with this was a major step in that process.  Like my parents always said, "Remember whose you are")

Thank YOU Veterans!