Sabbath Devotional: Frequent Fliers

Sometimes I feel [insert adjective here–take your pick!] about the extreme repetitiveness of the temple endowment. There is built-in repetition within the session, plus the experience of repeated sessions when you return to the temple. (Although there is the occasional change or revision to the ceremony; I have been thinking about the changes made during President Nelson’s tenure as we have been reflecting on his life and leadership of the Church.)

As I was on a flight last weekend, I was feeling similarly impatient with the drawn-out process of departure, anxious for the departure to happen already as I was ready to be back at my apartment and for an end to the long day of travel. But no matter how many flights you have been on, the safety speech is the same — you still receive the same instructions regarding locating the nearest exit (it may be behind you!), seatbelts, no smoking, flotation devices, and oxygen masks.

At times I have made a mental comparison of these very different, yet somewhat analogous experiences of attending the temple and hearing the flight safety presentation before takeoff. In both cases, the experience is not contingent on whether it’s your first time or your fortieth. The guest or passenger’s perception of the experience and familiarity is what changes, but the experience itself is reliably similar from occasion to occasion. As I was sitting through the safety spiel last weekend, I reflected on the inherent beauty of that concept. It does not matter how many times or how recently you have attended the temple; whenever you return, you are guaranteed the same experience and level of detail as the very first time you attended. We all have equal access to God, and it does not depend on your memory being perfect or complete or recent. This principle is reinforced in scripture: we read that “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34) and “he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him,” for “all are alike unto God” (2 Nephi 26:33).

[I share this devotional with a side note about the past and present exclusions for temple worship and the impacts these exclusions have had or may currently have. I wrote this devotional about the temple because the parallels between the experience of sitting and listening felt very analogous, but I recognize that in practice, the temple experience may not represent this principle perfectly for everyone. In the past this thought process has helped me reframe the temple and how I experience my temple attendance and as someone who has struggled with the temple at various times, it felt worth sharing in the event that it may be useful or helpful to someone else. I also think there is truth to these ideas that resonates in other spheres and settings; we each have access to our Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement, the Holy Ghost, or spirit of Christ.]

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Photo: a view from my window seat as we passed over the Rocky Mountains

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Elizabeth VanDerwerken is the proactive root director at Mormon Women for Ethical Government.