This is an address I gave in my church on Sunday, July 15, 2012. I hope that you enjoy it.

The Temple stands as our own spiritual lighthouse. It beckons the way to safety, it shows us the way to dry land, it welcomes us home.  We just need to look towards it.

Perspective

I once heard someone say,

“The most beautiful thing on the Capitol Beltway is the Mormon Temple. The ugliest thing is everything else.”

How true that is! I’ve driven around both sides of that beltway more times than I can count. From the 495 lanes of asphalt, to the manic drivers under the impression that this is some sort of Nascar race track, to the never ending road construction, it can sometimes prove difficult to find anything redeeming about driving on the Beltway.

When you finally reach exit 33 and manage to catch a gleam of golden spires, what a welcome sight that is! We don’t get the thrill that the southbound drivers see, but it matters little.  No matter what we are able to spy out of the corner of our eye of that majestic building, it remind us there is beauty and peace in the world.

Attending the Temple is a great way to put things in perspective for us in this crazy world so full of temporal issues. We learn to put our sights towards the eternity and align ourselves with the things of the Lord.

One might argue you don’t need to get to the Temple to contemplate eternity, because the never-ending road construction on the way is a good enough reminder of that.  I’ll admit to sometimes thinking along those lines myself as I’ve never driven on the beltway without orange barrels leading my way.  I’m not sure if I can remember a time when the Department of Transportation didn’t use 495 as some sort of storage for construction equipment.

The Temple might overlook the beltway and stand in a city that seemingly embodies the Temporal world, but the grounds of this holy edifice brings you suddenly into a different world. It is a slice of the Celestial that we are so very blessed to have in our lives.

Stopping the crazy East Coast pace of life to step into that Celestial world will help us remember what it is we are working towards. It can help us put aside our many worries as the Lord reaches out towards us in an effort to teach us of his eternal plan.

See Page 2: Faith

See Page 3: Hope

See Page 4: Revelation

See Page 5: Peace