I have been having a vision lately. I see it in my dreams, I hear it in my mind, I see it when I am driving. It keeps coming to me again and again.
It is a song about my journey. The song talks about my life before, it talks about the Missionaries coming, it talks about my Baptism, and it talks about the day I go to Temple.
I have managed to get the words to the song down on paper. I have a vision still of the scenes that go with the song, so I am going to try to record those scenes on video. I have started the ball rolling to find someone to sing this song and someone to write the music to go with it. I really hope I am able to make this vision in my mind a reality that I can share with others.
Here are the words to the song (Titled: Perfect White):
My life, it was fine without You
It was fine... because I didn't know
This whole time, You were right here with me
You were in my heart, You were in my soul
Your perfect words, You sent them to me
My hard heart, became soft, set free
Your word, so beautiful, so true
Perfect White, Perfect White
Nature's water, underneath I go
My thoughts, my deeds, You knew them all
The bad from me, away did flow
Through you, I am made Perfect White
Through Your door, inside I go
The future I see, Your love I know
I give to You, You reveal to me
So white! Perfect White!
Soften my heart
So I let You in
I'll never let go
Not ever again!
Nature's water, underneath I go
My thoughts, my deeds, You knew them all
The bad from me, away did flow
Through you, I am made Perfect White
Through your door, inside I go
The future I see, Your love I know
I give to You, You reveal to me
So white! Perfect White!
Soften my heart
So I let You in
I'll never let go
Not ever again!
Through Your door, inside I go
The future I see, Your love I know
I give to You, You reveal to me
So white! Perfect White!
I'll never let go
Not ever again!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Temple Thoughts
It has been quite a while now since my visit to Draper Temple. I wanted some time to really dwell on my thoughts and feelings from my visit there before writing about it in depth. Snippets of time to really think in quiet solitude haven't been easy to come by of late, so it took a while before I was ready to make this post.
I think a brief reflection on my photography will help me explain my feelings from the Temple.
I took a course on photography once - a two day class. It is the only class on photography I've ever taken. One of the most significant things I took away from that class has had a profound effect on my entire life. My favorite instructor there showed us in a myriad ways why simplifying what we took photos of made the photos better.
Over the years since I took that course, I have seen the truth of it - my own photos have really gotten a lot better as I try to simplify what is in them. The more "clutter" in the photo, the more the viewer is distracted from the subject.
When I moved into my new house early this year, I sought to truly simplify my home, to declutter it, to maintain a non cluttered environment. It has REALLY helped me more than I can describe. For some reason, being surrounded by clutter is something that, for me, is VERY distracting, even depressing.
Something else I've worked hard at in my photography is to brighten things up. I don't mean artificially making it look bright or adding light where there wasn't any. Mostly I mean taking photos where I purposefully eliminate black areas that aren't lit. I found that, for me, light is something that I find uplifting in a photo. Darkness in a photo is gloomy, depressing. I have noticed clients having the same reaction to my photography when they notice how bright and uplifting (and simple) I strive to make my photos.
I explained all of this in photographic terms because it is something I can DESCRIBE. Without that background to draw from, I'm not sure my feeling from the Temple can actually be conveyed in words.
Some simple things about the Temple:
1. The Temple is very quiet.
2. The Temple is bright in the sense that there are mostly white walls and nice lighting on the walls.
3. The Temple is simple in that it doesn't have clutter, the rooms are very spacious and uncrowded.
The Temple is a lot more than those three things. But again, I don't know that I can communicate in words all that the Temple is.
Having a quiet, bright, clean, simple place to go be closer to God is a real gift. But those words only describe the physical aspects of the Temple. Spiritually, it is the same - it feels bright with the light of God, it seems quiet from the myriad voices in your head (the Spirit seems more easily able to speak to you), and it feels simple, none of the clutter of everyday life is there in the Temple.
So both physically and spiritually, the Temple is a place that feels extremely well suited to be close to God. And I saw all of this in an undedicated Temple tour. I haven't covenanted with God in a Temple yet. I haven't even set foot in a dedicated Temple yet. I can only IMAGINE what it must be like to be dressed in white, among others dressed in white, participating in Temple activities.
I look forward to the day I get married in Temple. I look forward to sealing my wife, my children, and myself together for all of eternity. I long to look into those reflecting mirrors with my children at my side, explaining to them just how long eternity is, as best I can, with the infinite reflections there to assist me.
The Temple is a truly wondrous place. Words cannot describe what the Temple is, what it does for us, or what it does for our Heavenly Father. I just know that the Temple is a place I very sincerely look forward to spending as much time as possible.
I think a brief reflection on my photography will help me explain my feelings from the Temple.
I took a course on photography once - a two day class. It is the only class on photography I've ever taken. One of the most significant things I took away from that class has had a profound effect on my entire life. My favorite instructor there showed us in a myriad ways why simplifying what we took photos of made the photos better.
Over the years since I took that course, I have seen the truth of it - my own photos have really gotten a lot better as I try to simplify what is in them. The more "clutter" in the photo, the more the viewer is distracted from the subject.
When I moved into my new house early this year, I sought to truly simplify my home, to declutter it, to maintain a non cluttered environment. It has REALLY helped me more than I can describe. For some reason, being surrounded by clutter is something that, for me, is VERY distracting, even depressing.
Something else I've worked hard at in my photography is to brighten things up. I don't mean artificially making it look bright or adding light where there wasn't any. Mostly I mean taking photos where I purposefully eliminate black areas that aren't lit. I found that, for me, light is something that I find uplifting in a photo. Darkness in a photo is gloomy, depressing. I have noticed clients having the same reaction to my photography when they notice how bright and uplifting (and simple) I strive to make my photos.
I explained all of this in photographic terms because it is something I can DESCRIBE. Without that background to draw from, I'm not sure my feeling from the Temple can actually be conveyed in words.
Some simple things about the Temple:
1. The Temple is very quiet.
2. The Temple is bright in the sense that there are mostly white walls and nice lighting on the walls.
3. The Temple is simple in that it doesn't have clutter, the rooms are very spacious and uncrowded.
The Temple is a lot more than those three things. But again, I don't know that I can communicate in words all that the Temple is.
Having a quiet, bright, clean, simple place to go be closer to God is a real gift. But those words only describe the physical aspects of the Temple. Spiritually, it is the same - it feels bright with the light of God, it seems quiet from the myriad voices in your head (the Spirit seems more easily able to speak to you), and it feels simple, none of the clutter of everyday life is there in the Temple.
So both physically and spiritually, the Temple is a place that feels extremely well suited to be close to God. And I saw all of this in an undedicated Temple tour. I haven't covenanted with God in a Temple yet. I haven't even set foot in a dedicated Temple yet. I can only IMAGINE what it must be like to be dressed in white, among others dressed in white, participating in Temple activities.
I look forward to the day I get married in Temple. I look forward to sealing my wife, my children, and myself together for all of eternity. I long to look into those reflecting mirrors with my children at my side, explaining to them just how long eternity is, as best I can, with the infinite reflections there to assist me.
The Temple is a truly wondrous place. Words cannot describe what the Temple is, what it does for us, or what it does for our Heavenly Father. I just know that the Temple is a place I very sincerely look forward to spending as much time as possible.
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