Give God a home

In recent weeks, my wife and I have already attended several unit conferences, and the great advantage is that you hear the same lessons several times, allowing you to reflect and think about the deeper meaning of some things. So I have already heard several speeches about temples and heard President Buysse ask the audience several times why temples are important.

The standard answers are always very beautiful to hear: to be able to perform ordinances, to work for ancestors, to be closer to God... Especially the latter is something you often hear return when you talk to Mormons about temples: it is after all the house of our Heavenly Father and you visit Him, dressed in your Sunday best. But have we really ever considered that it truly is His house and therefore perhaps His home?

If you read Exodus 25:8, it says:

And they must make for Me a sanctuary​ so that I may dwell in their midst.

This verse made me reflect on a meaning of temples that I did not yet know, namely the temple as a refuge for God and not for man. After all, it says "make for me... so that I can dwell there". In other words, we often think that temples give us the opportunity to come close to God for a while, but actually, it's also the other way around.

Thanks to temples, God can also be with us. There He can be at home, take off His slippers, sit on His couch, and enjoy the visit He receives. Would it be so abnormal that God likes to be close to us?

It is special to think about that. He is our Father and we are His children. Then it seems logical that we want to spend time together, doesn't it?

I also find it particularly beautiful of God that He can dwell in our midst. He could have chosen so many places, but where does He like to be? With us. As a gesture of love, that counts.

The temple is a symbol of His love for us

So for me, temples are henceforth also a symbol of love. True pure love from our Heavenly Father. Just like His other commandments. People may find that very restrictive, but in reality, it is rather liberating. If we keep those commandments, we are free to visit God in His temple. There we receive even more instructions to follow so that we can truly return to Him later.

That is the true purpose of God: that we all become happy and can return to the celestial kingdom and be eternally happy. Together with all who are dear to us. Freed from all worries.

Whoever has children themselves knows what I mean. The love for your child means that you want your child to be happy. And that sometimes means you have to be strict, that you have to raise your child and teach them rules. Why is it so strange that our Heavenly Parents do the same? Why would a loving God mean that He just lets us muddle through without looking after us?

God weeps for our sorrow

When I think about it further, I think that God regularly weeps. Weeps for our sorrow, for our misery. Just like any parent who feels involved in their child's sorrow, He cannot remain insensitive, especially not when we do stupid things or when we tell Him to buzz off.

Shouldn't we indeed go to the temple every now and then, visit Him and comfort Him by showing Him our best? Aren't His temples also eminently suitable for that? A place where we can share our feelings with God; not only us sharing our feelings with Him, but also us reflecting on what we do and how this makes God sad or happy. He has earned that, hasn't He?