WHERE DOES GOD PREFER TO DWELL? CITIES OR WILDERNESS?

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"A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, 

never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary 

unto life and salvation.

Lectures on Faith 6

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My family spent the past weekend camping in a very remote wilderness area near the border of Arizona and Nevada. It required driving on a 30 mile dirt road from Mesquite to get there. While very cold at night, it was beautiful during the day. Since it is Passover weekend, we went there in part to experience what it might have been like for the Israelites who fled Egypt into the wilderness. This event of exodus over 3000 years ago is origins of the Jewish religious observance of Passover.

On the Sunday morning, we hiked up a mountain to see the sunrise. It was a beautiful sunrise after a dark and cold night. Here are a few photos taken that morning that I wanted to quickly share. Hard to describe all the symbolism from the hike without witnessing them in person. 

From a mountain top view it was impossible to see any other civilization except for our campsite below that we shared with a group of fellow camper

 

This is the top of where stopped to watch the sunrise. We sang, prayed and shared thoughts of our ascension hike. 

 A few moments after the sun rose above the horizon. Day dawn breaking.

"In one sense, the religion of the fathers is based on a direct connection to God. Reduced to one thought, it is that as long as God is speaking directly to a body of people, giving them commandments, they have the most essential element of the religion of the fathers. If they remain true to that connection all things can be restored to them."

IS YOUR ORIENTATION ALIGNED WITH GOD?

When most people hear the word 'ORIENTATION', they either think it is referring to a training meeting or your sexual preference. Neither of which have anything to do with the origin of the word 'ORIENT'. The word 'orient' actually means 'to face the east'. The orient is the direction east, the part of the horizon where the sun first appears. On the spring and fall equinox, the sun rises exactly due east and sets exactly due west on only these two days a year. That happened today, March 20, 2021. 

Photo taken of one of my friends on a past sunrise hike. Unfortunately today was rainy.

One of my favorite things to do in life is to hike to a mountain peak to see the sun rise, especially on the spring or fall equinox and orientate myself to the Sun.  There is something beautiful to know you are directly aligned or 'oriented" to the Heavens and with God on those two days. 

Unfortunately most of the world is disoriented, even by a few degrees. Disorientation is a deviation from an east-facing position. It is a confusion as to your direction.

The following story was given in April 2008 conference called "A Matter of a Few Degrees" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf

In 1979 a large passenger jet with 257 people on board left New Zealand for a sightseeing flight to Antarctica and back. Unknown to the pilots, however, someone had modified the flight coordinates by a mere two degrees. This error placed the aircraft 28 miles (45 km) to the east of where the pilots assumed they were. As they approached Antarctica, the pilots descended to a lower altitude to give the passengers a better look at the landscape. As the pilots flew onward, the white of the snow and ice covering the volcano blended with the white of the clouds above, making it appear as though they were flying over flat ground. By the time the instruments sounded the warning that the ground was rising fast toward them, it was too late. The airplane crashed into the side of the volcano, killing everyone on board. It was a terrible tragedy brought on by a minor error—a matter of only a few degrees.

Such a tragic story to be disoriented, misaligned by just a few degrees. So, why is it so important to be aligned and oriented with Heaven?

Entire cities have been built to be aligned with the East and cardinal directions of the compass. There are examples of an equinoctial temples which are oriented on a precise east-west axis on the day of the spring and fall equinox. One of the most important Temples that is aligned directly East is the ancient Solomon and Herod's Temple in Jerusalem. Ezekiel 43:1-2

Even  St. Peter's Cathedral at the Vatican is aligned directly with the orient on the Spring and Fall Equinox. The great Eastern doors at the gate were opened at sunrise, and also the eastern doors of the church, and as the sun rose, its rays passed through the outer doors, then through the inner doors, and penetrating straight through the nave, illuminated the High Altar.

Sidenote: 

The LDS Rome Temple is unlike the St Peter's Basilica where it is not oriented directly east. It is off a few degrees. 

Recent announced changes to the Salt Lake Temple as part of the reconstruction will change the symbolic orientation from room to room in the live endowment ceremony. The initiate would start in the first room of the endowment facing East called The Creation Room. Then they would turn and move facing South into the Garden Room. They would turn again and be facing west in the Telestial World Room. Their backs towards the East.  Repentance was then required to come back into the presence of God to once again face east. This is done by the climbing upstairs and entering into the Terrestial Room. After further gaining further light and knowlegde, one then passing through the veil and enters into the Celestrial Room. It was one complete Circle. It is unfortunate that this upward spiral of movement upward and the symbolic directions once faced in each of rooms will be a lost part of the Salt Lake Temple experience after it is remodeled. Here are a few photos of what the rooms and directions were like.

We live in a world of disorientation. However, the most important thing that we have to align us to God and orientate ourselves to Him is the Scriptures. Today on the Spring Equinox the following video was released.

The Heavens Are Open Again - PART 05: Restoring Scripture.

Link to the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLOLqbFFf8U

RIGHT IS NOW WRONG, AND WRONG IS NOW RIGHT?

 PROPHETS SPEAK

from the New York Times

LATEST REMOVALS FROM THE SALT LAKE TEMPLE

First Presidency announces 

No more live endowment sessions

The Church News 

"For both the Salt Lake and Manti temples, temple instruction will move from a live presentation conducted in several different rooms to single-room film presentations. Also, storied but aging murals in both buildings are being removed."

These historic rooms will no longer be used as originally designed.  The beautiful hand-painted murals will be removed as well. There was alot of symbolism in the upward spiral of moving up from one room to another, but patrons will now stay in one place during the Temple instruction. The historic baptistry and font will also be removed and new ones will be build in the Annex. 

In a letter written by the First Presidency it says,

"As this project has progressed, we have felt the Lord's hand guiding us in modifying several aspects of the renovation."  

So they only felt the Lord guidance on several aspects? Why not ALL aspects? 

The below pioneer murals will all be removed, painted over, and changed. 

 Are we  RESTORING or COMPLETELY REMOVING our  Historical Foundations?

I recently took a few photos last week of the Salt Lake Temple. I was surprised to see the stones being taken down from the exterior of the Temple. Apparently, the reason they are doing so is for cleaning purposes. I  would think it easier to clean them still attached to the building instead of removing them. Plus a whole lot less expensive.  (It is not like you can take them to the dry cleaners or something.) Anyway, I am constantly amazed at this "Renovation" of the Salt Lake Temple. 

Here is a photo that I took and added the ground level transparency to show the progress of the removal of the foundation. They have dug down what looks to be at least 30 feet. They will then begin the process of the replacing the rock foundation with moving rollers which they are calling  a "base isolation system". Essentially the building is no longer built on rock, a steadfast and firm foundation, but on rollers that can move back and forth depending on the movement of the world(earth).

I honestly wonder if it would have been easier and cheaper to just tear down and rebuild the temple with all of these massive changes they are doing.