The Weekly Parable

Recently, to support her homeschooling curriculum, my wife procured a telescope that has a companion mobile app. The telescope had to be calibrated, and the process brought with it an unexpected parable.

My wife downloaded the app and followed the instructions, which directed her to point the telescope at an object at least 100 meters away. Our backyard is much too small for that to work; across the street is a short slope leading to a field and a manmade stream, but nothing out there is large enough to focus on. With the telescope standing on its tripod in our driveway, my wife saw the perfect object to use.

We live about a mile from a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Like many temples, this one stands atop a large hill and can be seen for miles around, and it can be seen clearly from our driveway (unfortunately, from our front windows or yard, a neighbor’s house blocks the view). My wife pointed the telescope at the temple and completed the calibration.

She told her dad about it, and he realized this is a great representation of the purpose of temples and how they help us. If we direct our sight toward the temple, which represents God’s light, the covenants we make with Him, and creating heaven on earth, we can then lift our sights to the kingdom of heaven. Living near a temple of God is a frequent reminder of what we should focus on.

With our finite eyesight and comprehension, the things found beyond the earth’s atmosphere are something of a mystery—a mystery that is unfolded only as we find more light out there. Similarly, we have a severely limited view of the kingdom of heaven while we live in mortality, and we can receive small glimpses of light that increase our understanding. But by establishing the restored Church of Jesus Christ, God has provided a way for His temples to be built across the world. They give us something concrete—literally—much nearer than heaven itself to focus on and through which to receive light and expand our spiritual view.

Of course, it’s not enough to just look at a temple. Part of Heavenly Father’s plan of redemption for us is to worship and serve inside the temple, to make covenants with Him that will help us become more like Christ.

If you haven’t been to the temple in a long time, I encourage you to go! If you aren’t familiar with temples of the Church, you can learn why we build them at ChurchofJesusChrist.org or by sending me a message.

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^{Photo by Miriam Espacio on Pexels.com}

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