The painting in the Temple

Last Thursday I went to the temple fasting about the work situation and what we should do about moving. Usually I get real sleepy during the sessions when I go right after work. I don’t like when this happens. I feel like I’m dishonoring both the session and the person I’m doing the work for, so I usually try to take a little power nap to clear my head. This time I was able to sit in the waiting area long enough that I dozed off for a few minutes and woke up very awake and focused. It turned out to be one of the best sessions I can remember in a long time and I came away feeling like I had learned something new.

After the session I sat in the Celestial Room praying about my questions and felt the kind of peace I always feel there. It’s not just that it’s quiet and restful; I can get that feeling in the mountains or the beach. Those of you who have been there know that it’s a whole other kind of feeling. It’s a very deep, quiet and peaceful sensation; restful and reassuring and you just know it’s the presence of the Spirit of the Lord.

I didn’t get any direct answer to my prayer other than a strong reassurance that the Lord is very aware of our family needs and conditions, and that as long as I keep moving forward in faith the Father will direct and nudge our path till we get where He wants us to be. I guess that's really answer enough.

When you leave the Celestial Room in the LA temple you walk down a long hallway to the foyer and the stairs leading down to the changing rooms. As you come out of the hall there is a large painting of Christ teaching, about 30 feet long and 10 feet high, on the opposite wall of the foyer. The painting was done in 1971 by Robert L Shepherd (1909-1992) an LDS artist who lived in Southern Utah.

For a long time I never paid much attention to the painting other than that it was there, but one day I stopped to look at it to try to appreciate it. I mean, such a large painting must have taken a very long time to complete and a lot of thought went into it, so I felt like I ought to try and get some thought out of it.

The painting shows Christ sitting in the bow of a fishing boat; maybe Peter’s, beached on the edge of the water, teaching a large group of people on the shore. The colors are vivid and the faces of the people are clearly seen. There are people from all walks of life: rich and poor, Jew and gentile, educated and unschooled, men, women and children, fishermen, traders, a roman soldier, scholars. Everyone is listening intently and even the one or two who seem a little doubtful are very focused on what the Lord is saying.

For a long time I felt that the theme of the painting was simply that Christ’s message was for everyone and that we are blessed when we listen to his teachings. But there are so many people, and they are all so distinct and unique I felt sure the artist had put each one in there with a purpose and it became a habit for me to stop and study the faces trying to understand what the he might be saying about them.

One day I saw something I’d never noticed before that really got my attention. On the right-hand side, right up against the frame is a man standing holding his hands in front of him looking slightly down, apparently thinking hard about what he’s hearing. Immediately behind his head is part of another person’s face. Once I noticed it several things jumped out at me. For one thing, except for the roman soldier who is standing in the shade of a tree everyone else in the picture is very bright and colorful. This one is obscure and shadowy. You can see all the other’s faces and most of their bodies. You can tell from their posture how they’re reacting to what they’re hearing. With this one you can see only his left eye, part of the forehead and part of his turbine or hood. All the others are either looking at Christ or at the ground, thinking. This one is looking out of the picture, straight at you, and it’s kind of creepy. As I continued to look at him I noticed another thing. Just below the first man’s left arm, again right up against the frame of the picture, you can see the shadow man’s left hand. Only his hand; that’s all there’s room for.

Now I don’t know that much about art, but I know enough to know that no artist would put something like that in the picture without a purpose, and that they love symbolism. I thought I had a pretty good idea who this person was supposed to represent and then, as if to confirm it I remembered: the Latin word for left is sinister. I think we are seeing the sinister hand and eye of Satan himself.

So now I think I understand the message of the painting and why it’s placed where it is. Just like the people in the picture I had just spent the last two hours in the company of the Savior being taught at his feet, feeling his influence and being spiritually fed. I was now going to leave the temple into the world where Satan is waiting in the shadows ready to take away what I’ve learned if I let him.

I’ve often felt that we are generally ignorant about things of the spirit, the scriptures and doctrine. And I’ve also often said that we have so much to learn; I mean there really is so much out there that we don’t know and for years I have tried to learn as much as I can, thinking that this is the way to go. After all, “The Glory of God is intelligence”, and “No man can be saved in ignorance.”

Then another thought occurred to me: Proverbs 4: 7: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” It’s good to learn all we can about our religion, but in the end it really is a matter of how well we use what we know. I can spend all my time reading and quoting scripture, church history, how to answer all the Anti-Mormon arguments and so on, but if I haven’t lived it, as Paul said, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” In other words, I talk the talk, but I don’t walk the walk.

We can be a powerful influence on those around us in the way we behave at work, in our neighborhood and at home. But it does little good to speak of Christ and present ourselves as Christians if we don’t behave as Christians.

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 5: 14-16)

Christ gave this directive as he taught the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. I have sometimes wondered if the word Beatitudes isn’t a kind of compound word like At-one-ment. “Be-Attitudes”, or in other words the attitudes we must have to be effective followers of Christ.

Charity, the true love of Christ, is the core element to living a Christ-like life. Peter said, “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). The prophet Joseph changed this to say “…charity preventeth a multitude of sins.” This clarifies that if we have a real love both for Christ and our brothers and sisters we will begin to see those around us in a completely different light, strive to fill our lives with good, and thereby avoid sinful and otherwise destructive behavior.

So now “learning” to me has got to mean learning how to put gospel principles into action. It won't happen overnight, but I have to make change the priority. I will work harder to treat my wife and children with greater love and respect. I will strive to be kind, patient, loving and ready to help all those who are in need of my help. I will try to be more forgiving and kind to those who need kindness and mercy and strive to love the unlovable. Christ loves them. Do I know something he doesn’t? I doubt it. I want to conduct my life in such a way that all honest people can say I truly live my religion.

I love you all and it’s my deepest hope and desire that we all endure to the end, stay faithful and can remain sealed together in the eternities where we will all be much smarter, stronger, more noble and healed of all the things that trouble us now.