Thursday's Thoughts ~ A place of refuge...

I had many things I needed to do yesterday but I decided to go to the temple. As I drove into the parking lot, I saw the flag at half-staff. President Obama had ordered the United States flags to be flown at half-staff to honor and remember the victims of another senseless acts of violence that occurred during the Boston Marathon on April 15th.

Yesterday the temple was my refuge. It's a good place to take your cares. There is a peace in the temple, and I felt safe. My heart aches for those affected by the bombings and I prayed for the those who lost loved ones or were injured.

5 And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.

6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.  Isaiah 4:5-6

“Every foundation stone that is laid for a Temple, and every Temple completed according to the order the Lord has revealed for his holy Priesthood, lessens the power of Satan on the earth, and increases the power of God and Godliness, moves the heavens in mighty power in our behalf, invokes and calls down upon us the blessings of the Eternal Gods, and those who reside in their presence”  President George Q. Cannon (in “The Logan Temple,” Millennial Star, Nov. 12, 1877, 743).

"Sometimes our minds are so beset with problems and there are so many things clamoring for attention at once that we just cannot think clearly and see clearly. At the temple the dust of distraction seems to settle out, the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can “see” things that we were not able to see before and find a way through our troubles that we had not previously known."  Boyd K. Packer

"No work is more of a protection to this Church than temple work and the family history research that supports it. No work is more spiritually refining. No work we do gives us more power. No work requires a higher standard of righteousness. Our labors in the temple cover us with a shield and a protection, both individually and as a people." Boyd K. Packer

“I promise you that all who faithfully attend to Temple work will be blessed beyond measure. Your families will draw closer to the Lord. Unseen angels will watch over your loved ones when satantic forces tempt them. The veil will be thin, and great spiritual experiences will distill upon this people.” ~ Vaughn J. Featherstone