There's certainly been a lot of buzz over these past few weeks leading up to the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, better known as William and Kate. I've only watched a bit of the coverage but I will confess that I, too, find myself a little intrigued by the glamour and romance surrounding this hopeful fairytale.
I remember sitting in my family room, when my children were quite young, watching the royal wedding of the parents of Prince William, experiencing similar feelings. Now that was definitely over the top, to say the least! I still have the image of Princess Diana's out of control wedding dress and that ridiculous train fixed in my mind.
Kate's wedding dress was much more understated. In my opinion she looked exquisite! Her modesty in both dress and demeanor were truly regal. I'll even go so far as to say that even her modest figure struck me the same. As I observed her in each of these different ways, I could better understand why this impeccable display of refinement, romance and glamour are so appealing to women of all ages.
We all seem to still love the idea of the traditional romantic wedding, where a man and a woman fall deeply in love and commit to each other for life. There's a reason for that. The hope of a bright future together filled with love, honor, children, happiness and fidelity is still the fairytale life that most desire.
In today's world, people are becoming more and more cynical to the hope of such a union. For many of us, these royal weddings are the quintessential display of the perfect wedding and everything that it could mean!
In our heart of hearts, it is the desire of every human being to love and be loved, forever. Even the time honored circular wedding ring is the symbol of eternity -- although most marry "until death do us part". Interesting, isn't it?
In pondering some of these things, I couldn't help but think about my own "Royal Wedding" -- the day I was sealed in the holy temple of God, for all time and eternity, to my Prince Charming. To me, every temple marriage is a Royal Wedding! A temple marriage comes with it, all of the promises to true royalty. True riches of a Godly kind, including land, posterity and power! And to faithful members of the LDS Church, these promises are believed to be possible through the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Marriage is a sacred union. Marriage is ordained of God, between a man and a woman. Eternal Marriage is how God literally brings to pass "the immortality and eternal life" of His children.
Mormonism teaches that through priesthood authority in holy temples, a man and woman can be sealed (married) for not only this life, but the next. An understanding of this doctrine has been a tremendous blessing throughout my own marriage. No matter how hopeful a marriage starts out, inevitably challenges will come. And with those challenges, oftentimes a feeling of hopelessness can creep in, IF we do not maintain an eternal perspective and understanding of the potential for our marriage.
Heavenly Father's Plan is for His children is to build eternal families. Satan's plan is to destroy any attempt that we make to be forever families. Most marriages begin with a hopeful fairytale charm, which can quickly fade away as life begins to take its toll. However, as we take seriously our marriage covenant and our desire to have that Eternal Fairytale come true - the promise that we can have our "happily ever after" will become a reality!
tDMg
Kathryn
Beautiful message - thank you for your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI remember the words of the sealing ceremony and I, too, have considered the event to be a royal wedding. As the press and the people of the world got themselves all wrapped up in the temporal details of the Royal Wedding, I could not help but feel sorry for all of them - especially William and Kate. How much of the solemnity is lost in the pageantry. She and he would never know the intimate moment of holding hands across the altar in the Lord's house.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Latter-Day Woman.
ReplyDelete@Sharon - I know what you're saying, and yet it is the "fairytale" aspect of William and Kate's wedding and a hope for such a forever story, that reminds me of the true Royal Weddings made possible in holy temples.
Isn't it wonderful to know that for those who truly desire to have an eternal marriage, one that extends beyond this life, God has made that possible.
And who know, perhaps William and Kate will one day make such progress. They certainly seem to have a beautiful beginning...
I had a civil wedding, and then was sealed 17 years later in the temple. I walked out of the temple thinking about my marriage in a whole new light -- and have never looked back. Yes, I was 22 the first time and 39 the second time, and obviously age and life experience played a part -- but a small part in that. The big part was knowing the big picture. This is IT -- FOREVER -- LITERALLY. It made me think about everything differently.
ReplyDelete@Laurie
ReplyDeleteWhat a unique perspective. One that I'm sure has made your "Royal Wedding" all the more significant!
It's hard to explain the power that eternal covenants bring into a marriage and how that strengthens a marriage in ways the world just does not understand.
I'm a child of divorce and with that comes a tendency for many in my same circumstances to repeat such an action in their own marriage. I'm so grateful to be in an eternally committed marriage where we both desire to make our marriage an eternal one.
I had similar thoughts while watching the wedding on tv - you said it well. We were married in the Oakland Temple, and when people see the pictures, they ask what castle we were married in. Oh, what a heavenly castle, indeed! I think the whole "til death do us part" struck especially hard since my husband and I were in the sealing room just a few days earlier with all four of our children.
ReplyDeleteHi Julie!
ReplyDeleteI have to agree. The words "til death do us part" make me sad, too. If someone believes in life after life, then why would they want to be separate from the person they love most? As far as I'm concerned, heaven could not possibly be heaven without my husband and family by my side.
Temples are real castles! I've always thought the same thing. We are in the San Diego Temple district and it truly is a castle!
My sis had a link to this post, and I just had to leave a comment...what a great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Jewis!
ReplyDeleteThank you SO much and thanks for saying so:)
A temple wedding is really indescribable. When the Spirit is present as the words are pronounced by one who has authority to seal on earth and in Heaven - how can that truly be described?? My "castle" was in Manti, Utah coming up on 33 years ago. No gimmicks, no flash. Just a solemn, reverent and holy moment for a man and woman when their "for time and all eternity" begins.
ReplyDeleteI was fascinated by the Royal Wedding and wish this young couple every good blessing. Actually, I thought the ceremony was very nice - but cannot be compared to a temple ceremony.
@Don
ReplyDeleteYou're so right! A temple marriage ceremony is something so sacred it is difficult to even begin to explain it. It is something that must be felt, by the Spirit. Every time I witness a sealing, that special witness re-confirms the majesty of such a Royal Wedding!
Being a male, I have had little to no interest in the "Royal Wedding" however, now thanks to your insight I see that I actually have an interest and a stake in Royal Weddings in the temple. Thanks for the insight.
ReplyDelete@Dallas
ReplyDeleteYup, a temple wedding is definitely where it's at! Nice to know that men are touched by the "real" thing, too. : )
I agree with what you're saying, but I would have to disagree with saying her dress and figure were modest. Just saying if you're going to endorse it as "A Well Behaved Mormon Woman" it was not modest according to the standards we uphold and embrace, maybe modest to the world's standards. Just my opinion. I appreciate your desire to inspire and remind others where the focus should be. Truly the Lord does have great belssings in store for those who keep their second estate.
ReplyDeleteI want to thank you for putting into words what I was trying to form for my lesson on Temple Marriage to be given in a couple of weeks to my Young Women. I hope you don't mind; but I would like to read parts of your article in my lesson. It's hard to get youth to think eternally, but I believe this will be a good way to present this concept.
ReplyDeleteI am of the opinion that a wedding is a special event that should be shared with loved ones regardless of their religious affiliation and that a sealing is a special ordinance that should take place in a sacred ceremony just for the couple to enjoy in a special intimate setting like the temple. I think the church should do away with the mandatory 1 year waiting period for couples to be sealed if they choose to have a civil wedding ceremony.
ReplyDeleteYour post was exactly how I was trying to describe the royal wedding to people. Theirs might have had millions watching on TV, but my royal wedding had millions watching and cheering, too. I feel their love and influence as I try to live the advice given as part of our sealing.
ReplyDeleteThank you for so eloquently saying what I could not.
What really struck me after watching the Royal Wedding was that although they are the Duke and Duchess and someday they will be Prince and Princess, that is just temporary for this life. We are real Daughters of a King, in reality! That reality never hit me as much as it did that day.
ReplyDeleteso are they.... from an LDS person
DeleteI am a huge fan of the LDS church and have been invesgitating it for years... being a slow mover, My invesigation has spanned over a decade now, with small steps, lots of reflection, but no real readiness to move forward, but SO much affection and love for the church, temples and beliefs about home and family.
ReplyDeleteThat said, being raised in a non-LDS household, but a strong Christian (Lutheran)household, I can tell you, the words in the marriage ceremony, "till death do us part" don't mean much, if anything to us. It's a phrase, and it's not said in all ceremonies. It varies from Pastor/Reverend/Minster/Priest/Officiant and although is pretty standard, it doesn't at ALL mean that any of us in any way believe that we will be separated from our spouse in death. I was never raised to think that if my spouse and I died, that we wouldn't be married any more or that we wouldn't be together. If a spouse dies, and one lives on, the living spouse can remarry again. That's really all those words in the ceremony mean. I have heard them so fixated on by the Church and it's just so silly to me because the meaning is so misinterpreted. Just because someone dies doesn't mean we believe we won't be together. It just means you're free to re-marry. That's it. But your spouse is always there for you on the other side. It's not as if they go away or disappear. We frequently and regularly speak of when one person passes, that they have gone on to be with the other people in our family who have died and that they are all together now.
The eternal family concept in the LDS church is great because it is so spelled out and specific, but it is nothing different than what I was raised to believe as your average Lutheran.
I don't think that WIlliam and Kate's wedding was sad, or overly full of pagentry. Their wedding was solemn and they took vows which they will work everyday of their lives to fufill. Those are OUR covenants that we make to each other. In the Catholic church, wedding ceremonies are an even bigger deal, my friend who is working on converting I believe told me that weddings are a sacrament in the Catholic church. It's a promise to God. No matter how it is executed. The promise is the same. That's not sad. That's beautiful. And it's not fair or right to do anything but celebrate another human as we go through these rights of passage in our lives, no matter our religon. Don't you think?
One of the things that has held me back from converting is not being able to say martial vows to my spouse. I've dreamed of looking into my husband's face and taking vows my entire life. That means the world to me. To promise to love honor and obey all the days of my life-- and if you believe in eternity, then aren't all the days of your life, here AND in the next life? Have the opportunity to make those promises is priceless and I love the temple so much, I love to go to the temple, touring it during open house gave me so much peace and happiness, but I would e giving up so much of what I had looked forward to and so many traditions I loved ( advent, lent, maunday thursday, ash wednesday, on and on) it is incredibly difficult.
Anyway, I loved the post, beautifully written and I just got distracted by a comment on here and went off on a tangent. :) But I loved this post and will be combing through your blog now! :)
What a wonderful post, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! I just attended a temple wedding a week before watching the Royal Wedding on TV and had some similar thoughts. At this temple wedding the sealer mentioned how wonderful it is that the Lord invites us to His holy house for the wedding, and hopes that we invite Him to our homes for the marriage. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all folowed that counsel?! :)
ReplyDeleteI think that your prospective is so enlightening and I appreciate it. I was able to attend a sealing of some family members after their civil wedding and when they were sealed, they had twin daughters. As they brought those babies in to the sealing room in their beautiful white dresses and put them on the alter, there was not a dry eye in the room. Because my Royal Wedding was before my children were born, I had only visualized in my mind what our forever family looked like. Seeing my beloved family members become a forever family brought a whole new prospective and appreciation for the blessings of the temple.
ReplyDeleteSo glad I read this today. Thank you for your thoughtful posting. It helped remind me of the rewards awaiting us if we are faithful to the covenants we made in the temple. We are so blessed to have this gospel.
ReplyDeleteWhile watching the ceremony last Friday, I had the exact same thought. While I appreciated the beauty and significance of their event and the vows they made, I couldn't help but think that my "simple" temple sealing 20 years ago was my very own royal wedding. I felt like a princess, and the promises that I made to my spouse and God did not include "until death." I have more than Princess Kate. Imagine that!
ReplyDeleteI too saw the wedding. It was seen by atleast a billion people. Everyone knows about them. But what we forget is that our temple marriage may not be seen by more than a few here on earth it is witnessed by both our ancestors and future posterity. It is truly eternal. It like our father in heaven has no begining and no end. So it too may be seen by millions. The joy and celebration of such marriages is unriveled by any party. Where they part at death and maybe if they both choose the gospel they may be reunited. I know when me and my spouse pass on I will not have to wait to see him again for as it say we are one eternal entity. So while I am grateful for her modesty I am even more grateful for my simple, quiet temple wedding. Where I do not need someone to bestoy me with a title of royalty. I was born royal. When I married I became an eternal queen. I will be a queen forever never to be abdicated. I wish that everyone knew who they truly were.
ReplyDeleteI think the dress is truly modest...the definition is mostly in the eye of the beholder anyway. And one's attitude determines the 'eternal' nature of the marriage relationship, not the words, since a lot of LDS spouses do not have anywhere near an 'eternal' attitude, despite having been sealed in the temple, and a lot of non-LDS have a wonderful 'eternal' attitude, despite not having a temple sealing -- the attitude and heart will determine, not what is 'on paper'. Those without a temple sealing who have the 'eternal attitude and heart' will have the opportunity for eternal marriage. We must all be working on that -- there must be two 'perfect spouses', both individually and as a couple.
ReplyDeleteJust because you believe in it, doesn't make it true. Anybody can just believe in something and say it's true, but your wishful thinking has no bearing on reality.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post and thanks to all of comments. I am amazed at how different everyone's perspective is on the same subject and post. I needed this lesson to reinforce a similar experience I had a week ago. It left me feeling so horrible that someone took offense to my article. After reading yours if so many can take your beautiful message and find fault in it then they can find fault in anything. I actually had a royal dinner and watched the wedding with my young family. It was a great teaching moment for us and I finished then night by reading My Wedding Day by Debroh Pace Rowley. It describes a Temple wedding from a little girls view. Thanks for your beautiful message and willingness to share the gospel.
ReplyDeleteWell said and on point! Thank you for reminding us each of our Divine heritage and potential inheritance :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post Kathryn. I was thinking the same thing! I am so glad to read your thoughts and all of the comments. Each temple marriage is indeed a Royal Wedding with eternal promises and blessings.
ReplyDeleteWow! Really great comments on this post. Who knew so many of us were thinking along the same track? So many insightful comments.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it wonderful to have an understanding of God's Eternal destiny for each of His children? To know that through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can inherit all of the blessing of true Royalty!
I treasure my own "Royal Wedding" and look forward to the day, that through Christ, we can be crowned, literally, a King and a Queen!
Thank you all, for your wonderful comments. I wish I could respond to each and every one -- but I've seriously got my hands full right now. Check out today's post on "Motherhood"...
@Jeff: You are SO right, and please don't worry. No one will ever judge you or say something insenistive or unkind for believing the Earth is flat.
ReplyDeleteAhem.
I don't know if you directed that comment at those beliveing in Celestial Marriage, or for anyone else, but the fact of the matter is, if you believe in a loving God who cares for his children in the same way we care for our own children, you know that He would never want us to play a who is right and who is wrong game while we are here on Earth. Our job is to nuture our relationship with Him, not hurt each other, one up each other, call each other names or put each other down for our beliefs [or even lack thereof].
I love, LOVE, LOVED Doc's comment. I think it's beautiful and has made me pause and think. I love that. I love when you can take something and bring it into a deeper understanding of yourself. His thoughts are thoughts I never would have considered. I love it.
I write as an English husband and Priesthood holder who lives in the centre of London.
ReplyDeleteI watched the wedding and was delighted by it. I thought it was wonderful. I must confess, however, that so many of these comments make me feel very sad and downhearted.
So the couple are married for this life alone: "till death us do part". No surprises there as this isn't a temple marriage. Why do so many comments focus on this? Surely the 'good' (the g in tDMg) is that they got married in the first place; that they made a commitment to one another; that they have chosen to become part of a sacred institution that is fast going out of fashion?
In a country where marriage is becoming an outdated unfashionable minority choice, I would like to celebrate the fact that they have chosen to get married! In parentheses, it's unfortunate that the marriage will only last for this life, yes; but shouldn't our emphasis be to celebrate and cheer the wonderful, joyful decision they have made together?
Fully agree Hooson! I think some people on here are jealous and have to prop themselves up by their righteous wedding. The royal wedding was great. I wasn't obsessed with it, but a casual observer. I was married in the St. George temple 12 years ago. Anyone marrying these days should be celebrated and encouraged. It is becoming a rare thing.
DeleteUh. I wasn't dressed that way at my temple wedding.
ReplyDeleteOver all, her dress was pretty modest. However, If someone were to wear it in the temple, they would have to modify it since the neck is a little lower than our standards. My husband and I were sealed in the Oregon Temple and I loved the dress I wore. It was long sleeve, high neck. I hope every girl is as blessed as I am to be sealded to such a wonderful man.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this article. I was just saying the other day, how the Royal family is missing out on all the eternal blessings. As I to watched the union between William and Kate, it was very romantic, however my union was much more scared. Even if I were from the Royal family, no one could even bring a cell phone in to take a picture of me and my eternal companion kneeling at the alter together. What an extravagant day it was for me, and I'm sure it was also for Kate and William. But all the planning and preparing that was put into the lavish event, in Heavenly Father's eyes and in mine also, my wedding was much more sacred, royal and especially eternal.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post. My husband and I were sealed in the temple 6 years ago tomorrow. I'm so grateful to know that we can be together forever!
ReplyDeleteHi Debbie!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on six years into Eternity!
Thanks Kathryn!
ReplyDeleteLovely message. I had my own royal wedding 7 1/2 months ago, and it was more romantic than William & Kate's wedding because ours was for time and eternity. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marie. It's good to reflect on that special day, isn't it? Don't ever stop:)
ReplyDeleteBeing of the same lineage of the Windsor’s family line, through my mother side of the family, it is just another civic wedding and nothing really special; when I witness two special couples kneeling and holding each other hands across the temple altar.
ReplyDeleteRemember, even when we enter into this final covenant, it still does not guarantee any member (couple) entrance into the highest estate (3rd) of the Celestial Kingdom without the final sealing by the Godhead. This final act is only accomplished with the approval by the Holy Ghost with presenting the couple before the Godhead to inherit the highest state. Many members suppose, this is the final act before our departure of mortality…not so. Both the Prophet Peter and Joseph in their respected final mortal years, sought to teach this principle to seek out the face of God. Perhaps, there is a reason behind in having the 2nd estate in the Celestial Kingdom, when a couple is not approved.
This article inspired me to make a digital scrapbook page with this topic. You can see it here - it's free :)
ReplyDeletehttp://steadfast-and-immovable.blogspot.com/
@Erika -
ReplyDeleteVery cute! Thanks for sharing and linking over. I love it!
I have been married twice, both marriages being civil unions. However my second marriage was to a wonderful man who I would have walked over burning coals for. I would have the word OBEY included in the ceremony as well. Unfortunately he passed away 16 days before our 2nd wedding anniversary. I had been baptised in the Mormon Church about 6 weeks before he passed. He was extremely sick in hospital at the time and was unable to attend the ceremony but my children and some other people from the Church did. I was sad he wasn't there but it was beyond both our control. After he passed I learned that I could work towards being sealed in the temple to him eternally which I did. Finally in January 2012 I was sealed to him. In the period before I was sealed I was very stressed thinking that it would probably never happen. However since the Sealing Ceremony I have felt much happier and I truly believe that the words of the Book of Mormon are true.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry for your loss. I love your testimony and I thank you for sharing it here. The sealing power is a great blessings in our desire to have eternal families. What comfort this gives all of us, particularly when we are temporarily parted from those we dearly love.
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