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I love bringing you along with me,
side by side, as I shoot pictures of the holiest places on earth.
Are you willing to get up very early? And move very quickly? Come
with me to the morning of the dedication of the Sacramento California
Temple. In this essay I have not included any people (we will do
other pieces with lots of people). I just want you to bask in the
early morning light and the magnificence of this holy edifice.
First, a Pitch for Meridian
Maurine and I have been able to attend
10 temple dedications, seven of which we were blessed to be in the
very temple (the other three were in our stake centers or in the
Tabernacle on Temple Square). This past weekend we spent a lot
of time crying tears of gratitude for this immense privilege of
being in these places with such wonderful people — including, of
course, the Prophet.
If you haven’t seen any of the other
temple essays we have done you certainly can save this page somewhere
and I’ll give you the links to those other dedications.
If you haven’t seen the coverage we
did of Nauvoo, you must go there. It’s all under one roof
with a simple URL: www.ldsmag.com/nauvoo We published 28
separate pieces on Nauvoo (the most comprehensive coverage of any
news source in the world). Well over a million people read these
photo essays and articles — and that was back when Meridian was
a relative newcomer, only 40 months old.
I know I’m going to show you the Sacramento
California Temple today, but I also wanted to invite you to go to
Africa to see all the coverage we did of the Accra Ghana Temple
Dedication. That, too, is an easy URL: www.ldsmag.com/ghana
We published 15 separate pieces on Ghana (again, the most coverage,
by far, of any news source in the world). This includes the first
youth celebration ever done to herald the building of a new temple.
If you want to have a great day, just sit down and read some of
those essays. It will lift your spirit to higher heights and bring
tears to your eyes to see how the kingdom is growing.
Now quickly, here are the others:
Freiberg Germany and The
Hague Netherlands: www.ldsmag.com/prophettour This
section of Meridian includes President Hinckley’s trip to Moscow,
Russia and is very photo rich.
The Manhattan New York Temple:
http://www.ldsmag.com/churchupdate/040617manhattan1.html
(that’s in 11 parts)
Oh, and here is the youth celebration
at Radio City Music Hall:
http://www.ldsmag.com/churchupdate/040622Jubilee1.html
(that one is in 5 parts)
And here’s the San Antonio
Temple Dedication:
http://www.ldsmag.com/churchupdate/050601heart.html
and also here:
http://www.ldsmag.com/churchupdate/050527sanantonio.html
and this story:
http://www.ldsmag.com/churchupdate/050526ceremony.html
and here is the youth celebration
at the Alamodome:
http://www.ldsmag.com/churchupdate/050525youth1.html
We will also be heading to Finland
next month to cover the Helsinki Temple Dedication and Celebration.
Since we can’t all go, I bring my camera and try to give you a front-row
seat to as many events as we possibly can. And, of course, soon
we will be adding the stories from hundreds of Meridian Correspondents
(part of the new Meridian Press Corps) from around the world.
Okay, so I’ve given you the pitch that
shows why we refer to Meridian Magazine as “The Place Where Latter-day
Saints Gather — Online.” Now let’s go to Sacramento.
Before the Crack of Dawn
We were not exactly sure when the sun
would rise or when that first light would touch the Angel Moroni
high atop the spire of the Sacramento California Temple. We always
arrive very early, usually so early that only the security guards
are there to greet us.
Click
on photos to enlarge
The nightlights were all still on and
the mixture of the artificial light under the archways (and up the
spire) with the natural light was very warm.
I
love searching for angles to shoot the temples. There are some
perspectives that are just pleasing to the senses. There is symmetry
and truth in architecture. I believe that leading lines and angles
draw us close to the heavens and even lift our spirits and cause
us to change our thinking if we will let it happen.
This temple sits on 47 very special
acres high atop a hill that overlooks this beautiful area — most
know it as Mormon Center. It certainly has a unique entry road
and a wonderful view.
This is one of those angles that I
love. It reminds me of some of the amazing architecture we have
seen in the ancient temples of Egypt and in Greece. The granite
that covers this temple came from China.
They
call this temple a “medium-sized” one. It is 19,500 square feet.
The Salt Lake Temple is the largest at 253,000 square feet (including
the annex). Other comparisons are
the Los Angeles Temple at 190,000 square feet; the San Diego Temple
at 72,000 square feet; the Oakland Temple at 95,000; and Palmyra
New York at 10,700.
I always remind myself when I photograph
this inscription on any temple that these same words should be inscribed
on my own soul. I always think of those telling questions of Alma
the Younger to the members of the Church in the cities and villages
throughout the land of the Nephites: “Have ye spiritually been
born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances?
Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?” (See Alma
5: 14) The temple is indeed ‘Holiness to the Lord.’
When I see this inscription I think
of the Apostle Paul, who reminded us who we really are: “Know ye
not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth
in you?” (See 1 Corinthians 3: 16) The Spirit of the Lord is certainly
here in this temple. I remember coming through the underground
parking lot of the Johannesburg South Africa Temple and as the doors
opened for us to walk into that temple, it was as if we were passing
from this world into another world — you could feel the Spirit of
the Lord so strongly. It was as if we were passing through a wall.
It was tangible.
Again, can you feel the leading lines
here drawing us inward and upward. The sun had not arisen yet (this
shot was taken at 6:30:07 am,
to be accurate) but the glow of the morning light was starting to
wash the walls of the temple.
I love the windows of each of the temples.
I have studied and photographed them for years. When I am inside
the temple with outside light pouring in (like in the celestial
room in Sacramento), I think of the scripture in Section 88: “And
the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him
who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth
your understandings [think about the ramifications of that statement!];
which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the
immensity of space — the light which is in all things, which giveth
life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed,
even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the
bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.” (See Doctrine
and Covenants 88: 11-13) Wow.
Click
here to go to Part 2 of The Dawning of a New Day in Sacramento
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