At home celestial room; good or bad?

[Wingnut]

Why target Utah Mormons? Why not just Mormons in general? Seems it would be targeting more those outside of Utah than in Utah. I live in Utah and I certainly wouldn't plan a vacation in Provo.

I think he was referring more to the attitude than the locale. I could be wrong, though.

[tomxsumm]

Wow, are we really getting this far off track? First we see homes with an altar to the temple, now a celestial room? Pride.

[classylady]

Why target Utah Mormons? Why not just Mormons in general? Seems it would be targeting more those outside of Utah than in Utah. I live in Utah and I certainly wouldn't plan a vacation in Provo.

I have to agree with Pam here. I can't see this targeting Utah Mormons. I don't know of any Utah Mormons who would go on vacation in Provo. There may be some, but I would think they would be in the minority. I've lived in Utah and outside of Utah. I've found good and not-so-good Mormons everywhere. I don't think I can put a distinction on "Utah Mormons" versus "Outside-of-Utah Mormons". Any tag placed on a Utah Mormon could just as well be placed on a Mormon living outside of Utah. IMO of course.

[pam]

I think he was referring more to the attitude than the locale. I could be wrong, though.

I didn't get that at all but I could be wrong too. But the fact that he said: "do Utah mormons really take such things into consideration when planning vacations?" leads me to believe he is targeting Utah Mormons taking these things into consideration.

[slamjet]

Well, us SoCal'ians make it a sport to target Utah Mormons :D

[jayanna]

I wish my whole home were more like the temple, we are supposed to make our homes like the temple. And, yes, my home has had a blessing on it by my hubby. It was a very special family home evening and he planned a prayer and it was lovely.

"Recently, in a stake conference, all present were invited by the visiting authority, Elder Glen Jenson, an Area Seventy, to take a virtual tour of their homes using their spiritual eyes. I would like to invite each of you to do this also. Wherever your home may be and whatever its configuration, the application of eternal gospel principles within its walls is universal. Let’s begin. Imagine that you are opening your front door and walking inside your home. What do you see, and how do you feel? Is it a place of love, peace, and refuge from the world, as is the temple? Is it clean and orderly? As you walk through the rooms of your home, do you see uplifting images which include appropriate pictures of the temple and the Savior? Is your bedroom or sleeping area a place for personal prayer? Is your gathering area or kitchen a place where food is prepared and enjoyed together, allowing uplifting conversation and family time? Are scriptures found in a room where the family can study, pray, and learn together? Can you find your personal gospel study space? Does the music you hear or the entertainment you see, online or otherwise, offend the Spirit? Is the conversation uplifting and without contention? That concludes our tour. Perhaps you, as I, found a few spots that need some “home improvement”—hopefully not an “extreme home makeover.”

Sacred Homes, Sacred Temples

President Boyd K. Packer counseled: “Say the word temple. Say it quietly and reverently. Say it over and over again. Temple. Temple. Temple. Add the word holy. Holy Temple. Say it as though it were capitalized, no matter where it appears in the sentence.

“Temple. One other word is equal in importance to a Latter-day Saint. Home. Put the words holy temple and home together, and you have described the house of the Lord!”

Boyd K. Packer, “The Temple, the Priesthood,” Ensign, May 1993,

[Guest]

I have a formal living and dining room that I use for home/visiting teachers, missionaries, FHE, Jehova's Witnesses proselyters, etc. It has a giant Bible and Book of Mormon on the coffee table. It is a toy-free zone and if anybody leaves something lying around without picking it up and putting it in their proper place in those rooms, somebody is going to get in trouble...

No, nothing is white. But, if my house is a temple, then the formal living room is the celestial room.

And no, advertising a celestial room on a resort is TACKY!

And no, don't call it CR - CR in the Philippines is Comfort Room - that's what we call restrooms here in the US...

[Guest tbaird22]

I like the idea of having a secret or private room for study and prayer. Ive always wanted to turn my parents caseda into one, making it mostly a church library with no distractions such as tv or computers. I hope to do so in my house one day :)

[Guest]

I like the idea of having a secret or private room for study and prayer. Ive always wanted to turn my parents caseda into one, making it mostly a church library with no distractions such as tv or computers. I hope to do so in my house one day :)

What? No lds.net in the celestial room? :D:D

[mightynancy]

LOL My mother, before she retired, was an interior designer. Every now and then she'd have an LDS client who pretty much wanted the "Celestial Room Look." I don't think many of them articulated it that way, but the designers did!

As for the room in the OP, I think it's tacky and a little sacreligious to call it a Celestial Room. How about a "sanctuary" or "study" or something like that? Besides, if they want it to be celestial, they'd have to get rid of that hideously telestial table.

[Gwen]

The stake pres at the time I got married suggested that if our home is a temple then our bedroom should be the celestial room. He didn't mean to try to make it look like the celestial room in design but that it should be the nicest room in the house. If we can only afford to decorate one room it should be that one. That it should be a sanctuary from everything else. The most peaceful room. That kind of thing.

I've known people that had a formal room for special things. Much like many have already described. It didn't mimic the celestial room design but it was a formal place where there wasn't a lot of casual gathering. I like the idea but have never been blessed with a house big enough to have an "extra" room for something like that.

I agree about the tackiness of the resort.

As for all the comments (even from GA's) about the home needing to be like the temple they really annoy me. I don't understand exactly what about the temple they want us to mimic. If it's the look and order then I'm sorry it's just not practical. My husband and I have debated this concept more than once. I agree the home should be a shelter from the world for the family. But a lived in home with lots of children it will not have the silent, spotless, order the temples have.

[Backroads]

I'm left wondering what kind of resort has a celestial room...

I don't know if I would go as far as to call anything a celestial room, but I like many others here do like the idea of a room devoted to prayer/meditation/scripture study.

[slamjet]

Almost sounds like a honeymoon suite.

[spamlds]

It seems a little superficial to me. Considering that many members of the Church around the world live in abject poverty, it would seem to me that people who truly live the law of consecration would be more inclined to give of their surplus means to build up Zion around the world instead of building a faux temple in their living room. I appreciate their intentions, but its "symbolism over substance."

[Guest saintish]

I think he was referring more to the attitude than the locale. I could be wrong, though.

that is what i was getting at.

[The_Phoenix]

http://hideawayvalley.typepad.com/.a/6a0134849ee620970c0133f17fe9be970b-pi

I found this picture online, It is a resort with its own "celestial room" this got me to thinking. it would be kind of neat to have your very own "celestial room" in a spare room in your house. However I also feel like this might cheapen or mock the celestial rooms in actual temples. all in all i am mixed to say the least. Im sure i'll get plenty of opinions here:D

This is a quote from "our" Bible Dictionary.

Temple. A temple is literally a house of the Lord, a holy sanctuary in which sacred ceremonies and ordinances of the gospel are performed by and for the living and also in behalf of the dead. A place where the Lord may come, it is the most holy of any place of worship on the earth. Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.

[Guest saintish]

yes but does that mean the home is a close comparison? and should we mock the arguably most sacred room in the temple?

[Dravin]

yes but does that mean the home is a close comparison? and should we mock the arguably most sacred room in the temple?

I think mocking depends on intent, I don't think modeling a motif qualifies as mocking. In fact there is nothing inherently sacred about the particular decorating style, if there was I don't think we'd see pictures of Celestial rooms published nor would we include the Celestial rooms as part of temple open houses.

I can understand the commercialization of the idea not sitting well with people though. Of course where does one draw the line? People sell pictures of the temple (and I'm not talking about the Church through the distribution site), and would anyone have objected to a contemplation room touted to be designed to draw the mind to God using white motifs and beautiful chandeliers?

Personally I think the room is ugly in the OP, it is a rather poor imitation of a Celestial room motif.

[Hartman]

In the early Church many members had prayer rooms with altars in their homes. Here's a couple of quotes discussing this.

“President Young said the family Altar was the same as an Altar in the prayer Circle. It is for parents and Children to Join hands over the Altar and pray.” (Wilford Woodruff's Journal, Vol. 5, p. 184)

“The family altar should be in every man's house; he is the patriarch of the family, and everything should be done under his direction. He should offer prayer; his wife and children also should offer prayer in turn around the family altar. You cannot be a Saint without the fellowship of the Spirit of God; and you should train your children that they also may know the benefit of having its fellowship.” (George Teasdale, Conference Report, October 5, 1903)

The True Order of Prayer was routinely used outside of the Temple in stake buildings, wards, and even homes, until it was banned in 1978.

I don't have a problem with making a special room in your home. I think that having a "celestial" room for commercial purposes is in poor taste.

[Suzie]

The True Order of Prayer was routinely used outside of the Temple in stake buildings, wards, and even homes, until it was banned in 1978.

Let's say it was "discontinued" because these prayers were usually organized by a member of the First Presidency or Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (prior to a formal request by a Stake President). As the Church expanded in numbers, the task was far too great for the General Authorities to accomplish.

[Hartman]

Suzie,

You're correct that that was the reasoning the First Presidency used for "discontinuing" prayer circles, but First Presidency approval was not the order that the Prophet Joseph established.

At first, the only thing required to pray in the True Order of Prayer was to to have been endowed with that knowledge. Eventually, the practice was regulated. Then, the practice was banned. Do you think all those families, including my own, that had prayer altars in their homes in the early days of the Church, all had permission from the First Presidency? Why do you think they were taught the True Order of Prayer if it was not to be used? Then Apostle, Wilford Woodruff, wrote of the importance of wearing your garments, and having your temple robes at the ready, so that you may offer the signs and pray in secret places, whenever you have the need and opportunity. Was Wilford Woodruff wrong to advocate such a thing?

Today, we are taught how to pray in the Temple, but are forbidden from ever doing so for ourselves. Why is that?

[Blocky]

I think there is a difference in making a special room that we find beautiful and reminds us of the celestial room in temples and making a room where we feel like we have the ok to preform and do things that are only allowed in the actual temple. For me that is not a slippery slop, it's two totally different things.

Also, a room with white furniture and walls and carpet do not necissarily a Celestial room make. The Oakland temples Celestial room isn't very white at all. It's a lot of wood, dark and slightly lighter. It has light colored things, but I don't think anything is actually bright white. It's still simple and beautiful.

Many people probably have special areas in their home that are special, where it's easy for them to feel the Spirit, where there are pictures of our Savior and nice furniture. Just because it's not modeled after a Celestial room per se doesn't mean that isn't their little take on a Celestial place/atmosphere.

[HEthePrimate]

I don't see anything wrong with it. If you have enough money to have a spare room like that, why not? My only problem with it is that it looks too sterile, like you're in a fancy hospital. And yes, I think the same thing about temple celestial rooms! Usually their best feature is the bouquet of flowers on the table in the middle of the room (as long as they're real flowers). IMO, most temples could do with a lot more live plants! I'm a bit of a nature lover, and find it easiest to connect with God in natural settings.

[Guest mormonmusic]

I don't see anything wrong with it either. I think having a spiritual room in your home is a great idea. Our living room here is like that. We insist on no television in it, and it's where family discussions happen, family home evening, and talking out our family conflicts between children. As soon as the parents sit down in it, the kids flock there and wait for the conversation to start happening.

There is a family near the Orlando temple that we visited once on a temple trip that had a house that was right across the street from the temple. It was magnificent. You walk in their front door and there is a big window with the spire of the temple and moroni right across the street. They even put glass in the window that looks like symbolic wheat, which then creates an illuminated image on the white carpet in the main living room. Their whole living room had a chandalier and white furniture and white carpet. It was beautiful. I think it would serve as a constant reminder of covenants, etcetera and would be good for the family.

[Blackmarch]

http://hideawayvalley.typepad.com/.a/6a0134849ee620970c0133f17fe9be970b-pi

I found this picture online, It is a resort with its own "celestial room" this got me to thinking. it would be kind of neat to have your very own "celestial room" in a spare room in your house. However I also feel like this might cheapen or mock the celestial rooms in actual temples. all in all i am mixed to say the least. Im sure i'll get plenty of opinions here:D

should be fine as long as we remember that it has not been sanctified and set aside for the same use as the celestial room in the temple... and I think it would be great to have a room in the house dedicated for worship and study of the Lord as well as meditation and peace.

I don't see how its mocking if someone is earnestly wanting to have the same sort of peace and sanctuary in their own home.