Taking our your own endowment in the temple

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by Bruincoug

i can't say what Mike "wants" the numbers to say. but, if we were talking about the ordinances of baptism or marriage -- i'd say that a ho-hum or neutral experience is falling short of the mark.

true, the purpose of a given ordinance may not be "to make the participants comfortable." also, maybe this informal survey is framed poorly (what if i was uncomfortable at one point and very comfortable / spirit-filled the rest of the time? heuristic biases may lead me to report "uncomfortable")

nonetheless, as with marriage or baptism, where we build up the experience for years, or even a lifetime, talking about how sacred / wonderful / spiritual it is -- and most people don't have a positive experience, I find it somewhat troubling. of course, the easiest (and most faith-promoting) finger to wag is: the problem is in that build-up and / or preparation.

isn't the endowment -- at least according to Bushman's take on it in RSR, which i think is compelling -- designed / advertised / restored to give individual members a significant spiritual experience analogous to ancient Israel hearing the voice of God. again, maybe that experience was not "comfortable" for ancient Israel -- but hopefully it was more positive than negative. (I understand you can criticize the assumption of a such a teleological quality to ordinances. But that's a longer discussion, and I've already pointed to Bushman's treatment of the history)

Shouldn't the endowment ceremony be the spiritual high point of one's life, up to that point, in terms of ordinances?

I think a lot of people could say they were comfortable with every ordinance in the church they had experienced, UNTIL the endowment.