For much of my life I never attended a religious service other than from my own tradition. Only rarely did I even enter a non-Catholic church and I cannot remember ever having been to a synagogue or the temple of any non-Christian  religion. My family internalized the warnings of Catholic leaders not to take part in the rites of other religious groups for fear of harming the purity of our own faith.

Of course, those were pre-ecumenical days, a time when Christian churches did not go much beyond mutual toleration and non-Christian communities seemed to people like me bereft of truth about God. Looking back on that era, it is hard not to wonder how I could have been so narrow and wary of exploring different ways of being religious. One of the many reasons I value the approach of old age is the opportunity it brings to reevaluate the ideals of younger days and to experiment with the truth more freely.

These brief reflections I offer as a prelude to describing a visit to the new Mormon Temple in Belmont, that imposing structure rising up next to Route 2. My motive in wishing to see this monument was not simply to satisfy curiosity about the building but rather to explore Mormon spirituality. Apparently some other people had the same idea: how else does one explain the outpouring of an estimated eighty thousand visitors during the few weeks in which the temple was open to the general public?

In being taken through the building sacred to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as the Mormons call their community, I had the advantage of having as guide Roger Porter, who has served as a bishop. In his professional life, he is a professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and he has worked in the White House as a policy advisor to Presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush.

Talking beforehand with Professor Porter, I asked what his religious tradition means to him. His response has stayed with me: “I find inspiration from my faith in virtually everything I do.” That he and his fellow Mormons has discovered such life- shaping meaning in this home-grown American religious tradition coming from the early nineteenth century provokes me to reflection. Appreciation of his faith from Roger Porter and millions of other people helps explain why Mormon membership has been growing so fast, up to its current estimated ten million here and abroad.

Early in my visit, two surprising facts emerged: First, the building, its size so imposing from the outside, has an interior without large cathedral-like spaces, but rather with a series of small rooms used for individual prayer and various rites. Secondly, the temple is closed on Sundays because the community gathers in its meeting house for worship, instruction, and other social events on that day.

Several themes, prominent in the faith of the Latter-Day Saints, find expression in the temple’s physical structure. The baptistry looms large,  with its font resting on the backs of twelve sculptured oxen symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel. In Mormon practice, baptism is performed “in behalf of those who have died.” It is a way of giving the dead an opportunity to accept the gospel.

The other rite important to the temple is Sealing, the uniting of partners in marriage. This takes place in the Sealing Room, an area where bride and groom are wedded not simply for their life on earth, but also for eternity. Children issuing from such a marriage “are sealed to parents, creating eternal families.”

Immediately inside the front door is the Waiting Area. There the credentials of arrivers will be checked to verify that they are Latter-Day Saints in good standing. After proceeding from this area, they change into all-white clothing that signifies two realities: 1) they are putting aside the cares of the world; and 2) economic or social distinctions among them mean nothing.

Everything in the temple leads up to the Celestial Room. This brightest of the spaces in the building is also the tallest, rising two-and-a-half stories. Twelve chandeliers hang from the ceiling and slender stained-glass windows cast their own light. Mormons who enter this room are to experience a foretaste of heaven with its peace and happiness.

Like all good experiences of other people’s faith, this visit gave me some insight into a different spirituality and another perspective on my own. To the hospitality of the Latter-Day Saints, I owe another step forward in my ongoing appreciation of people whose faith differs from my own.

I admire the devotion of Mormon friends, their zeal for their beliefs, and the personal care they show for one another. This latter quality of the community impresses me deeply because it ranks as one of the most precious of spiritual qualities and the one by which most religious traditions say they want to be judged.

Richard Griffin