Sacred Spaces

"Nature now acts as a sort of personal sacred space for me, and I learn so many spiritual truths from spending time in it. Even the simplicity of changing seasons reminds me that through a dark, bitterly cold season, flowers will always bloom again. And the fact that an oyster can create a pearl out of a tiny grain of sand shows me how much potential I have as well. After a long day spent with my smartphone and having thousands of media stories coming at me from every angle, retreating to nature to connect with my Heavenly Father, even for a few moments, resets and revitalizes my worn-out soul."

The words of God, which he spake unto Moses at a time when Moses was caught up into an exceedingly high mountain,

“In Wildness is the preservation of the World.”

"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, overcivilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life."

And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.

And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

When Jesus heard of [the death of John the baptist], he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.

The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.

"We believe that God visits us in natural sacred spaces, including groves and mountaintops."

"Study of the natural world leads to increased understanding of the principles upon which the earth operates as well as an understanding of our kinship with the earth through the recycling of matter. Additionally, study in the outdoors allows one to live, however briefly, away from the busyness of the everyday world and contemplate the human role in earthly existence."

"The Bible can be read as a litany of sacred sites of revelation: Eden, Beth-El, Mount Moriah, Sinai, the temple, Gethsemane, the road to Damascus."

"Oh, how lovely was the morning! Radiant beamed the sun above. Bees were humming, sweet birds singing, Music ringing thru the grove, When within the shady woodland Joseph sought the God of love, When within the shady woodland Joseph sought the God of love."

"Many Mormon readers, as well as readers who are not and never will be Mormon, expect—indeed, need—to find convincing spiritual matter present in nature writing. LDS writers are qualified to provide it."

"Through Joseph Smith's First Vision, Mormonism stakes a claim in the grand tradition of finding God in the wilderness."

"Joseph's choice of grove over church, barn, or bedside for putting his Big Question to God suggests that he trusted solitude and the stimulating qualities natural environments offer."

"The most central truth to the creation account is that the world is a place for God's presence . . . [the universe is] a cosmos-sized temple."

"Mountains seem to answer an increasing imaginative need in the West. More and more people are discovering a desire for them, and a powerful solace in them. At bottom, mountains, like all wildernesses, challenge our complacent conviction—so easy to lapse into—that the world has been made for humans by humans. Most of us exist for most of the time in worlds which are humanly arranged, themed and controlled. One forgets that there are environments which do not respond to the flick of a switch or the twist of a dial, and which have their own rhythms and orders of existence. Mountains correct this amnesia. By speaking of greater forces than we can possibly invoke, and by confronting us with greater spans of time than we can possibly envisage, mountains refute our excessive trust in the man-made. They pose profound questions about our durability and the importance of our schemes. They induce, I suppose, a modesty in us."

"From my perspective, I absolutely believe in a greater spiritual power, far greater than I am, from which I have derived strength in moments of sadness or fear. That's what I believe, and it was very, very strong in the forest."

"When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."

"One way we can feel a surety of the Creator’s existence is to observe His handiwork. While it is the Holy Spirit that conveys such a testimony to our hearts, we may first prepare our hearts to receive it. A marvelous way to do this is to gaze into a star-filled sky on a moonless night or at the intricate patterns on the back of a single maple leaf."

"Think of the attitudes parents convey to children in such experiences, not necessarily attitudes about thunderstorms or snakes, but about life and the joy of living! Spiritual experiences can't be staged, but one fruitful avenue that involves our children and ourselves in inspiring experiences is to explore—fully and enthusiastically—God’s creations. In the course of growing up we tend to acquire a worldly sophistication that dampens this enthusiastic sense of wonder about nearly everything. Cultivating wonder about nature heightens our appreciation of all creation and begins to break down our artificial distinction between things temporal and spiritual. (See D&C 29:34–35.)"

Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King

And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.

When Jesus heard of [the death of John the baptist], he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain:

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. [JST: to be with God]

And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

And the said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.

And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him. JST: "And he was there in the wilderness forty days, Satan seeking to tempt him; and was with. . ."

And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. JST: "And immediately the Spirit took him into the wilderness."

And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.

And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.

And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.

Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.

And when forty years were expired, there appeared to [Moses] in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.

When the earth shall be transfigured, even according to the pattern which was shown unto mine apostles upon the mount; of which account the fulness ye have not yet received.

Behold, I say unto you, that you must rely upon my word, which if you do with full purpose of heart, you shall have a view of the plates, and also of the breastplate, the sword of Laban, the Urim and Thummim,which were given to the brother of Jared upon the mount, when he talked with the Lord face to face, and the miraculous directors which were given to Lehi while in the wilderness, on the borders of the Red Sea.

And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever.

Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.

And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them.

And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things.

And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.

For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot