Some may respond by saying reverence is a private feeling or something we can feel no matter what events are taking place around us. Besides, members of Christ’s church are friendly, aren’t they? They work together, too, and they try to accomplish much in a short time.

While I believe such characteristics are good and represent our love for each other and our dedication to God’s service, and while I also believe we can feel our love for Him even as we are chatting or “catching that person we just have to talk to before we leave the room,” I can’t help wondering. . .

Last summer, I toured a Buddhist temple in Shanghai, China. Due to my background, I assumed the building would be a no-longer-used, cultural landmark, similar to a historical site in the United States; but I was wrong. It was a “working” temple, where believers worshipped, monks studied, and tourists, like me, paid to enter, then paid again to enter the “holiest” room, walking throughout the building, examining and visiting at our leisure. However, I also noticed that even though all was in commotion around them, the few worshippers in attendance appeared riveted to their rites. How could this be, I wondered?

I had these same feelings a year earlier when I entered the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, Italy. That revered room, one of Catholicism’s most holy places on earth, housed wondrous, awe-inspiring paintings by history’s esteemed artists. Yet I, along with many other paying tourists, found myself bustling among committed, reverent worshippers. Their tear-filled eyes were focused upward, and their mouths were silent. I did not doubt their devotion. But, while I marveled at them, as I later did the Buddhist worshippers, my wonderings eventually turned more thought provoking: Since reverence was so obviously an inward feeling, when it came right down to it, was there really that much of a difference between those places of worship and our own Sacrament Meetings? 
            Another thought. The same year I toured Vatican City, I also visited several Austrian cathedrals. These, too, were open to the public, but I remember one edifice in particular which exhibited a major difference from its counterparts: there was a glass-walled entryway where tourists or other non-worshippers could watch the ceremonies without disturbing the sanctity of the meeting. I appreciated that. And even though I didn’t stay long—I felt uncomfortable gaping at the local Austrians like they were performers—it reminded me of the truths taught in our simple Primary song, “The Chapel Doors.
                              

The chapel doors seem to say to me, “Sh, be still.”

For this is a reverent place to be, “Sh, be still.”

We gather here on the Sabbath day,

To learn of Jesus, to sing and pray. 
            So when we come through the chapel doors, “Sh, be still.”

Similarly, Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone in the September, 1976 Friend, described reverence in this way:

“Reverence during meetings is a very important part of the responsibility we have as members of His true church. We are all impressed with the reverence shown by children in Primary who enter the chapel quietly with arms folded. Their reverence is an example that all members of the Church should appreciate and remember when attending any meetings in the chapel.

“However, reverence is not shown only in the chapel. Boys and girls who have learned how to be reverent do not run up and down the halls or yell and talk loudly inside the church. Reverent people also do not offend or hurt people’s feelings or make fun of others’ clothing or appearance. They try to be kind to everyone they meet.

“At Sunday School and sacrament meeting we have an opportunity to show our Savior how much we love Him by being reverent. It is not reverent to walk in and out of a sacrament meeting while it is in progress. We should get a drink of water and go to the rest room before the meeting begins. It is very disturbing to a speaker when someone leaves. The attention of other members in the congregation is also distracted.

“Those who speak and provide music have prayed and often fasted for help with their assignment. The reverent person listens carefully and receives the message from the speaker.

“Determine to be reverent in sacrament meeting by never speaking out loud. Speak in a whisper and then only when it is absolutely necessary. Sing the hymns with your parents. Children have beautiful voices and it adds much to the meeting when they sing. It is appropriate to take the sacrament with your right hand. And during the administration and passing of the sacrament, we should try to think of the Savior.
“Boys and girls who have smaller brothers and sisters should not tease them. They should not keep asking their mothers or fathers to let them take these little ones out. Your brothers and sisters and often older people can learn how to be reverent by watching your behavior.”

    I welcome Elder Featherstone’s depiction of reverence. It’s not only simple, but it also teaches us exactly how we should behave without ignoring the fact that reverence is a feeling. However, what I appreciate most about it is it gives me hope that we Latter-day Saints can follow the Austrians’ example and leave our outside cares in the entry way before we walk through those sacred doors. That way, we, too, can see and hear and feel reverence; we can more fully worship the True and Living God.

Another Helpful Article:

“How We Improved Reverence”

NARRATOR 1:           Since the beginning of time, prophets have testified that Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, would come to the earth. Moses said the Only Begotten Son would come in the meridian of time (Moses 5:57-59).

NARRATOR 2:           Isaiah declared: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14).” And Micah prophesied that the promised Messiah would be born in the little town of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).

NARRATOR 1:           Some who saw the Holy Child may have asked: “Is this the One? Is this truly the Creator of the World?” But others knew the truth.

NARRATOR 2:           “And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

“And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

“And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child (Luke 2:15-17).”

NARRATOR 1:           Because these humble men obeyed the Lord, they were privileged to not only see the Christ, but to also testify of his divinity. They knew that Jesus truly was the One.

SONG:                        WHO IS THE CHILD? (CSB, pg. 46)

NARRATOR 1:           The heavens also declared Christ’s divinity. In Matthew, chapter 2, it states:

“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the King, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

NARRATOR 1:           “Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.

“Behold, I come unto my own, to fulfill all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world, to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son—of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given (III Nephi 1:4-5, 9-14).”

SONG:                        SAMUEL TELLS OF THE BABY JESUS (CSB, pg. 36)

NARRATOR 2:           Christ’s personal testimony, followed by the promised signs, not only saved His people, but also 
                                    brought peace and truth to all. This is what Christ always does for us. He teaches us. He
                                    strengthens us. He comforts us in our times of need. But most of all, He redeems us.

NARRATOR 1:           That is why we believe in Christ.

SONG:                        I BELIEVE IN CHRIST (Hymns #134)