Book Review: Refuge and Reality

I made a goal for 2013 to read a book every week. This seemed like an ambitious goal at the time but so far, I think I've done it. It helps that I'm a fast reader and frequently skim. To help me keep track of some of the books I read this year, I'm going to do book reviews on this blog.

My husband gave me a book for Valentine's Day called Refuge and Reality: The Blessings of the Temple by John H. Groberg. This book is about his time as the president of the Idaho Falls Idaho LDS temple from 2005-2008. He tells stories about the temple patrons that he meets and shares insights that he gained. For insights on why Mormons build temples, go here: http://www.lds.org/church/temples/why-we-build-temples?lang=eng.

I enjoyed reading this book. I read it the week my husband was out of town. I would take a few quiet minutes at the end of the day and this was a nice book to read before I went to bed. I'm good at forgetting books shortly after I read them, but one idea I hope I remember from this book is that what happens in the temple is the real or permanent world of the eternities. People sometimes call the outside world "the real world" while the temple is more of a refuge. But his point is that the temple is both a refuge and reality. The things that happen in the temple last forever while much of what we do in the outside world does not.

I especially liked reading the stories he shared. He had quite a variety of stories that probably just about everyone could identify with. He talked about a woman who longs to be married and wonders what is wrong with her, a woman that had to forgive her ex-husband and let go of her anger, a husband who doesn't really understand why his wife loves to come to the temple but comes with her anyway, a youth who has a facial deformity and needs to feel loved, and many others. Maybe his purpose was to show that everyone can benefit from the temple. It definitely made the book more interesting for me.

I enjoyed the insights he had and I would recommend this book.

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