historic draper

this post is a few weeks belated...but better late the never, right?!

when david and i decided to go to the draper temple in february, we googled "things to do in draper" and came up with "draper historic theatre". "the fiddler on the roof" would be playing in february, and we love that musical. we got tickets online for the saturday matinee and were really looking forward to the date we would have. having done a little theatre in my high school days, and almost joining a traveling theatrical group which toured historic theatres to put on their musicals, i was really looking forward to seeing this famous historic theatre. i thought it would maybe be a converted pioneer house into a theatre--very baroque, lavish, warm...historic. in one image, i was expecting this:

needless to say, the draper historic theatre was nestled between a spa and "dive addicts" (a scuba place)...i'll let the outside speak for the inside:

we left historic draper at intermission.

on to the draper temple. the temple fact sheet stated the theme carried throughout the temple was the sego lily. having read this, we were expecting rounded architecture, corners, blooms and blossoms throughout the paintings, wallpapers, decor, etc. the lily is representative of the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, so we were imagining lots of light, bright, rounded, warm images. imagine our surprise when we drove up the mountain to find this:

very prominent ninety degree angles,

sharp corners,

lots of hard, white and grey granite. it certainly took us by surprise, but as we walked around the grounds taking pictures, we talked about our first impressions, and again the mountain theme came up, but it was more than that. it wasn't just large, but it was stately, prominent, reverent, and it had a large presence. the architecture didn't erupt into peaks and valleys like a mountain, the whole temple seemed "hewn in stone" (luke 23:53)--it seemed as though this structure was representing a very important sepulchre. i'm not trying to be morbid by saying we walked into a building that looked like a tomb--it was probably one of the most quiet and reverent times we have had at a temple. the external walls, windows, doors played a part in imparting of this reverence. before we can celebrate the resurrection of Christ, we need to remember a very real part of His divinity: He died for us, was buried in a tomb, and then rose three days later. david opened the front door to the temple as we walked in and commented at how heavy it was. the door was solid brass, and you had to pull it open. in most temples they have now installed automatically opening doors, and maybe this door had a button we just didn't see, but the door was intentionally heavy--as heavy as a stone being rolled away from a tomb.

this visit taught us more of light and dark, death and resurrection, and the plan that was established long ago involving the Savior--for our sake.