Why I Didn't Watch The Royal Wedding

I thought about it. I thought of waking my girls up at 4am. We could make hot chocolate and snuggle up together to share a unique, romantic moment in history. A part of me was thrilled with the idea. I am seriously a sucker for all this fairy tale romance crap.


So why didn't I go through with it?

When the kids got on the bus this morning I turned on the TV and watched the highlights of the wedding. One phrase summed it up: "Till death us do part".

That is why I didn’t' make this a big deal. That is why I didn't present this fabulous wedding as a model for my daughters. That is why I reigned in my worldly passions.

Don't get me wrong, I am happy for William and Kate. I think I join the world in holding my breath at the hopes that this marriage will last. We are thrilled with their obvious love. We relate to the sweetness of their romance. We lament the challenges they face as a very public, very restricted couple. We want them to succeed. We want them to be happy.

But at the end of the day, their marriage is temporary. It is only for this life.

And everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God.

For whatsoever things remain are by me; and whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed.

Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world. (Doctrine & Covenants 132:13-15)

I couldn't help comparing this wedding to the recent wedding of my college roommate. She was married in the Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Temple. I think my happiness for her far surpasses that of the Royal Couple. You might think this is because I know her personally. I am sure that is part of it. But her marriage in the temple will last for eternity.

Let me explain the difference. Let's say William and Kate survive the paparazzi and the pressure and are happily married for 75 years. Then what? That's it. They get old and die and are no longer united. President David O. McKay explained why this kind of marriage is not enough.

Love is as eternal as the spirit of man; and if man continues after death, which he does, so will love....

So whenever any person dies, the virtue of love will persist, and if any inquirer believes in the immortality of the soul, or in the persistence of personality after death, he must admit that love will also persist. …

...In the spirit world we shall recognize our loved ones there and know them as we loved them here. I love my wife more than I can love other people. I love my children. I can have sympathy; I can have a desire to help all mankind, but I love her by whose side I have sat and watched a loved one in illness, or, perhaps, pass away. Those experiences bind heart to heart, and it is a glorious thought to cherish that death cannot separate hearts that are thus bound together; for each of you husbands will recognize your wife in the other world, and you will love her there as you love her here, and will come forth to a newness of everlasting life in the resurrection. Why should death separate you when love will continue after death? (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay, 125)

If love continues shouldn't the relationships? Would a loving, all-knowing Father deprive his children of those loving relationships when the feelings persist? President McKay continues;

It should not, and it need not, for when Jesus was upon the earth he told his Apostles: “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19.) And with the restoration to earth of the Holy Priesthood, the Church asserts that this power was again given to chosen men, and that in the house of the Lord where the marriage ceremony is performed by those who are properly authorized to represent our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the union between husband and wife, and between parents and children, is effected for time and all eternity, and that for those thus married the family will continue into the eternities. (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay, 125)

A marriage and family that will continue through eternity. That is what my friend has. That is what my husband and I have, along with many others. The Queen of England can't do that for her grandson, nor can the Bishop of London. No amount of public opinion or news coverage can make their marriage last forever. Only the power and authority of God can bring about this great miracle.

This is what I want for my children. This is why I have pictures of temples in my home. This is why we talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ in our home. This is why we read and discuss the scriptures. This is why I teach my children modesty and virtue and worthiness. I want to do everything in my power to put them on the path to the temple. This is why I did not watch the Royal Wedding.