The Holiness of the Home

Near the end of one of the last few General Conference talks of the most recent General Conference, Presiding Bishop Gérald Caussé said the following:

Ours is not just a Sunday church. Our worship continues each day of the week, wherever we are and in whatever we do. Our homes in particular are “the primary sanctuaries of our faith.” It is most often in our homes that we pray, we bless, we study, we teach the word of God, and we serve with pure love. I can testify from personal experience that our homes are sacred places where the Spirit can abound—as much as, and sometimes even more than, in our formal places of worship.

Personally, I've felt the Spirit stronger in nature and near the Temple than I've felt it at home. Maybe home is too normal to me. Still, I have to admit that Bishop Caussé makes some excellent points. Perhaps it's mostly due to the sheer amount of time we spend at home, but I can't think of any place where we pray, bless, study, serve, or love more than we do at home. Home is the location of our regular personal and family prayers and scripture study. Homes are the dwelling places of those we frequently bless and serve and love. In general, I'm not surprised that, of most of the things we do that are sacred, we do them most of all at home. Home may be an ordinary place where we do ordinary things, but it is also a holy place where we do holy things. Perhaps that's part of the reason our homes can compare with Temples in sacredness; like Temples, our homes are also dedicated places where holy things happen frequently.