These images of pillars of light represent a tree in form [original pictures unavailable]; a vertical axis bridging the span between the heavens and the earth. One is created by shining a series of lights vertically, the other is "
caused by flat fluttering ice crystals reflecting sunlight from the upper atmosphere." In the case of Joseph Smith, a spiritual tree of light is what connected God and man.
Temple at the Sacred Grove
Today there stands another temple at the Sacred Grove. This appears to be the only place on earth where two temples, sacred to Mormons, occupy virtually the same site. One created by God, the other created by man. Both are holy and sacred. Both are the dwelling place, or house of God.
The temple pays proper homage to the grove in the details of construction. Trees and nature play a prominent role. Within the temple we have the re-creation of the sacred grove highlighting the events that took place nearby. The builder of the temple stated, "One of the main pieces is of the First Vision, and the overall tree motif (that required the hand cutting and hand notching of the more than 6,800 leaves) gives patrons a feeling like they are in the Sacred Grove."
This is not unlike the cathedrals that attempt to achieve a sacred forest-like experience through the structure of the worship space. The very groves destroyed by the early Christians were later used as a model for their cathedrals and sacred spaces. "The sacred grove was at the
origin of the temple, whose columns were initially trees, and later of the Christian church which still evokes it by the alignment of its pillars, the semidarkness within it, and the soft coloured light that filters through its stained glass windows."
Conference Center Pulpit
While the vast interior of the Conference Center was designed without a single column (treeless), there is a single tree that sits as the centerpiece of all our General Conferences: the walnut tree from President Hinckley's backyard that was formed into the pulpit. A book has even been written about it. "Inspired by President Gordon B. Hinckley's account, The Story of the Walnut Tree, tells a tale of how the wisdom, nurturing, and vision of the prophet of God, the ‘man who loves trees,' transformed a struggling walnut tree into a focal point of the majestic Conference Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The walnut-tree pulpit is the best link to nature in this otherworldly spatial experience. The scale of everything is so large in the Conference Center, having a human-sized object as the center point of our attention makes all the difference. Because of its placement and focus, this tree still retains the vertical axis all trees do by linking the heavens and the earth. This axis is the focal point and where all our attention is drawn. How appropriate that the material used in this vast arena is from a single tree grown in the yard of a prophet -- planted and nurtured for many years by him. This personal detail is one we can relate to and connect with. It is of the earth, and it is sacred. The words of the prophets spoken from the walnut tree link us to heaven, similar to the effect of a pillar of light or a sacred grove.
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