The Man in White

Normally I do not leave the building at lunch time, but about a week ago, I decided to venture out to get some lunch. Instead of heading toward Subway or Crown Burger, I went East. I decided to go to the Nauvoo Café in the Joseph Smith Building at temple square, for a sandwich. They have great sandwiches there, but it ends up being quite expensive.

As I entered the North East corner of temple square, I noticed a man dressed in white, with temple robes on. He also had white face paint and white gloves. I was offended that he would draw attention in this fashion and thought to myself, "if you don't like what we believe that is fine, but it isn't necessary to stomp all over what we hold most sacred."

I sat in the Café and ruminated over the man in white standing on the corner. Then a group of women came and sat down near me and kinda spooked me away. I placed my salad and the super-duper carrot cake in a sack and headed back toward the office. As I walked from one side of temple square toward the other, I contemplated cutting through the temple grounds to avoid the North East Corner. I found myself watching a young couple getting their wedding photos done and thought again about the man in white. I decided I was going to ask the man in white what he was doing. That is, IF he was still there.

He was. As I approached him, I watched others give him nasty looks or make a quick comment and then leave. I wanted to TALK to him. I approached and made eye contact with him, which I assumed was an invitation for him to begin his sermon. But he didn’t say anything. He wasn’t waving any signs, or preaching to anyone, he was just standing there.

So I began the conversation. “So…What are you doing?”

“I’m just standing here.”

“But why are you standing here, now, like THIS?” I gestured toward his clothing and his makeup. He said he only knew that he was doing what the Lord wanted him to. If I had any ideas, he was open to hearing about them. I just looked at him, dumbfounded.

I asked him what he wanted to accomplish. He told me he wanted to be like the Savior. In fact he intended to be BETTER than the Savior. When I asked what the purpose would be in that, he stated that he was going to be a savior just like Christ.

“I don’t understand,” I said, “Christ has already provided a savior for me, so who is it you are going to save”?

He said he was going to be the next Savior. As he explained it, we are all traveling the same path, Christ has been out in front of us, but that does not mean we can’t catch up to Him. Or pass Him. That was the man in white’s goal: to be perfect, even more perfect than Christ was.

I asked him, “But isn’t it too late? Christ was the only one pure enough to be chosen as the Savior and He died to save everyone from their sins.

“Oh no,” he replied, “it is like He is passing the baton. And I am willing to pick it up and continue where he left off.”

I don’t understand.

I asked if he knew what the temple clothing represented and his response surprised me. He stated that he knew exactly what they were because he was LDS and had been through that very temple. He said he was a return missionary, born and raised LDS. He said he was visiting with his Bishop just last evening to get his temple recommend.

I asked if he was a return missionary, what happened to his recommend. He had let it lapse.

I asked why he was wearing the temple robes and the man in white again stated that he didn’t know; only that the spirit told him to stand on this corner dressed as he was.

I asked him what message he hoped to share with those who see him. He stated that he only wants people to be loving toward everyone and not be judgmental. He said those who are coming and going from the temple should be filled with pure love toward their fellow man. He suggested that if we all wore our temple clothing, we would remember how we should treat each other.

I asked what the reaction has been. He told me some pretend he isn't there, some laugh, some give him looks of disgust and disbelief, some (like me) approach and ask what he is doing. It just depends.

I asked him what he is getting out of the experience. He again said he didn’t know. He only knows that the spirit told him to do this.

I asked him if he wasn’t just a reflection of the same judgment toward others that he claimed he was there to remind people of. I told him that the LDS people are a people of culture and tradition. Sometimes even those who are born and raised in the church cannot testify to its truthfulness until they themselves begin to question. “Yes,” he said. And then he just stood there.

I suggested that the spirit may be telling him to do this because he needed to learn something from it. Perhaps it isn’t a message for those who might see him, but there is a message for him to find.

At that point another young man approached and said, “hey dude, was’ up? I saw you on TV and I’ve been lookin’ around for you! So was goin’ on?

The man in white said, “I am trying to be like Jesus. I want to be better than him.” And then he stood and waited.

I excused myself from their conversation and wished the man in white luck. I wished him luck in whatever it is he is meant to accomplish. And he continued to stand there. Not waving at anyone, not yelling, not raising a sign. He was just standing there, waiting for someone to ask.

Sorta’ like the Savior as He awaits for us. He is there. Just ask Him.