Firework or Sunbeam (2014)

This is the annual update and reprint of a blog that was first published 7/21/11.

For a lot of reasons I do not stay up-to-date on the pop music scene and only occasionally listen to pop radio stations. I prefer gospel music, talk radio (when in the mood), light jazz (when I can find it), and sometimes I’m a little bit country (I grew up in Texas, what can I say?) and sometimes a little bit rock and roll.

However, even though pop music is not a #1 priority with me, because it often permeates society (clips of popular songs often show up in commercials and at ball games, etc.) I learn about songs I otherwise would not know about. 

One such song is Firework sung by Katy Perry. Even though it first hit the charts in 2010, I finally paid attention to it a year or so later at Stadium of Fire in Provo, Utah. (That is kind of an appropriate place for a firework song to show up since "Stadium of Fire" is one of the biggest stadium fireworks show in the country, if not the world.) Appropriately, a clip of the song was played during the fireworks display.

Shortly thereafter I heard the song again, with new words, when someone pointed me to a YouTube video. The name of the video was Firebolt and was a BYU Divine Comedy sketch using different words to the Katy Perry song to send up Harry Potter and his firebolt scar. I have to admit, it was a fun video.

This particular video set my naturally curious mind in gear and I decided I needed to learn more about the song Firework. That led me to YouTube again for the actual Firework music video by Katy Perry. That was an interesting experience. I will admit that it is a fun, energetic song that appears to have a positive message. However, I shut the video off before it even finished because it endorsed homosexual behavior, “parties,” and immodesty.

I eventually learned two things from the song Firework.  The first came when I compared it to For the Strength of Youth. Here we read:

While much entertainment is good, some of it can lead you away from righteous living. Offensive material is often found in web sites, concerts, movies, music, videocassettes, DVDs, books, magazines, pictures, and other media. Satan uses such entertainment to deceive you by making what is wrong and evil look normal and exciting. It can mislead you into thinking that everyone is doing things that are wrong.

Do not attend, view, or participate in entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in entertainment that in any way presents immorality or violent behavior as acceptable.

While the words of the song Firework are not, on their own, immoral or deceptive, the music video was full of deception. It was clearly making what is wrong and evil look normal and exciting. I, therefore, without fully knowing it at the time, took the advice of For the Strength of Youth—I stopped watching it.

But then I got to thinking about the message of the song—that we are "fireworks." The idea that each of us has a spark of light within us and that we should let that light shine “across the sky.” On the surface, that seems like a fantastic message. However, after a while the philosopher in me kicked in. This led me to my second lesson. 

Think about a firework for just a moment. How long does that light shine? Hours? Minutes? Seconds? Yes, fireworks are exciting and powerful and colorful (and I love fireworks). But they are also short-lived. Even the most beautiful firework fizzles out in just seconds. The light created by a firework will not even last a full minute. And in order to keep the excitement going once the light from one firework fizzles out, another must be fired and then another and then another. Usually, the best fireworks shows last about 30 minutes, go through a few hundred fireworks, and then they are over. The light is gone.

Fireworks are exciting and colorful, yes. But they are also temporary. Is that what our Heavenly Father wants for us? Temporary light? To be a burst of excitement and then we are over?

I believe the answer to that question is resounding “No.” Heavenly Father wants much more for us—much, much more. He wants permanent light. He wants sunshine. That is when the words to a children’s primary song came to my mind:

Jesus wants me for a sunbeam,

To shine for him each day…

These words may seem trite or even childish next to an exciting song by Katy Perry, but think about sunshine. What are its characteristics? It is warm. It is life-giving and life-sustaining. It is more permanent than a firework—much more permanent. In fact, according to scientists, our sun has been in existence for about 4.57 billion years.

The sun is also more powerful than a firework. In fact, there is no question that the sun is the most powerful force in our solar system.

We also know that even the stars are actually suns from other solar systems whose light has reached our planet after many light-years of travel. Imagine the power of a sun that emits a light that lasts 24,000-26,000 years—the distance our solar system is from the center of the Milky Way galaxy. And that is just our galaxy—there are a multitude of other galaxies beyond the Milky Way!

Does all of this give a deeper, broader meaning to the phrase, “Jesus wants me for a sunbeam?” I say “Yes!” We can be suns! We can be a true light in the lives of everyone around us. We can warm their lives. We can give them lasting life. All we have to do to be this kind of light is be obedient to God’s commandments. As the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also taught in For the Strength of Youth:

Because the Lord loves you, He has given you commandments and the words of prophets to guide you on your journey. Some of the most important guidelines for your life are found in this pamphlet. We testify that these principles are true.

We promise that as you keep these standards and live by the truths in the scriptures, you will be able to do your life’s work with greater wisdom and skill and bear trials with greater courage. You will have the help of the Holy Ghost. You will feel good about yourself and will be a positive influence in the lives of others. You will be worthy to go to the temple to receive holy ordinances. These blessings and many more can be yours.

I truly believe our Father in Heaven wants us to be more than fireworks, which are exciting for a few seconds, but then disappear. Our Father in Heaven wants us to be sunbeams—real, powerful, lasting, life-giving sunbeams. And to have this permanent light in our life, all we need to do is follow Him.

Happy 4th of July everyone! Let true freedom ring!!

Acknowledgement: A special thanks goes to my friend Valerie Dimick who’s lecture on the subject of “sun” versus “light bulbs” helped to inspire this message.

Stare Decisis and Becoming a "Law Unto Themselves"

President Joseph F. Smith, prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1901-1918, once made an interesting statement about "False Teachings."  He wrote:

Among the Latter-day Saints, the preaching of false doctrines disguised as truths of the gospel, may be expected from people of two classes, and practically from these only; they are:

First—The hopelessly ignorant, whose lack of intelligence is due to their indolence and sloth...those who are afflicted with a dread disease that may develop into an incurable malady—laziness.

Second—The proud and self-vaunting ones, who read by the lamp of their own conceit; who interpret by rules of their own contriving; who have become a law unto themselves, and so pose as the sole judges of their own doings. More dangerously ignorant than the first.

Beware of the lazy and the proud; their infection in each case is contagious…[1]

The phrase that caught my imagination in this quote is "who have become a law unto themselves."  

You should know I am not a trained attorney, although law school is in my life plan.  In preparation for that goal I have done some research on law and legal thinking.  That research led me to one thing in particular that concerns me about the practice of law and the legal culture--the doctrine of stare decisis.  According to the Cornell Law website:

Stare decisis is Latin for "to stand by things decided." It is essentially the doctrine of precedent. Courts cite to stare decisis when an issue has been previously brought to the court and a ruling already issued. Generally, courts will adhere to the previous ruling, though this is not universally true. See, e.g., Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 US 833 (1992).[2]

Read any legal opinion.  What does it contain?  "The court ruled this way because 'case A' was decided that way and 'case B' was decided this way, etc. etc. etc."  To me this says that lawyers are arguing cases and sitting justices are upholding (or overturning) our laws based on what other former sitting justices have said about this law or that law.  And you know what this sounds like to me?  A group of people "who have become a law unto themselves." A group of people who are "making" laws that are disguised as good, true laws, but in actuality are the philosophies of men (which is the topic for another essay--judges are to execute the law, legislatures make laws).

In truth, what is the very foundation of "good laws?"  A hint...a prophet once came down from a mountain with ten of them in his hands.  If you mentally said, "God's Commandments" or "God's Laws," you are right.  We have laws against stealing because God once told us that it was a commandment, "Thou shalt not steal."  That wisdom still exists in our laws today (thankfully at least a few have survived).

This is one of the key reasons our founders decided to break away from England and form a new nation.  They wanted us to become a nation of people who did not believe laws came from a king, but from "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God."  In a way, that vision did not last very long and may have been dying even before it was canonized.  The practice of stare decisis actually started taking root about 70 years before the Declaration of Independence was written and thus about 80 years before our Constitution was adopted.  

Here is my dream....here is my vision...that one day we will live in a nation of people who cite God's law in all legal decisions.  "The court has ruled this way because God has taught us, 'Thou shalt not steal,' and it is very clear in this case that the defendant stole from his company."  In my view, and in the view of a lot of like-minded people, God's laws make good law and a society that embraces His laws will be blessed and prosper.

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[1] https://www.lds.org/manual/teaching-seminary-preservice-readings-religion-370-471-and-475/false-teachings?lang=eng (downloaded 3-21-14)

[2] http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/stare_decisis (downloaded 3-21-14)