2021 - The Road Ahead

 From the moment he took the office, President Donald J. Trump has been a lightning rod for controversy, confusion, vindictive lashing out, and abhorrent behavior of every kind imaginable. Now, thankfully, his era in American politics has mercifully come to an end. It ended the way it began in total chaos and a climatic storming of the Capitol chambers in a failed attempt to overturn the outcome of the election. Did Trump have a hand in rousing the crowd of protestors ahead of the Electoral College vote tally? Well, you can be the judge of that, but for the first time in our nation's history a POTUS has been impeached a second time by the House of Representatives, and even at this late date, only days before his term expires, Donald J. Trump's legacy has a stain on it that will be impossible to remove.

Refusing counsel from everyone, Trump has resoundingly refused to even attend the inauguration ceremonies for his successor, Joe Biden, the winner of the 2020 presidential election. He finally conceded the election, but only when the Electoral College vote was completed. But he has refused to acknowledge his role in inciting the crowd assembled outside the Capitol on the day of the Electoral College vote count. He apparently tongue-lashed his Vice-President Mike Pence that morning, instructing him to "either be a patriot or a pussy." Pence's role in the Electoral College by Constitutional mandate is simply to preside over the vote count and then declare a winner. He had no authority to do anything else despite Trump's little boy tantrum. Pence was the patriot here, not Trump.

The prognosticators of doom and gloom have already begun their predictable tirade of "end of times" analysis concerning Joseph Biden's election. Some will continue to assert the claims of an illegitimate presidency based upon no evidence from Trump's lawyers in numerous court challenges to the election results. Others will assert the nation will fall apart after the failed "coup attempt" supported by Trump supporters. Biden's policy shifts will no doubt be real in an attempt to reverse Trump's. I've read the Republican Party in America will now cease to exist. All of these bold predictions can find equal and opposite counterparts in the years when George W. Bush won, and Trump upended political punditry by winning. The more things change, the more they remain the same, it would appear to me. The one constant for me is that America has not successfully committed suicide - yet.

The road ahead for us in 2021 will continue to be a battle for the hearts and minds of America. However, most hearts and minds have already been made up, and few will change their deepest-held beliefs. It remains to be seen if there are politicians who can tap into the conventional wisdom of Americans. Joe Biden will at least make a show of attempting to interpret his victory in November as reflecting the will of America. He will have both houses of Congress in his camp, just as Barack Obama did when he began his two-term presidency. Few, however, have been able to master the diversity of America. Most new presidents when they take office, pledge to reach across the aisle, heal the divide and work for harmony and unanimity of feelings. Most transitions from one party to the other are carried off without insurrection, though agitators would have it otherwise.  

2021 will also be a year when scientific breakthroughs in vaccine production will in time eradicate the persistent COVID-19 virus if enough Americans agree to take the vaccine when it is offered. Right now there seems to be a much larger demand for the vaccine than there is adequate supply. That's the right trend if the supply and distribution can keep up. The distribution of the vaccines will be problematic, because the vaccines will be administered by the government. In Utah it is being handled through the county health departments. For people 70+ years of age like me, it means expressing interest in a pre-appointment email registration for the vaccine, and the roll-out will happen over the next two months. We are being told to watch our email inbox for a sign-up opportunity. Already we are hearing government leaders in Utah pleading for patience as they figure out how to match the supply with the demand. Anytime we turn the science over to the government it seems there will be a breakdown - bet on it. So far science gets an A, government gets a C-, but guess who will be at the front of the line taking credit for the eventual success. Betcha I know the answer to that one. The doctors will be elbowed out of line by the politicians clamoring for recognition and credit.

Speaking of diversity in America, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) offered an opinion piece recently in the Deseret News entitled "The Union and the Constitution Forever." He insists there is good news in our diversity:

"The good news is, we already have a proven way to achieve this goal. The United States has always been diverse. Our Constitutional framework was specifically written for a regionally, culturally, economically and religiously diverse nation. The Constitution’s checks and balances and separated powers simultaneously empower political majorities while protecting political minorities and, most of all, individual rights.

"America’s ability to make our diversity a strength is part of what makes us the greatest nation on earth. Our job is to make sure our diversity pulls us together instead of pulling us apart.

"Given America’s wide diversity, political issues decided at the federal level are by their nature going to be the most divisive. People in the East and the West, on the coasts and in the interior, in rural and urban areas — to say nothing of “red” and “blue” states — are always going to see the world differently."

Lee concludes that the way the Founders envisioned handling diversity was not to eradicate it but to embrace it, channel it and balance it so that tyranny never asserts itself within our borders. We hear accusations of tyranny from time to time, and it may be true some would attempt to impose it, but so far America has resisted being told what to do by dictators. Just take as an example the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine. Some are still insisting that this virus is someone in China's idea of controlling the masses, and that the government conspiracy is what is keeping us all in check. They rise up in opposition to mask wearing mandates and business regulation to control the spread of the virus. Resistance for the sake of resistance regardless of reason and common sense seems to be their cry.

"This isn’t about the size of the federal government — the federal government is going to remain huge for a long time to come. Rather, it’s about the need for national consensus to validate federal policy. 51%-49% issues are controversial, by their nature. Some issues — like national security or immigration — by their nature must be decided at the federal level, no matter how controversial they are. But most issues — from education to welfare to health care to housing to infrastructure — really can be decided at lower, less divided, levels of government.

"Blue states can be as blue as they want; red and purple states can go their way too. And all Americans — across the country and across the political spectrum — would be happier not to be in a constant zero-sum battle against the other party on every single issue under the sun. The founders called this approach 'federalism.' Philosophers call it 'subsidiarity.'

"To me, it’s the only realistic way to restore trust in our public institutions, detoxify our national discourse and heal some of the wounds of our current divisions."

It's not too complicated, folks. You let the federal government do what it does best on the big issues like immigration and national security, and you let the states, cities and counties do what they do best on the local issues in the red and blue states. By design, those outcomes at the local level will be better dealt with closer to the people. We've strayed from the principles envisioned in federalism, and it's time to get back to those principles to tamp down the angst at the federal level.

Trump, it turns out, was little more than an agitator, pitting us against one another for four long years. Yes, he did some good things, balancing the SCOTUS for one, but let's see if Biden can do a better job of following the Lee model than Trump ever did.

Our Lighthouse in the Storm #LIGHTtheWORLD

Today marks another anniversary in our family life. On a cold wintry day in December - the 9th - in 1992, we awoke to the tragic realization that our youngest daughter, Adrienne, had died unexpectedly during the early morning hours. I wrote about her death in an earlier entry titled "Losing" Adrienne. It seems impossible to imagine her now as a twenty-eight year-old woman, but that's what she would be had she lived. 

I asked Patsy this morning while we were greeting a new day in bed, "Tell me your memories of Adrienne this morning." Somewhat wistfully she responded, "I wish I had more memories of her." 

She came to #LIGHTtheWORLD in our family. Her headstone identifies her as "Our Lighthouse in the Storm." Her mortal flame flared quickly and brightly and then it was extinguished too soon. 

It was fifteen days before Christmas. After the funeral and burial we continued to stumble around in a stupor of thought, unable to gather ourselves to get Christmas ready for the children. I remember distinctly wandering aimlessly through the old Crossroads Mall downtown looking helplessly for Christmas gifts without success. Nothing seemed appropriate or meaningful to us. I think we finally settled on sweaters for everyone in one store, wide selection in sizes and styles, and I don't even remember the brand name but they were cool enough to satisfy my numbed mind. I'm sure we picked up more than that, but honestly it was all a blur. Our hearts weren't ready to move on from Adrienne.

I was stuck. It took me about a year to finally get back to some semblance of normalcy again. What happens in traumatic events like this one is a sense that you have lost control over the simplest of tasks. The brain is assaulted and then shuts down. For months afterward emotion would come welling to the surface over seemingly disconnected stimuli. The trauma would start afresh and the memories were still raw and sharp.

Everything about Christmas suggests light during the darkest time of the year - until finally around Christmas day we hit the winter solstice and the longest night of darkness in the annual calendar. We know the correct time of the Savior's birth was in the spring at Passover time in Jerusalem because of modern revelation and the statements of the living prophets (see D&C 20:1). But we celebrate Christmas in the darkest time of the year as a powerful symbol of light conquering darkness.

I have been asked many times in the ensuing years by many people what the most traumatic experience of my life was, and most would assume it was this time of our lives. However, after the events of this past year I would say without hesitation that brain surgery eclipses everything else that resembles a definition of "traumatic." The paradox is that through the adversity has come an abiding and deepening conviction of Christ's love for me and my family.

I remember one night shortly before surgery when I was comforted with the knowledge that my father and my mother were nearby and fully aware of my circumstances. Another night after surgery while rehabbing Dianne told me she called down Adrienne to provide comfort and protection in case I fell down getting to the bathroom in the middle of the night. In that same period of time my departed brother Drew also provided protection. I was being aided by help from beyond the veil and they embodied #LIGHTtheWORLD ministrations for me personally when I was so compromised I could not do much of anything for myself.

So which Christmas do I remember best? The year of 1992 will always remind me of the Light of the World, the birth of a Holy Infant in a lowly manger stall in Bethlehem. He brought peace to all who would come to Him throughout his mortal ministry and to those of us who can still come today. 

But perhaps the COVID-19 year of 2020 will also be memorable as I look back. Though Adrienne's mortal life was a short seven weeks, the life of our Lord and Savior spans infinity and will never be extinguished. He assures us that our eternal lives also involve infinite boundaries. 

He conquered death, spiritual and physical, for all the inhabitants of this Earth and all the other worlds our Father has created.

Thanksgiving Journal, Day 6

I #givethanks for Thanksgiving Day 2020. This morning I am grateful for the safe return of Elder Riley Bayles from his mission in the Washington DC South (Spanish speaking) Mission. He is pictured here on the left in this photo at a baptism of one of his converts. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, he taught his converts online, and often did not meet the people he had taught until their baptism face-to-face. In all likelihood he may never see most of those people again in this life. His faithful service has been a model for all missionaries in this new era of missionary work. 

He flew home last night, and is set to sit down with his family for a celebratory turkey feast today in their home in Pleasant Grove, Utah. His service as a missionary has blessed us all here at home, not to mention the many souls of those whom he taught and converted, literally from nearly every country in Central and South America. We are so grateful for a righteous posterity.

As promised, today I will focus on the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. I will begin with a Thanksgiving anthem familiar to all:

There cannot be a more blessed people on Earth than we who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President Nelson with his #givethanks invitation reminds us all how true that is. So today, let us come and #givethanks for the bounties of the Earth that are showered upon us generously from a gracious God. We have the physical and spiritual comforts despite all the troubles and uncertainty that surround us. Like the fruits and vegetables of the fall harvest that are safely gathered in, so may we be safely gathered in from all the storms that swirl about us if we gather to the stakes of Zion scattered throughout the world today.

Next is a favorite that never ceases to cause me to reflect on a story daughter Melanie told us about her time in the MTC prior to her departure for her mission in New Hampshire years ago. They were standing in the bottom floor of a stairwell rehearsing "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." I wasn't there, but I can imagine the voices of those sisters in that stairwell must have approximated the voices of a heavenly choir. Here's the Choir and Orchestra's version:

We attended the Pioneer Concert of the Choir and the Orchestra in the summer of 2019, featuring solo vocalist Sissel. She offered "Slow Down," a hauntingly beautiful and melodic tune that brings such peace in our current times of tribulation "when we're feeling so unsure." Kick back, take off your shoes and let the music inspire and bless your troubled souls. She brought the house down in applause that never seemed to end with her rendition. It was a heavenly moment:

Then she sang "Like an Angel Passing Through my Room," another sweet and comforting song to soothe the soul. Music has that power, doesn't it? Sissel is a jewel to be savored and appreciated especially now. I hope you enjoy her as much as we did that night:

No compilation of my favorite moments with the Tabernacle Choir would be complete without the signature set piece from Les Miserables, sung by Alfie Boe. Here is "Bring Him Home:"

One of the most pleasant surprises I experienced with the Christmas concerts of the Choir and the Orchestra was hearing David Archuleta's rendition of the carol "The Cat and the Mouse." I had never heard that tender melody with its tender words with so much meaning before. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did when I first heard it. Truly, we can all #givethanks when "Love came down to the Earth:"

There are so many more rich and deeply inspirational hymns. I encourage you to tune in to the Choir and Orchestra's YouTube channel. I will end with "The Prayer." Again, this one brings back memories when Rich and Melanie learned it and performed it several times while they were in high school:

I encourage us all to accept President Nelson's second invitation to offer prayer daily in thanks for all our blessings. 

Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day today and #givethanks.

Thanksgiving Journal, Day 5

Will I ever run out of blessings for which I am grateful? I don't think so. My heart literally is filled to overflowing these days. It is the 95th anniversary of my Mother's birth today. I pay tribute and #givethanks for Helen Lee Goates today. She continues to inspire me every day, but especially this time of year whenever Thanksgiving rolls around. Her birthday often fell on this day, as it did the last year she was with us in 1999. She was a violinist and a vocalist. Thoughts of her lead me to my love of music.

I've been pondering this morning that one of the greatest gifts for which I am grateful is the gift of music. 

My love of music began around the age of 8, when my father introduced me to the piano. Grandfather Lesley Goates had purchased a baby grand piano for their small home in Sugarhouse when my father was a child. It nearly didn't fit into the front room of that home. No one played the piano, but Grandpa Goates was a gifted vocalist who led many choirs during his life, and was eager to introduce his fledgling son, Brent, to the beauties of music. I learned on that piano and #givethanks for the memory of that instrument that I had refinished when it found a place in our living room many years later. I am thankful my father persisted with me as long as he did with early morning wake-up calls to practice.

I had two great pianists who I loved to listen to in concert - Grant Johanneson (local Salt Lake City boy) and Van Cliburn. They were each at the pinnacle of their professional careers as concert pianists when I heard them play as soloists with the Utah Symphony in the Tabernacle before Abravanel Hall was built across the street from Temple Square. It was these two who first introduced me to the spectacular concert "workhorse," Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. I am grateful for their musical prowess that always uplifted me.

I #givethanks for Cherry Brown and Charlene Snow, my two piano teachers in the Federal Heights Ward, who labored diligently to teach me the intricacies of the keyboard, harmony and music theory. I never rose to the heights of extraordinary proficiency, but I was adequate enough to accompany the congregational singing in every town where I served in England during my mission. 

At East High School in Salt Lake City, I was further tutored in vocal ensembles under the tutelage of Lorraine Bowman. I sang in her A cappella Choir, Madrigals and the Boys Quartet. Those were days never to be forgotten during our senior year. I was the bass in the quartet comprised of Mark Ethington, Steve Spencer, Doug Richards and me. I #givethanks today for those lifelong friendships. Especially during the Christmas season, those memories were made to last a lifetime because of the influence of music well prepared, well sung and long remembered.

After being tutored by Cherry and Charlene on the piano, I began to branch out and buy my own sheet music, which I loved to play for many years later. My children remember being accompanied to sleep each night with strains of "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face," from "My Fair Lady."

Speaking of that musical reminds me to #givethanks for my Nana Fern Lucinda Tanner Lee, who loved to play the original soundtrack recording from the Broadway production in New York. She and Grandfather Harold B. Lee had attended the production and still had the original playbill on their shelf. When I would stay with her on the weekends when Grandfather Lee was traveling for stake conference assignments, she would put the record on their large Magnavox stereo console and let me listen to it again and again as she described the action on stage. She introduced me to the theater of the mind. I would pick a spot on the plush white carpet in front of the stereo so the sound from the left speakers was evenly balanced with the sound from the right speakers. It was heavenly, and I was so familiar with the music that I managed to memorize every word of the lyrics. 

The original production featured Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews. Nana was always a little nervous when Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins introduced his song about Eliza Doolittle with the expletive "Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn, I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face." The expletives were about his reluctant admission that he was falling in love, somewhat surprisingly and unwillingly. Knowing it was coming in the soundtrack, she would time her entrance into the room to turn down the volume when that part came up. She didn't want me tainted at such an impressionable age. 

Little could she have known when I entered the Army for basic training that I would hear much worse than that! I had drill sergeants who were skilled in the multifaceted uses of one particular four-letter word which was used interchangeably as a noun, a verb, a preposition, an adjective, and a gerund. Those who have been in the Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy or Coast Guard will tell you exactly the word to which I refer.

That formative introduction to Broadway musicals came from Nana. I would go on to collect the soundtracks of virtually all the productions, and had the chance to see many of them in person. I am so grateful for the uplifting inspiration they often provided. 

But if we're going to talk about inspirational music, how could I do any better than the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square? Since Mack Wilberg took the reins of the Choir and the Orchestra, they have soared to the highest heights. His arrangements will live on forever. I #givethanks for a heavenly choir here on Earth that was recently named as one of the top ten choirs in the world.

Perhaps tomorrow I will single out some specific arrangements for which I am particularly grateful, but I will conclude today's post to #givethanks for music and its influence in my life.

 

Thanksgiving Journal, Day 4

This morning I awoke with an overwhelming feeling of peace. That still, small voice whispered that all would be well in the world. What a blessing the assurances of the Spirit have been to me during my lifetime. I am thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost. It is an unimaginable blessing to have from an all-wise and loving Father in Heaven. The Holy Ghost's influence in our lives is described in several places in scripture. This is a favorite passage in a revelation given to Joseph Smith for the benefit of his brother, Hyrum:

"Behold, thou hast a gift, or thou shalt have a gift if thou wilt desire of me in faith, with an honest heart, believing in the power of Jesus Christ, or in my power which speaketh unto thee;

"For, behold, I am the light  which shineth in darkness, and by my power I give these words unto thee.

"And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good - yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you I will impart unto you of my Spirit which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy;

"And then shall ye know, or by this shall you know all things whatsoever you desire of me, which are pertaining unto things of righteousness, in faith believing in me that you shall receive." (D&C 11:10-14).

Think what a comfort that revelation must have been to both brothers as you contemplate the challenges and the troubles they would face together in subsequent years. It can be so for us.

We learn so many lessons in the lives of Joseph and Hyrum. I express my gratitude for their example of brotherly love for one another. They were side by side during their lives, the older brother Hyrum supporting and giving succor to the younger brother Joseph. Perhaps John Taylor, an eyewitness to their martyrdoms at Carthage Jail said it best:

"Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord's anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated." (D&C 135:3).

I give thanks this morning for the blessing of knowing without seeing. It is that witness that permeates our souls in this life. I most often feel the Spirit of the Holy Ghost speaking to me when I open the pages of the scriptures. When I do, I often become a "see-er." Those words are always accompanied by the sweet fruit as spoken of so eloquently by Alma:

"But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.

"And because of your diligence and your faith, and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.

"Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you." (Alma 32:41-43).

That chapter in Alma's writings is not as much about faith as it is about "the word," which is likened to the seed that must be nourished so our tree of knowledge in the word of God may flourish. 

When I was facing my brain surgery with an unknown outcome, and then as I emerged fully healed and restored to my former self as I was blessed by my sons to do, many have referred to me as a "miracle man." I have reminded those who say that that the miracle is not that I lived. I could have died and the miracle would still be valid. The miracle is the atonement of Jesus Christ, guaranteeing a universal resurrection and the hope of eternal life for the repentant. Whether in life or in death, His sacrifice for all the sons and daughters of God is the same on both sides of the veil. He is the true miracle that the Holy Ghost testifies about. Christ opens the doors of our spirit prison and our physical tomb.

And this morning the Spirit of the Holy Ghost is speaking peace to my soul about the plan of salvation. 

We will all someday die. We were born to die. The Spirit of the Holy Ghost testifies that through the power of an infinite atonement we may escape the effects of both spiritual and physical death. (See 2 Nephi 9:10-13)

I am grateful for the witness of the Holy Ghost that whispers peace to my soul.