陽光大衛私房粉絲網

Thisisyourmotherspeaking在她的blog裡貼出這篇感人至深的文章，是一個同樣身為LDS信徒從信仰的角度看大衛，讓我們不但對大衛的信仰更加了解，也對大衛身體力行他的信仰有更深入的認識。文章很長，但是耐心看完，對大衛之所以是大衛就會更敬佩了。

momjuleeblog

But, alas, both vocal cords are working and I am old and female. Interesting ethnicity is so severely lacking in my family that I have ordered my children to marry only people who have different color skin and/or an accent. (When they are in a relationship, they hide the fact that they are dating “just another Caucasian” from me for as long as they can.) But while my ethnicity is pretty much mainstream Northern European, my heritage is not. I am a faithful 7^th generation Mormon. The history of the Mormon people is pretty much the history of most of my ancestors. 

Although I live in Utah now, I did not grow up here and I know all too well what it is like to be misunderstood, discriminated against and in the minority. When Mormons get in the media spotlight I often hold my breath until I see whether I need to cringe or rejoice. After observing David now for a good year and a half, I have learned that the way he represents our faith is remarkable.  And if I had my choice of all commonalities to have with David, being LDS is the one I’d choose. So, forgive me if I rejoice a bit.

In our church, when a child turns 12 they are given a pamphlet called “For the Strength of Youth.”  I have observed that David is a living  example of the admonitions found in that publication. Whether he is declaring “Modest is Hottest” or group dating, saying “Dang it!” instead of cursing, quietly switching a questionable lyric, blogging about his journaling or appreciation for pioneer heritage, he represents who we are and what we are about in a remarkable way. When you have been mocked as I have for having those standards, it is refreshing to see someone who inspires others to admire and adopt them.  Fans not of our faith have bought CTR (Choose the Right) rings because they saw David wearing one. Some say they spend hours on mormon.org on Sunday because of David. Some have even subscribed to Church Magazines, hoping for a mention of him. Currently the Holy Grail of David fan-dom is to attend one of the many firesides David gives while he travels. He is truly an ambassador for our faith.

What is remarkable is that he does this without ever preaching. He does not have to flaunt a purity ring for fans to know he is chaste. He does not have to expound the evils of drinking for fans to know that water is the strongest beverage he consumes. He does not have to bear his testimony for fans to know how much his faith means to him. The Power of Example is never more evident than when David is just being himself. And he glows. Our 3-year-olds sing “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam” and David shows us how. Being in his presence is like basking in the sun. You can really ‘let your light so shine’ in a way that is actually visible to other people. “Shiny” is an adjective fans commonly used to describe David and it’s not just from intense-performance sweat.

Although I suspect David will never join the ranks of those proclaiming “Jesus Saves” at the drop of a hat, I have learned that he brings souls to Christ just as surely as any full-time missionary does. How? When missionaries act with the Spirit of God they have the power to bring light and life to another human being and connect them with the Lord. In David’s case, his music and the power of his personality are his tools.  The count of people who have been led to investigate and join our Church because of David grows daily. Equally important, he has brought many to a renewal of their own faith and helped many more feel the Holy Ghost for the first time through his singing. Asking David if he will sing a hymn is a favorite question in VIP Meet and Greet sessions before a concert. The Twitter world then becomes filled with gushing: “Be Still My Soul. WAS AMAZING. I HAVE NEVER FELT THAT FEELING!” “He sang with his heart and filled the room with such a sense of peace.” “Tears. No words!! Experience of a lifetime!”  

Have you ever left one of his concerts and asked yourself “What just happened?” It takes a great deal of humility to receive an outpouring of love and appreciation from audiences like he does and not let it go to your head. Instead, he takes the love to his heart and then gives back a thousand fold so that the concert venue is filled with the Spirit in a palpable way. He operates completely without ego, giving himself fully to the moment and to the audience. It is a privilege to witness the moments when his work becomes a spiritual practice. I do not blame fans who follow him to as many concerts as they can. The spiritual high is truly addicting and rejuvenating to ones soul, but I suspect that David would be the first to admit that it isn’t really him they should be idolizing. It’s what he makes them feel, even if they are unaware of it.

We believe that when a person is baptized and confirmed a member of our church, they have the privilege of having the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost to be with them and we renew this promise each week when we go to church. This isn’t necessarily an easy thing to do. Make no mistake, David works hard at keeping that Spirit with him. How many other teen  heart-throbs still make the time to read their scriptures daily and go to the temple in any city in the world their tour bus takes them?  I promise you that there are remarkably few LDS young people who attend the temple as often as David does. Instead of shooting up with drugs or alcohol before a concert, David fills himself with the Spirit which allows him to visibly up his game as he performs each night. Remarkable.

To be sure, other celebrities declare their allegiance to Jesus publicly and frequently, but their actions leave me with a feeling of disconnect. Not so with David. And although some might think he will get less zealous as he gets older, I would bet money that we won’t be hearing that David ‘used to be a Mormon’ anytime soon. We all know his religion is ahead of  ‘career’ on his ‘things that matter most’ list.

I’ve learned about courage and forgiveness as I’ve watched David face adversity that would make someone much older simply fold up and give in. I’ve learned that the world at large is desperate for anything or anybody that points to a better way than what we are fed daily by the media. I’ve learned that even fans that are antagonistic to aspects of our religion not only ‘get’ what David is about, but appreciate it as well. This is also very remarkable.

His keyboardist, Kendra Low, recently said in an interview: “David has taught me more than I can say. He has a beautiful light around him. He is so pure and so good. He has made me want to become a better person by watching his example.” Granted, there are many fans and others around David who are only in this game for what it can do for them. David makes no mark on those people, nor they on him. But I submit that you would have to completely misunderstand David or have tipped the scale on reality to not want to be a better person after being around him.  

I know that there are good people everywhere, celebrities or otherwise, Mormon or not, who conduct themselves in an exemplary manner.  Why should I care so much about this one?

For me, it’s simple. Whenever I think of David, the words of Paul to the Corinthians and the 13^th Article of Faith come to mind: “If there is anything virtuous, lovely or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” As a list of adjectives to describe David, I can think of none better. 

David has clearly shown us that his faith is not just a once a week religion, that he has made his own decision about how to live the gospel and what his standards are and that he then lives according to those beliefs.  In ‘seeking after’ David Archuleta, I’ve found hope, love, purity, and integrity, all things that are difficult to locate in an industry that at times seems intent on spreading messages of violence, hate and immorality. Indeed, he is of good report and praiseworthy.

I know, I know, he’s far from perfect. Let’s not create something he can never live up to, idealize him, put him on a pedestal, etc. etc. But I just wanna’  say, Thank you, Brother Archuleta and please don’t blame me for being so proud! See you at church.