Fireworks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Truth be told, I don\u2019t feel like writing a blog this morning. I just feel like watching Katy Perry and an 11 year old autistic girl named Jodi DiPiazza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uucollective\/2012\/10\/fireworks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fireworks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Truth be told, I don\u2019t feel like writing a blog this morning. 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{"id":1056,"date":"2012-10-21T09:15:34","date_gmt":"2012-10-21T15:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uucollective\/?p=1056"},"modified":"2012-10-21T09:21:30","modified_gmt":"2012-10-21T15:21:30","slug":"fireworks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uucollective\/2012\/10\/fireworks\/","title":{"rendered":"Fireworks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ Truth be told, I don\u2019t feel like writing a blog this morning. I just feel like watching Katy Perry and an 11 year old autistic girl named Jodi DiPiazza perform Perry\u2019s song, \u201cFireworks,\u201d over and over. Having watched it about eight times now\u2014and forced everyone who has been near my Iphone or computer to do the same these past couple of days\u2014I still get weepy each time and feel as if I\u2019ve seen a glimpse of The Holy. (And yes, thanks for asking, I did donate money, too.)<\/p>\n

The people I\u2019ve forced to watch it include my own Very Sophisticated Sixteen-Year-Old, who, when instructed, \u201cCome and watch this and cry with me!\u201d sneered when I put it on: \u201cKaty Perry? Seriously, you think Katy Perry could make me cry?\u201d \u2013having listened to Katy Perry Years Ago and all!\u2014but then pleaded \u2018something in my eye\u2019 midway through the video. I was glad, because I had posted the link on my facebook page with the words, \u201cCall 911 if this doesn\u2019t make you cry. Your heart is not beating anymore.\u201d Whew. #Notatotalfailureasamother.<\/p>\n

I love knowing that all over the country, people of every political persuasion are weeping to this video. I think watching it helps us to remember why we\u2019re on the planet, and who we are as a people, and that it\u2019s not about dueling ideologies. It\u2019s about helping each other \u2018ignite the light and let it shine\u2019\u2014helping each other to flourish, to shine brightly as fireworks, no matter who we are.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you ever feel like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind?\u201d Jodi sings to us, and those of us who did not learn the lyrics Years Ago are knocked over by the message and the messenger and how completely they merge. The crowd roars delight, and we see this amazing, brave, child receive the cheers completely in her body and take a deeper breath from the transmission.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoom, Boom, Boom, Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon\u201d we watch Katy singing to Jodi, describing the beauty right before her eyes, love pouring off of her whole body right into that child, overflowing, and pouring into us as well.<\/p>\n

And, how much do we need that message ourselves right now? Dealing with her autism, Jodi and her family have clearly overcome obstacles most of us can only imagine. But which of us hasn\u2019t felt \u201clike a house of cards, one blow from caving in?\u201d<\/p>\n

How much does this country need to believe, as we wade through the rubble of what\u2019s left of our common life together, \u201cIf you only knew what the future holds\/ after a hurricane comes a rainbow\u201d?<\/p>\n

This song\u2019s power has been making me think that we\u2019ve got the communications thing all screwed up. It is with humility as a preacher\/ writer that I say music is exponentially more powerful than words. No spoken message could have millions of us watching this video over and over, drinking in its energy as if we have been wandering in the desert for too long and stumbled onto an oasis.<\/p>\n

Just thinking: Maybe instead of, or in addition to, political \u2018debates,\u2019 which are increasingly less about policy and more about posturing anyway, we should have \u201csing offs\u201d before the elections. Let artists and musicians sing out their dreams of who we could be, and let the people decide which candidate is more likely to take us there.<\/p>\n

But for now, we have Katy and Jodi to help us remember. And I\u2019m grateful for that! \u00a0(Want to watch with me now?)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Katy Perry and Jodi DiPiazza sing Fireworks<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"