It sounds like it was written by a frustrated Primary teacher. What I hate about this song is that it’s obviously written from the perspective of an adult, someone who has decades of practice sitting still in long meetings, and projecting this adult behavioral norm back onto kids, for whom it obviously is hard to “sit very still,” regardless of what they’re supposed to be thinking about while they do. ![]() It shouldn’t be hard, even though I am small, Here’s the first verse.Īnd think about Jesus, his cross on the hill, The second song that I really hope doesn’t make it into the new Children’s Songbook is called “To Think about Jesus.” That’s its title, anyway, but in my head when I think of it, I always refer to it as “It Shouldn’t Be Hard,” because that’s the line that’s repeated over and over in its lyrics. Because even if you do think Jesus is always watching them, he sure doesn’t seem to intervene much, so what if they conclude that he’s not there, or that it doesn’t matter if he is, so they can just go ahead and do what they want? I know philosophers and theologians have thought about this question a bunch, and I’m sure there are a bunch of details I’m missing, but I just think it’s more practical to have kids be internally motivated to do good rather than externally motivated, because the external motivation will not always be available.Īnyway, getting back to the song, to be fair, I think it is somewhat improved by the third verse, where even though it has the kids sing that Jesus is in fact always there looking at them, it’s actually because “I am in his watchful care.” I still don’t think this makes up for the first two verses, though. Do we really think the best way to get them to make good choices is to have them think that Jesus is always looking over their shoulder? I think it would be far better for them to learn some internal moral compass where they can make good decisions on their own. So having them sing a song where they question whether they would do this or that or the other thing if Jesus were standing there seems to me to be very much a reminder that having fun is for places other than church, and when we’re at church, we’re quiet and miserable.Įven if you don’t agree with how I read the tone of the first two verses, I wonder if you might not agree that the song has an impractical approach to teaching kids to be moral agents. And yes, I know there are scriptures and statements by GAs about how the gospel means living joyously, but I think for kids in particular, what they often learn in Primary is that Jesus is most concerned with having them shut up and stop wiggling. I understand that this might just be because I’m a neurotic Mormon, but the tone of this song strikes me as very much shaming kids and reminding them that they need to stop having so much fun and return to the grim, joyless path that Jesus wants them to be on. “Would I do the things I do?” “Would I think of his commandments and try harder to be true?” “Would I say the things I say?” “Would I try to share the gospel?” “Would I speak more reverently?” Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash Its lyrics begin with its title, and then has the singer ask if they would do various things differently if the Savior stood beside them. If your ward loves this song like mine and you’ve been in Primary in the past couple of decades, you’re probably familiar with it. The first isn’t even in there now, but from Chad’s post, it sounds like it’s a strong candidate. ![]() The music was simplified and copyrighted by Michael Smurthwaite, and may be copied free of charge for non-commercial use.Chad Nielsen’s recent post at T&S on updates on the hymn book revision process reminded me that there are a couple of songs that I’m really, really hoping don’t make it into the new Children’s Songbook. No prohibited copyrighted songs are included. Only the Primary songs which have a Spanish equivalent are included here. ![]() Since they are in the same key, it makes it easier for emergent pianists to transition into the regular Primary songbook. These simplified arrangements feature the melody with simple supporting notes or chords. These songs were published in the Children’s Songbook(2000) by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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