"Saturday's Voyeur" is in full swing again. For those who've never heard of it, it's a jaunty, homegrown musical revue that pokes fun at all things Utah and many things Mormon.

The show is a fundraiser for The Salt Lake Acting Company -- a true force in the local arts scene. And over the years, "Voyeur" (originally a send-up of the LDS musical "Saturday's Warrior") has grown more secular in tone.

Today, it targets politicians more than LDS people. But there was a time when "Voyeur" came out swinging at more than a few LDS sacred cows.

In the early years, I remember actors dressed like LDS missionaries singing raunchy lyrics and more than a few "deer-in-the-headlights" LDS matriarchs taking a thumb in the eye.

Traditionally in "Saturday's Voyeur," Mormons have been portrayed as wide-eyed innocents -- clueless turnips fresh off the truck. But even in my "wild oat" years, I saw those portrayals of childlike Latter-day Saints as a backhanded compliment of sorts.



Becoming as little children was a charge given to Christians by the founder of Christianity. And I saw then -- and see now -- a kind of sweet grace and Pollyanna beauty in many LDS members that I feel would please him very much.

Last Sunday, for instance, in our sacrament meeting, two older gentlemen supplied the special music. They sang a duet that blended together two primary songs -- "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" and "I Am a Child of God."

For the "Saturday's Voyeur" crowd, I'm sure it was a moment that needed no parody.

But for those on the other end of things -- those in the chapel that day -- it was a moment of spiritual wonder.

We often hear radio and print personalities bellow, "Legalize adulthood in Utah!"
I say, "Fine. Legalize it."

But if you're after a connection with the tranquil, tender joys of the spirit, that's not where you're going to find them.

You will find them where they've always been found: in the childhood recesses of the human heart.

Needless to say, Mormons aren't the only ones who go looking for them there.

There's a reason St. Therese of the Child Jesus is the most popular saint in the Catholic Church. She embodies all the innocence and grace of childhood that we'd like to recapture.

And there's a reason Anne Rice points out in her memoir "Called Out of Darkness" that the babe lying in the manger remains such a powerful emblem of Christianity and continues to stir the hearts of millions.

Childlike grace will always be the shortest and surest route to the divine.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell wrote: "If we truly want the best for our sons and daughters, we would want for them -- not status -- but more meekness, mercy, love, patience and submissiveness."

In other words, we would want them to grow up while holding onto the wonderful virtues associated with childhood.

There were many things to love about Elder Maxwell. One thing that always touched my heart was the way he would dot the letter "i" in his notes to me. He would dot them with a little circle, just as my friends and I used to do when we were growing up.

"Saturday's Voyeur" would probably have some fun with those "i" dots.

But for me, I saw in them a man who had managed to hold onto his heart as a child.

I saw the beauty, innocence, grace and joy of being a child of God in each one of them.