August 25, 2024
OUR LIFE STORIES

MACK WILBERG, RYAN MURPHY, GEOFF ANDERSON
Conductors

ANDREW UNSWORTH
Organist

DERRICK PORTER
The Spoken Word

WITH JOYFUL VOICES RINGING
Music: Irish Folk Song
Text: William Tarrant
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg

GLORY TO GOD ON HIGH
Music: Felice de Giardini
Lyrics: James Allen
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg

ALLELUIA
Music: Attributed to Giulio Caccini
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg

LISA LÂN
(ORGAN SOLO)
Music: Welsh Melody
Arrangement: Andrew Unsworth

COME, CHRISTIANS, JOIN TO SING!
Featuring Bells at Temple Square
Music: Spanish Melody
Arrangement: Matthew Compton

THE SPOKEN WORD
“Our Life Stories”

FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE EARTH
Music: Conrad Kocher
Lyrics: Folliott S. Pierpoint
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg

TO GOD BE THE GLORY
Music: William Doane
Lyrics: Fanny J. Crosby
Arrangement: Ryan Murphy


OUR LIFE STORIES
The Spoken Word, August 25, 2024
Written By: Lloyd Newell
Delivered By: Derrick Porter

We each have a backstory—the experiences, events, and choices that helped shape us into the people we’ve become. One of the best ways to understand a person, even someone we might disagree with, is to learn his or her story. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow put it this way: “If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.”1 Though most of us don’t see each other as enemies, the sentiment is clear. It’s much harder to dislike a person whose story you understand.

For example, one man seemed to have a hard time connecting with other people. He wasn’t very easy to talk with; he had such strong opinions about almost everything. Many people found him off-putting or tiresome. But a neighbor made the effort to become his friend. He listened rather than judged; he understood instead of dismissed. The kind neighbor explained, “I learned a long time ago that everyone has a story to tell, and the more I get to know a person, the more I like him.”

This same experience has been played out countless times in countless places. Perhaps you’ve lived it. It begins when you open your heart enough to say to someone, in so many words, “Tell me your story,” and then you truly seek to listen. You will hear some stories that will surprise you and others that will inspire and humble you.

As we listen with empathy and compassion, we come to see others much as we should see ourselves—some strengths and weaknesses, some successes and setbacks, some shining moments when we were truly our best selves and some mistakes and regrets. Insignificant differences between us begin to wash away, leaving the common experiences, hopes, and desires that unite our human family. Of course, some meaningful differences will most likely remain, but it will hardly seem worth ruining a potential friendship over them. In fact, the privilege of coming to understand someone better—and maybe even finding a new friend in the process—will become an important new chapter in our own backstory, helping each of us become kinder, more compassionate people.


References
1. Prose Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Complete in Two Volumes (1873), 1:45