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June 14, 2015 - #4474 Music & the Spoken Word

Music & the Spoken Word broadcast with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. April 26, 2015 Broadcast Number 4467. 

Music

“Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah” 
Composer: John Hughes
Lyrics: William Williams 
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg

“Pilgrim Song”1
American folk hymn
Arrangement: Ryan Murphy

“Menuet Gothique” from Suite Gothique (organ solo)
Composer: Leon Boëllmann

“Unfold Ye Portals” from The Redemption
Composer: Charles Gounod

“My Favorite Things,” from The Sound of Music
Composer: Richard Rodgers
Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
Arrangement: Arthur Harris

“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”2
American folk hymn
Lyrics: Robert Robinson
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg

  1. On the album Glory! Music of Rejoicing. 
  2. On the albums Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing and America’s Choir: Favorite Songs, Hymns, & Anthems. Also in the CD sets Anniversary Collection, 100 Years: Celebrating a Century of Recording Excellence, and Bravo! The #1 Albums.

Spoken Word

“Resisting Temptation”

It’s human nature to want to improve, to progress—to overcome our weaknesses and build upon our strengths. Unfortunately, it’s also part of human nature to get distracted and give in to temptation. How many times, for example, have we set goals to exercise or improve our diet, only to find ourselves eating junk food again before long?

Sometimes we think the secret to self-improvement is willpower: the ability to stare at a plate of chocolate chip cookies and resist the temptation to eat one. But a recent study suggests that people who excel at resisting temptation actually take it one step further—they stay as far away from the plate of cookies as possible. Aware of their own weaknesses, they “deliberately avoid situations in which their self-control might fail.”1

For example, one woman found herself tempted to read incoming text messages while driving. Realizing the dangers that even glancing at her phone would pose to herself and others, she routinely silences her phone and places it out of reach while driving—successfully eliminating the temptation to text and drive.

In the same way, if we’re trying to eat healthier, we may want to avoid the snack aisle in the grocery store. If we’re trying to avoid technology’s time-sapping and destructive pitfalls, we may want to place blocks on our devices or find positive uses for technology. If we’re trying to save money, we may want to cut down on window shopping or online browsing.

Life is hard enough without putting ourselves within temptation’s reach. We know what our own weak spots are, and we know what situations and circumstances put our goals at risk. Avoidance, in this sense, is not weakness—it’s strength; it’s a mark of true willpower. And in our battle for self-control, it may be the key to victory.

  1. Ann Lukits, “The Secret to Resisting Temptation,” Wall Street Journal, Nov. 25, 2014, D1, wsj.com/articles/the-secret-to-resisting-temptation-1416852990.