July 24, 2022- #4845 Music & the Spoken Word
The Music & the Spoken Word broadcast airs live via TV, radio, and internet stream on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. mountain time. For information on other airtimes, visit “Airing Schedules” at musicandthespokenword.org.
Music
Conductor: Mack Wilberg and Ryan Murphy
Organist: Andrew Unsworth
Announcer: Lloyd Newell
“They, The Builders of the Nation”1
Music: Alfred M. Durham
Lyrics: Ida R Alldredge
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
“I Sing the Mighty Power of God”
Music: English melody
Lyrics: Isaac Watts
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
“Trumpet Tune in Seven” (organ solo)
Music: James C. Kasen
“Come, Come, Ye Saints”2
Music: American folk song
Lyrics: William Clayton
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
“Where Love Is”3
Music: Joanne Bushman Doxey and Marjorie Castleton Kjar
Lyrics: Joanne Bushman Doxey and Norma B. Smith
Arrangement: Sam Cardon
“For I Am Called by Thy Name”4
Music: Crawford Gates
Lyricis: Scripture
“Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven”
Music: John Goss
Lyrics: Henry Francis Lyte
Arrangement: Ryan Murphy
- From the album Spirit of America.
- From the album America’s Choir.
- From the album Love is Spoken Here.
- From the album Consider the Lilies.
The Spoken Word
Neighbors in Our Own Households
Most of us want to love our neighbor. And yet, for some reason, it often seems easier to do that when the “neighbor” lives far away, perhaps in another country. But what of the neighbors who live close by, even in our own household? In many cases, that’s where our love is needed the most—and where it can do the most good.
More than a century ago, two sisters, Lucy and Anna McClelland, lived in a small pioneer settlement in the American Intermountain West. As she grew into young adulthood, Anna, who was two years younger than Lucy, determined to leave home and become a teacher. Her parents reluctantly consented, and Anna started a heavy load of classes at the academy. In her own words, she “didn’t have much fun.”
Meanwhile, Lucy stayed home and worked to help support the family, but her sister was never far from her mind. Specifically, she worried that Anna wasn’t smiling enough—and not just because of her demanding schoolwork. You see, Anna had three front teeth that were badly damaged, and her family had never had enough money for dental work. Lucy wanted her sister to have the confidence to stand in front of a classroom and not cover her mouth when she smiled. So Lucy saved her pennies for a year and sent Anna $17.50 to get her teeth fixed—a small fortune in those days!
Anna wrote: “If [Lucy] could realize how much it did for me and how I appreciate it… I could now be with people without being so ashamed.” Anna became a teacher in their frontier town, and she never forgot her sister’s selfless gift.
As a descendant of Anna McClelland, I can tell you that Lucy’s example of love has influenced generations of her family. She has taught us that the greatest measure of joy comes from selflessly caring for someone else—especially someone near and dear to us. True, nearness sometimes creates friction. The closer someone is, the greater the chance that they might annoy us or even hurt us. But nearness also creates the greatest potential for deep and lasting love. So as we seek to do as the Lord said, “Love thy neighbour as thyself,”1 we need not look for a neighbor in some distant land. We can start in our own home.