June 04, 2017 - #4577 Music & the Spoken Word
Music & the Spoken Word broadcast with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. June 04, 2017 Broadcast Number 4577.
Music
Conductors: Mack Wilberg and Ryan Murphy
Organist: Richard Elliott
Announcer: Lloyd Newell
“Let There Be Light!”
Music: Gilbert M. Martin
Lyrics: John Marriott
“Psalm 150”
Music: César Franck
“All Things Bright and Beautiful”1,4
English melody Lyrics: Cecil Frances Alexander
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
“Praise and Thanksgiving” (Organ solo)
Music: Dale Wood
“Deep River”2,3,4,5 Spiritual
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
“The Battle of Jericho”2,5 Spiritual
Arrangement: Moses Hogan
“Hymn of Praise”6
Music: Mack Wilberg
Lyrics: David Warner
1. On the CD Then Sings My Soul.
2. On the CD Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.
3. On the CD Peace Like a River.
4. In the CD set Anniversary Collection.
5. In the CD set Bravo! The #1 Albums.
6. On the CD Glory! Music of Rejoicing.
The Spoken Word
Together We Are Strong
Even as advances in communication help people around the world connect like never before, it also seems that division and discord around the world are reaching new levels. Differing beliefs, values, and convictions too often lead to hostility and even conflict. We may wonder how we can find peace and security in what can be an unsettling world.
Thousands of years ago, the Greek storyteller Aesop told of a father who noticed similar problems among his many sons. They always seemed to be quarreling, despite their father’s pleadings for unity. One day he gathered his sons around him, showed them a bundle of sticks bound with cords, and asked them to break it. The oldest son strained and strained with all his might but was unable to break the bundle. The next son tried and failed as well, and so on down to the youngest. No one could break the bundle, no matter how hard he tried. Then the father removed one stick from the bundle and asked his littlest son to break it—which he did easily. The lesson was clear to all of them: alone we are weak and easily broken, but together we are strong.1
What’s true of sticks is also true of marriages, families, communities, and nations. No matter how strong we may be individually, our strength and security are greatly multiplied when we stand shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand with each other.
This doesn’t mean that we must let go of our deeply held convictions. Nor does it necessarily mean that we ignore our differences. In fact, we need those differences. Unity is not sameness; it’s making wise use of the uniqueness everyone can contribute.
Unity means being quick to forgive and ready to set aside our self-interest. It means extending compassion and understanding. It’s not easy, but if we have each other’s best interests at heart, if we are patient and respectful, then bound together by cords of love, we can withstand—and achieve—almost anything. That’s the power of unity.
1. See “The Bundle of Sticks,” Aesop’s Fables, ed. Thomas James (1872), 55.