The Music & the Spoken Word broadcast airs live via TV, radio, and internet stream on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. mountain daylight time. For information on other airtimes, visit “Airing Schedules” at musicandthespokenword.org.

Music

Conductors: Mack Wilberg and Ryan Murphy
Organist: Andrew Unsworth
Announcer: Lloyd Newell

“Look to the Day”¹
by John Rutter

“Rise! Up! Arise!” from Saint Paul
by Felix Mendelssohn

“For the Beauty of the Earth”²
Music: Conrad Kocher
Lyrics: Folliott S. Pierpont
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg

“Prelude on Middlebury” Organ solo
by Dale Wood

“He Shall Feed His Flock” ³
Music: John Ness Beck
Lyrics: Scripture

“One Person” from Dear World
by Jerry Herman
Arrangement: Ryan Murphy

“O Love That Will Not Let Me Go”
Music: Albert L. Peace
Lyrics: George Matheson
Arrangement: Ryan Murphy

1. On the CD Glory! Music of Rejoicing.
2. On the CDs 9/11: Rising Above and Love Is Spoken Here and in the CD set Anniversary Collection.
3. On the CD Consider the Lilies and in the CD set Encore Collection.

The Spoken Word

A Life in Crescendo

When the 2018 Nobel Prizes were awarded, an international trio of laser scientists shared the award in physics. Among them was 96-year-old Dr. Arthur Ashkin, believed to be the oldest person to ever receive a Nobel Prize. One might think that at his age, this achievement would be the ideal conclusion to a long career, a final exclamation point on a life of hard work. Dr. Ashkin doesn’t seem to think so. He “told Nobel officials that he might not be available for interviews about the award because he is very busy working on his next scientific paper.”¹

That’s an example of what’s been called living “life in crescendo”²—a music term that means to grow or increase.

It’s natural to think, at a certain point in our lives, that we’re done learning and contributing. Maybe we’ve given all that we have to a job, a cause, a responsibility, and we feel that we can now relax and coast to the finish line. While a period of rest may be well deserved, we will always need a sense of purpose and meaning, something to work on, something to look forward to, something to contribute to, something to learn. No matter our age, we all can find meaningful things to do with our lives.

One man volunteers his time conducting a choir at a state prison. A lawyer serves breakfast at a homeless shelter every Saturday morning. A woman found that she has a passion for studying rocks, learning everything she can about them and sharing what she learns with others. A retired couple spend their time researching their family history. And another retiree volunteers each week to help children learn to read. All these have found that wherever we are in life, there are opportunities for improvement and progression.

While we may retire from a career, we need never retire from being kind and gracious, from being a good friend and good neighbor, from reaching out in love and compassion to others. Like a majestic piece of music that swells, not fades, to its conclusion, life can be most rewarding when it is lived in crescendo.

1. Robert Lee Hotz and Joanna Sugden, “Trio of Laser Pioneers Share Physics Nobel Prize,” Wall Street Journal, Oct. 3, 2018, A3.
2. Stephen R. Covey, The Third Alternative: Solving Life’s Most Difficult Problems (2011), 416.