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: Brian Mathias
Announcer: Lloyd Newell
“Press Forward, Saints”
Music: Vanya Y. Watkins
Lyrics: Marvin K. Gardner
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
“For the Beauty of the Earth”1,4
Music: John Rutter
Lyrics: Folliott S. Pierpoint
“Prelude on ‘Pisgah’” (Organ solo)
Music: Dale Wood
“Over the Rainbow”2,4 from The Wizard of Oz
Music: Harold Arlen
Lyrics: E. Y. Harburg
Arrangement: Arthur Harris
“Peace Like a River”3
Spiritual
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
“My God Is So High”
Spiritual
Arrangement: Ryan Murphy
- On the CD Consider the Lilies.
- On the CD Showtime!
- On the CD Peace Like a River and in the CD set Anniversary Collection.
- On the CD set Encore Collection.
The Spoken Word
“Our Shared Moral Responsibility”
Joan of Arc was a courageous 15th-century French heroine who faced a martyr’s death at age 19. A play depicting her life has Joan declaring to her accusers just before her execution: “Every man gives his life for what he believes. Every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes people believe in little or nothing, [and so] they give up their lives to that little or nothing. One life is all we have, and we live it as we believe in living it, and then it’s gone. But to surrender who you are, and live without belief—that’s more terrible than dying—more terrible than dying young.”1
Sadly, persecution and mistreatment of others has not ended in the 600 years since Joan of Arc. In fact, to write a history of persecution would almost be to write the history of the world. Countless millions have suffered because of it. And it touches all of us in some way. Who among us hasn’t been ridiculed, shunned, or treated unfairly?
Why does this happen? Ultimately, people get mistreated because they seem different. And different beliefs and convictions are a favorite target of such ridicule. To stand up for our convictions despite persecution is one of the great tests of moral strength.
In a diverse world like ours, we often meet people with a variety of beliefs. Good, moral people may hold different opinions and convictions. But there is at least one cause we can all uphold, one moral responsibility we all share—the responsibility to oppose persecution, wherever it is found. When people are mistreated, we can come to their defense, even if we do not share their beliefs. This is something each of us can do without compromising our convictions.
The more deeply we believe in all things moral and good, the more firmly we stand for all things honorable and virtuous, the more successful we will be at overcoming the harshness of the world. That’s our shared moral responsibility, and it will surely make our world a better place.
- Maxwell Anderson, Joan of Lorraine (1947), 80.