Music
Conductor: Mack Wilberg
Guest Conductor: Craig Jessop
Organist: Andrew Unsworth
Announcer: Lloyd D. Newell
“I Think the World Is Glorious”
Music: Alecander Schreiner
Lyrics: Anna Johnson
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
“I Sing the Mighty Power of God”
English Melody
Lyrics: Isaac Watts
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
“I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus”
Music and Lyrics: Janice Kapp Perry
Arrangement: Barlow Bradford
“In Christ There Is No East or West” (organ solo)
Arrangement: Gilbert M. Martin
“Did You Think to Pray?”
Music: William O. Perkins
Lyrics: Mary A. Pepper Kidder
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
“Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep,” from White Christmas
Music and Lyrics: Irving Berlin
Arrangement: Michael Davis
“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”
Music: Stralsund Gesangbuch
Lyrics: Joachim Neander
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
The Spoken Word
There Is Joy in Gratitude
November 19, 2023
By Don Staheli
When we see someone who is successful and admired—full of good qualities and good works—we might assume that he or she is always confident and never overwhelmed. Meanwhile, painfully aware of our own weaknesses, we might doubt our ability to live up to life’s challenges.
But if we could see inside each other’s hearts, we would know that everyone faces moments of self-doubt, even the accomplished among us. One man who had done a lot of good in his life and had overcome many challenges still struggled with feelings of inadequacy. For a time, he focused on his faults and weaknesses and wondered if he was a failure.
How did he overcome such feelings? He looked for the hand of God in his life. He remembered how the Lord had been there for him through the difficult times, and he was filled with gratitude for the blessings he had received. This didn’t mean that all his trials went away. But now he knew he could face them, just as he always had—by putting his trust in God and believing that, eventually, everything would be all right.[1]
Gratitude has that effect on us. It can change our perspective. It quiets the frantic mind and brings us back to our true self, helping us reconnect with our basic goodness and innate personal power.[2] Most important, it connects us with God, the giver of “every good gift.”[3] The truth is that all of us are, by ourselves, inadequate. But we are not by ourselves. God offers His strength, helping us see that our lives really are filled with many good things, even when we’re in the middle of something difficult.
Scripture teaches us, “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God.”[4]
If we start and end each day in gratitude, we can find peace during the good and the hard times. By reflecting on our blessings and trusting the giver of those blessings, we can feel joy and a renewed desire to move forward—in gratitude.
[1] See 2 Nephi 4:16–35.
[2] See Joanna Macy and Molly Brown, Coming Back to Life (2014), 67.
[3] James 1:17.
[4] Alma 37:37.