Music
Conductors: Mack Wilberg and Ryan Murphy
Organist: Richard Elliott
Announcer: Derrick Porter
“Simple Gifts”
Music: Shaker Song
Arrangement: Ryan Murphy
“The King of Love My Shepherd Is”
Music: Ryan Murphy
Lyrics: Henry Baker
“Hornpipe,” from Water Music
Music: George Frideric Handel
Arrangement: Carl McKinley
“O Splendor of God’s Glory Bright”
Music: German Hymn Tune
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
Organ Interlude
“The Prayer,” from Quest for Camelot
Music: Carole Bayer Sager and David Foster
Lyrics: Carole Bayer Sager and David Foster
“Fill the World with Love,” from Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Music: Leslie Bricusse
Lyrics: Leslie Bricusse
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
The Spoken Word
Turn to Heaven[1]
29 September 2024
Written By: Lloyd Newell
Delivered By: Derrick Porter
If you’ve ever tried to help a toddler eat, you know how important independence is to human nature. The older a child gets, the more she insists on feeding herself—regardless of how messy it gets. To the child (and, to a lesser degree, to her parents) the increased independence is well worth getting some food on her face, on her clothes, and, occasionally, on her mom and dad.
As we mature, we continue to value independence. We respect those who stand on their own two feet. We may even believe asking for help is a sign of weakness, and being strong means we don’t need anyone.
But soon our challenges become more complicated than handling a spoon properly, with consequences more serious than a stained shirt. Commentators Richard and Linda Eyre put it this way: “We realize how little we know, how little we can control, and how dependent we are on things beyond ourselves. Those humble thoughts lead us to prayer and cause us to appeal to a higher, brighter, more knowing power. Particularly in times of crisis, in times of loss or of danger, we come face to face with our own frailty, and it seems both natural and necessary to turn to prayer.”[2]
When problems seem unsolvable and too complex to handle, we can go to a higher source of wisdom, light, and love. Perhaps we can relate in some way to Abraham Lincoln when he said, “Sometimes I am driven to my knees by the simple conviction that there is nowhere else to go.”
Prayer is not weakness; in fact, it is our access to true strength. Prayer can fortify us for the battles ahead, even while it humbles and softens us in times of trial. Ironically, it actually increases our independence, while at the same time opening our hearts to heavenly help. Instead of saying “When all else fails, turn to heaven,” perhaps a better motto might be “Turn to heaven always.”
[1] Originally presented by Lloyd D. Newell on Music & the Spoken Word broadcast, Oct. 27, 2013.
[2] Linda and Richard Eyre, “The Unique Power of a Parent’s Prayer,” Deseret News
, Apr. 15, 2012, deseret.com.