Count the Ways--Spoken Word Delivered by Lloyd D. Newell

Count the Ways

Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”1 Elizabeth Barrett wrote these now-famous words to her future husband, the esteemed poet Robert Browning, while they were courting. Her love sonnets have since touched the world, but Elizabeth did not show them to Robert during their courtship. He didn’t even know she was writing them. Years later, however, their tender sentiments would strengthen and comfort him when he needed it the most. The true story of these two poets, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, almost seems like fiction. Their relationship began through correspondence, and they fell in love with each other before they ever met. Elizabeth, pale and sickly from years of illness, was reluctant to meet Robert in person, but he persisted. At last she consented, and their love only grew stronger as Robert came to visit Elizabeth, almost every afternoon, for more than a year. They married and moved to Italy, and at the age of 43, Elizabeth gave birth to their only child, a son. Just days after this joyous event, far away in England, Robert’s mother died of a heart attack. Robert was grief-stricken. During this difficult time, when their hearts were heavy, Elizabeth retrieved the sonnets she had secretly written when their love was yet untouched by life’s sorrows. Her heartfelt declarations, “I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach,” helped lift his spirits and carry them through their sorrow. Love’s expressions can be that powerful. Our affirmations of love may not be as poetic as Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s, but they can be just as meaningful. We too can “count the ways” we love those who are dear to us. We can write down our feelings, even if only in simple words, and share them with our loved ones. Then, in future days when difficulties arise or love is tested, we can recall the strength of those heartfelt sentiments. We can feel again the warmth of our affection and relive the moments that make our love strong. 1. Sonnets from the Portuguese (1910), 45. Program #4196 Musical Selection: 1. All Things Bright and Beautiful 2. I Feel My Savior's Love 3. Rise! Up! Arise!, from St. Paul 4. Improvisation on Annie Laurie 5. Spoken Word 6. Where Is Love?, from Oliver 7. The Prayer 8. Benediction

Good News--Spoken Word Delivered by Lloyd D. Newell

Good News

Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell

An evening television news commentator, after delivering story after story of tragic and unhappy events, paused and with a smile on her face and a sound of relief in her voice said, “And now some good news.” She went on to tell of a notable act of service rendered to someone in need. Of course, those who bring us the news are interested in reporting the truth. And the truth is, there is plenty of good news to report. Examples of hope, courage, commitment, and personal sacrifice are everywhere. They are found in hospital recovery rooms, in schools, in houses of worship, and in loving homes. Good news is made by devoted religious leaders, honest businesspeople, diligent students, and parents who listen to their children. It seems to come most frequently from otherwise ordinary people who respond generously when someone is in need, down the street or around the world. Every day, while our attention may be focused on a world of trouble, all around us is the good news that people care, they are willing to share, and small acts of kindness really do matter. Sometimes it seems bad news travels faster than good, that there is more of a market for hate than for happiness. Good news may not always sell newspapers or improve broadcast ratings, but it does lift and inspire the human spirit. We don’t need to wait for a commentator to announce good news. We can find relief from bad news and find great joy by making good news ourselves—in our own community, our own neighborhood, our own family. If we look around, we will see opportunities to bring some good news to the lives of others. In quiet acts of service, by simply doing our duty, by lending a willing hand to those who need a little help, we can be the good news. Program #4195 Musical Selections: 1. Judge Eternal 2. Sanctus, from Requiem 3. Norwegian Rustic March (Organ solo) 4. Come, Ye Disconsolate 5. Spoken Word 6. Good News Celebration! 7. Black Sheep 8. O Be Joyful in the Lord

The Right Moment Is Now--Spoken Word Delivered by Lloyd D. Newell

The Right Moment Is Now

Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell

When acclaimed American artist John Singer Sargent was commissioned to paint the official portrait of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States, he spent several days at the White House, hoping to catch the president in just the right setting. One morning as Roosevelt came down the staircase, Sargent approached and asked when the president might be available to pose for the portrait. “Now,” replied Roosevelt, a man whose life was made up of acting “now.”1 The story of this painting holds a great lesson for all of us. Do we take advantage of each moment; do we seize the opportunities that life offers us? Or does our masterpiece get postponed because our doubts, weaknesses, or circumstances cause us to hesitate? As President Roosevelt said in his characteristically direct way, “Do what you can, with what have, where you are.”2 Too many great works and good deeds are held hostage while we wait for the right moment. For some things, perhaps for most things, the right moment is now. Roosevelt has such vision, reflected in his well-known words from 1899: “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, that to take rank with those poor spirit who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”3 1 See David McCullough, Brave Companions: Portraits in History (1992), ix. 2 In James Charlton, ed, The Military Quotation Book (2002), 108. 3 In Justin Kaplan, ed., Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 17th ed. (2002), 614-15 Program #4194 Musical Selection: 1. Glory 2. He Shall Feed His Flock 3. Finale from Symphony No. 1 (Organ solo) 4. Truth Eternal 5. Spoken Word 6. Morning Has Broken 7. Danny Boy 8. On Great Lone Hills