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

Time Is Short--Spoken Word Delivered by Lloyd D. Newell

Time Is Short

Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell

Sooner or later, most of us begin to realize that time is short and so we better enjoy life a little more and spend time where it really counts. How often have we heard ambitious, hard-working people say, as they look back on their lives, that if they could do it all over again, they would have spent more time with family, more time building people and relationships, more time relishing the sweet joys that each day offers? David L. Weatherford’s poem “Slow Dance” reminds us to slow down a bit and savor life’s simple moments. Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round, Or listened to rain slapping the ground? Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight, Or gazed at the sun fading into the night? You better slow down, don’t dance so fast, Time is short, the music won’t last. Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask “How are you?” do you hear the reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed, With the next hundred chores running through your head? You better slow down, don’t dance so fast, Time is short, the music won’t last. Ever told your child, we’ll do it tomorrow, And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch, let a friendship die, ’Cause you never had time to call and say hi? You better slow down, don’t dance so fast, Time is short, the music won’t last. When you run so fast to get somewhere, You miss half the fun of getting there. When you worry and hurry through your day, It’s like an unopened gift thrown away. Life isn’t a race, so take it slower, Hear the music before your song is over. Program #4193 Musical Selection: 1. Rejoice, the Lord Is King 2. To Thee,O Lord, Do I Lift Up My Soul 3. How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place 4. Down By the Salley Gardens (Organ solo) 5. Spoken Word 6. I May Never Pass This Way Again 7. Old Time Religion 8. All People that on Earth Do Dwell

Riders on the Earth Together--Spoken Word Delivered by Lloyd D. Newell

Riders on the Earth Together

Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell

The turbulent year of 1968 ended on an inspiring note with the spectacular space flight of Apollo 8. It was the first manned mission to orbit the moon, and as the astronauts looked out of their vessel into space, they suddenly caught sight of the earth rising over the moon’s horizon, “a blue and white orb sparkling in the blackness of space, in contrast to the dead lunar surface in the foreground.”1 People at home saw our amazing planet in television images and photographs and marveled at what they saw. The poet Archibald MacLeish was so moved that he wrote in the New York Times, “To see the Earth as it truly is, small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves as riders on the Earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold—brothers who know now they are truly brothers.”2 We don’t need to see our spinning planet from afar to remember that we all share this earth as our home. Yes, we live in different communities in different climates; we cherish different cultures and beliefs; we have different expectations. But we are each part of the great human family, and like any family, we’re happiest when we live by certain universal principles—when equality and fairness govern our actions, when charity and compassion motivate our efforts, when goodwill and generosity guide our attitudes. A little more of each of these virtues can make a world of difference. This truth is expressed simply but beautifully in a lyrical paraphrase of John Donne’s memorable meditation: No man is an island; No man stands alone. Each man’s joy is joy to me; Each man’s grief is my own. We need one another, So I will defend Each man as my brother, Each man as my friend3 1. John Noble Wilford, “On Hand for Space History, as Superpowers Spar,” New York Times, July 14, 2009, D1. 2. In New York Times, July 14, 2009, D1. 3. Joan Whitney and Alex Kramer, “No Man Is and Island.” Program #4192 Musical Selections: 1. Down by the Riverside 2. Goin' Home 3. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (Organ Solo) 4. Spoken Word 5. No Man is an Island 6. Ev'ry Time I feel the Spirit 7. He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

The Thinking Man--Spoken Word Delivered by Lloyd D. Newell

The Thinking Man

Delivered By: Lloyd D, Newell

There is an old West African tale about a man who, more than anything else, wanted to be rich. He devoted his every thought to that endeavor and became quite successful in his quest to amass a great fortune. Nevertheless, his success came with a heavy price, for when at last he had reached his goal, he discovered that he was utterly alone. His wife and children had left him. The only friends he had were those who kept a greedy eye on his fortune. This terrible realization weighed so heavily upon him that he could not think of anything else. To this day throughout this region of Africa, vendors in the marketplace sell wooden statues that represent the rich man who lost so much. In Ghana they call him the “Thinking Man,” because for the remainder of his days all he did was contemplate the riches he had lost as a result of his greed. Every culture throughout the world has its own, similar stories that caution against the pursuit of wealth at the expense of honor, family, and integrity. Certainly, money is not evil by itself—if used wisely, it can relieve distress, provide hope, bring healing, and offer opportunity and growth. But when we begin to love money so much that the pursuit of it becomes the chief measure of our life, we lose something more precious than anything money can buy. When we are tempted to get caught up in the search for worldly wealth at the expense of those things of lasting importance, perhaps it would be wise to remember the story of the Thinking Man and consider that sometimes the pursuit of more can actually lead to less. Program #4191 Musical Selection: 1. Praise God! 2. Pilgrims' Hymn 3. A Tumpet Minuet (Organ solo) 4. O Thou Kind and Gracious Father 5. Spoken Word 6.Come, Ye Children of the Lord 7. Somewhere Out There 8. Glorius Everlasting

Keep Both Feet in Today--Spoken Word Delivered by Lloyd D. Newell

Keep Both Feet in Today

Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell

It has been wisely noted that having one foot in yesterday and one foot in tomorrow is a rather unstable position. The best way to face the future, it seems, is to keep both feet in today. We can’t spend too much time looking back, because too much still lies ahead. And we can’t live only in the future, or we’ll miss out on today’s happiness. We need to live fully in the present and savor every moment, knowing that in the coming years we’ll be longing for the days we have right now. Indeed, the “good ole days” are not in the past; they are right now. Our ancestors each had their hard days and heartache, we have ours, and our descendants will all have theirs. The process of life is to go forward in the present, with the past behind us and the future ahead of us. “We do not know when we will be required to leave this mortal existence,” said Thomas S. Monson. “And so [we] ask, ‘What are we doing with today?’ . . . Have we been guilty of declaring, ‘I’ve been thinking about making some course corrections in my life. I plan to take the first step—tomorrow’? With such thinking, tomorrow is forever. Such tomorrows rarely come unless we do something about them today.”1 With that in mind, now might be a good time to reevaluate our goals and aspirations, rethink our direction and purpose in life, and refocus our efforts and energy on worthwhile endeavors. The present becomes the past in a moment, so before it does, make the most of it. The future, which is really just the unfolding present, is bright for those who take the time, as the proverb counsels, to “ponder the path of [your] feet.”2 1. “May We So Live,” Ensign, Aug. 2008, 7. 2. Proverbs 4:26. Program #4190 Musical Selection: 1. Fanfare for the New Year 2. Hallelujah Chorus from "Christ on the Mount of Olives" 3. New Year 4. Carrillon de Westminster (Organ solo) 5. Come, Let Us Anew 6. Spoken Word 7. Ring Out Wild Bells 8. Climb Every Mountain from "The Sound of Music"