Of Miracles and Examples (1/30/22) | Music & the Spoken Word

Music & the Spoken Word broadcast with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. Conducting today’s program are Mack Wilberg and Ryan Murphy, with organist Richard Elliott, and the spoken word given by Lloyd Newell. 

Opening Credits (0:00)
1) “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven”
2) “Be Thou My Vision”
3) “Norwegian Rustic March”
4) “Home Is a Special Kind of Feeling”
5) “May We Be More Like Thee”
6) “Fill the World With Love”

Spoken Word: Of Miracles and Examples
By: Lloyd Newell

Have you ever felt like you needed a miracle? In the midst of calamities global and local, shared and private, we wish we could change the world—or at least some small part of it. But big problems can make us feel small, powerless to help.

What can we do when it feels like it would take a miracle to make a difference? Perhaps the answer lies in something theologian and physician Albert Schweitzer once said: “Do something wonderful, people may imitate it.”

The fact is, ordinary people are doing wonderful things all over the world. In Argentina, volunteers are harvesting the oranges that grow on public streets to make jam for people in need in their community. In Mexico, compassionate people are delivering rice and beans to the hungry. And in England, volunteers are teaching English to immigrants, helping them prepare for success in their new home. The example of serving others is catching on and spreading across the globe.

What might happen if you tried doing some small, wonderful thing? There’s a good chance that your kindness, your generosity of spirit, or simply your willingness to help could spread beyond the person you set out to bless—it may also touch others in your family, among your friends, and in your community. Just as a seed grows into something much bigger than itself, your act of kindness might make a difference much greater than you expected. That would be a miracle.

When we refuse to get entangled in an online quarrel, when we stop what we’re doing and listen to someone who’s anxious or distressed, when we reach out to someone who’s alone, when we say something encouraging or hopeful—any act of kindness can be contagious. Even a smile and a compliment can catch on. And once people try being kind, they often feel so good, they continue it. We never really know how far-reaching each of these small acts of love can be.

God is a God of miracles. He often does intervene to bless His children. And it may be that the next miracle He has in mind will start with you. So when you find yourself thinking it would take a miracle to change the world for the better, considering being that miracle.

Episode aired January 30, 2022, Broadcast Number 4820.

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