Editor’s note: “The Spoken Word” is shared by Lloyd Newell each Sunday during the weekly Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square broadcast. This will be given Feb. 23, 2020.
Some time ago, Clarence Thomas, an associate justice on the United States Supreme Court, dedicated a new chapel on a college campus in Michigan. In his dedicatory address, he quoted the architect of the chapel: “When you enter a church, it is as if you are entering through a gateway from the profane toward the sacred” (see “Faith and reason are mutually reinforcing,” Imprimis, November 2019, imprinis.hillsdale.edu/faith-reason-mutually-reinforcing).
Justice Thomas’ plea was that the chapel be more than just an impressive building. “Let it be a place,” he said, “where people enter the presence of a majestic God. Let it be a house of worship, of prayer, of meditation and of celebration before God. Let it be a haven of rest for the weary, a place of healing for the wounded, a place of comfort for the grieving and a source of hope for the despairing and forgotten” (see “Faith and reason are mutually reinforcing”).
To some, a chapel and a college campus might seem like an odd pair. That’s because these days, faith and learning are too often portrayed as opposites. The perception is that one can be either religious or educated, probably not both.
By contrast, the chapel on the college campus would “stand as a bold declaration to a watching world that faith and learning are rightly understood as complements, and that both are essential to the preservation of the blessings of liberty” (see “Faith and reason are mutually reinforcing”).
Because we live in such a chaotic and troubled world, we need both belief and reason, both study and faith, to find meaning and purpose in life. The soul needs to be strong as well as the mind. Rather than competing, they need to work together. As we discipline our minds and deepen our faith, we are in a better position to strengthen both ourselves and our nation’s core institutions — such as the home and family, the community and state. As we take time both to worship and to learn, to pray and to ponder, we become beacons of light in a darkening world.
Thank heaven for houses of prayer and worship, standing alongside places of knowledge and learning. Both are essential because together they create a haven in a turbulent world.
Tuning in …
The “Music and the Spoken Word” broadcast is available on KSL-TV, KSL Radio 1160AM/102.7FM, ksl.com, BYU-TV, BYU Radio, Dish and DirectTV, SiriusXM Radio (Ch. 143), the tabernaclechoir.org, youtube.com/TheTabernacleChoiratTempleSquare and Amazon Alexa (must enable skill). The program is aired live on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. on many of these outlets. Look up broadcast information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.org/schedules.
