Editor’s note: “The Spoken Word” is shared by Lloyd Newell each Sunday during the weekly Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square broadcast. This “Music & the Spoken Word” has previously recorded music with a new “Spoken Word.” This will be given Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022.
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.” (See “Reverence for Life Revisited: Albert Schweitzer’s Relevance Today,” edited by David Ives and David A. Valone.)
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 (see “How JustServe’s guiding mission to ‘Love your neighbor’ is fueling its global reach,” by Jason Swensen, Sept. 28, 2021, thechurchnews.com).
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.
Tuning in …
The “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast is available on KSL-TV, KSL radio 1160AM/102.7FM, KSL.com, BYUtv, BYUradio, Dish and DirecTV, SiriusXM Radio (Ch. 143), thetabernaclechoir.org, YouTube and Amazon Alexa (must enable skill). The program is aired live on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. MST on many of these outlets. Look up broadcast information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.com/viewers-listeners/airing-schedules.
