Editor’s note: “The Spoken Word” is shared by Derrick Porter each Sunday during the weekly Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square broadcast. This will be given Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. This was originally presented by Lloyd Newell on Oct. 27, 2013.
If you’ve ever tried to help a toddler eat, you know how important independence is to human nature. The older a child gets, the more she insists on feeding herself — regardless of how messy it gets. To the child (and, to a lesser degree, to her parents) the increased independence is well worth getting some food on her face, on her clothes and even occasionally on Mom and Dad.
As we mature, we continue to value independence. We respect those who stand on their own two feet. We may even come to believe that asking for help is a sign of weakness, and that to be strong means I don’t need anyone.
But soon our challenges become more complicated than merely handling a spoon properly, with consequences more serious than a stained shirt. Commentators Richard and Linda Eyre put it this way: “We realize how little we know, how little we can control, and how dependent we are on things beyond ourselves. Those humble thoughts lead us to prayer and cause us to appeal to a higher, brighter, more knowing power. Particularly in times of crisis, in times of loss or of danger, we come face to face with our own frailty, and it seems both natural and necessary to turn to prayer.” (See “The Unique Power of a Parent’s Prayer,” by Linda and Richard Eyre, Deseret News, April 15, 2012, deseret.com.)
When problems seem unsolvable and too complex to handle, we can go to the higher source of wisdom, light and love. Perhaps we can relate in some way to Abraham Lincoln when he said, “Sometimes I am driven to my knees by the simple conviction that there is nowhere else to go.”
Prayer is not weakness; in fact, it is our access to true strength. Prayer can and will fortify us for the battles ahead even while it humbles and softens us in times of trial. Ironically, it actually increases our independence, while at the same time opens our hearts to heaven’s help. Instead of saying “When all else fails, turn to heaven,” perhaps a better motto might be “Turn to heaven always.”
Tuning in …
The “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast is available on KSL-TV, KSL News Radio 1160AM/102.7FM, KSL.com, BYUtv, BYUradio, Dish and DirecTV, SiriusXM (Ch. 143), tabernaclechoir.org, youtube.com/TheTabernacleChoir and Amazon Alexa (must enable skill). The program is aired live on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time on these outlets. Look up broadcast information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.com/viewers-listeners/airing-schedules.
Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra’s ‘Songs of Hope’ southeastern U.S. tour stops in Florida and Georgia
- Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra in Florida for first concert of southeastern U.S. ‘Songs of Hope’ tour stop
- Singer Adassa returns to southern Florida roots for Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra ‘Songs of Hope’ bilingual concert
- ‘Spectacular’: Tabernacle Choir and the Morehouse and Spelman colleges’ glee clubs combine together as they sing, testify of Savior through music
- What the Morehouse and Spelman college glee clubs are saying about performing with the Tabernacle Choir in Georgia
- Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra perform at the Georgia State Capitol
- Kristin Chenoweth surprise guest artist at Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra’s final tour concert in Georgia
- How to watch the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra’s concerts in Florida and Georgia
- See photos of watch parties across southeastern U.S. for Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra’s ‘Songs of Hope’ concerts
