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, June 15, 2025. This week is No. 4,996 of the broadcast.
Recently, I observed a little boy standing at the open door of a large truck. He was sizing up the vehicle, determined to climb inside. The floor of the truck nearly reached his shoulders. His dad offered to help, but the boy instantly and confidently said, “I’ve got this, Dad” and began to make the difficult climb inside.
Like this little boy, it’s easy for many of us to see a challenge and declare, “I’ve got this.” At a certain level, this is necessary and even admirable — we need to feel capable and confident. But when taken too far, the attitude of “I’ve got this” ultimately means choosing to go it alone. And when we go it alone, we come to realize the limits of our abilities.
We all have some things in our lives that come easily and others that don’t. The trick is recognizing that for those things that are new, scary, foreign or just plain difficult, we don’t have to go it alone. There are people around us who can help us — people who’ve been where we are, who know where we’re going and who can lend us a helping hand.
In fact, many of the greatest human achievements were only made possible by the collective efforts of many people working together on a shared goal. Projects like the pyramids of Giza, the Panama Canal and the Apollo space program each required thousands of individuals working together, and the results were magnificent.
There is power in the humble recognition that we don’t know everything and can’t do everything. By acknowledging our need for help, we open ourselves to learning from others’ experiences and can benefit from their wisdom.
I once heard someone describe our need for others’ guidance with this analogy: “Once, at the beach, I saw a bird flying into the wind, flapping its wings so hard, almost frenetically, but staying in the same place. Then I noticed another bird, higher up. It had caught an updraft and was floating easily, unburdened in the wind” (“Your Repentance Doesn’t Burden Jesus Christ; It Brightens His Joy,” by Sister Tamara W. Runia, April 2025 general conference).
When we go it alone, we may be like the bird who kept flying into the wind without progressing. Alternatively, when we accept help from others, their assistance can be like an updraft of the wind, lifting us higher and allowing us to soar.
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.
