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, July 13, 2025. This week is No. 5,000 of the broadcast.
In the weeks leading up to this 5,000th broadcast, we received more than 1,000 inspirational stories and experiences from viewers and listeners around the world. If there was one consistent theme throughout these messages, it was this: “‘Music & the Spoken Word’ stirred something deep within me — a feeling that gave me the strength to continue forward.”
The story we share today is emblematic of hundreds of other stories we’ve received and together, these experiences combine to witness that God really is in the details of our lives.
Caden Simpson, at the young age of 6, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. For more than nine months, Caden was away from home, fighting the cancer through six rounds of intensive chemotherapy and a liver transplant. Night after night, he found himself in his hospital bed, far from the familiarities of home, unable to participate in the activities that other children his age would normally be enjoying.
One Sunday morning, weighed down by months of uncertainty and strain, Caden’s father left the hospital and walked several miles to Temple Square, hoping to find solace in the live broadcast of “Music & the Spoken Word.”
But try as he might, he found himself distracted, unable to pay attention to the program that morning.
And then — amid his restless thoughts — his mind was suddenly seized by the words the choir was singing:
Who must suffer on this earth.
The pains of all of them He carried
From the day of His birth.
He clothes the lilies of the field,
He feeds the lambs in His fold,
And He will heal those who trust Him,
And make their hearts as gold.
(See “Consider the Lilies “ by Roger Hoffman.)
Caden’s father later shared: “As I heard those words, I was overcome with a deep sense of peace, love, gratitude and joy. I knew my trust was in God and that despite the outcome and amidst the uncertainty, God walked with us. I felt His deep love … even in the pain.”
Some months later after Caden returned home, his family gathered to watch “Music & the Spoken Word.” The song “Consider the Lilies” again was sung. Caden’s father shared his earlier experience with that song and how in a moment of need it had brought him great comfort.
As the family read those powerful lyrics, Caden exclaimed, “Dad, that’s me!”
In that quiet yet profound moment, Caden and his family recognized — through music and words and feelings — the hand of heaven in their lives. God had been and was and would continue to walk with them.
Just as He will with you and with me.
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.
