Choir Notes

A Promise of New Hope and Everlasting Life

From Music and the Spoken Word

Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell • Program 4359

One cold day, toward the end of a long, snowy winter, a family noticed serious damage to the beautiful ivy that grew on the outside of their home. It seemed that hungry deer had been feeding on it throughout the winter, until nothing but a tangle of brown sticks remained. The tender plants appeared damaged beyond repair. Disappointed, the family determined they would need to pull the ivy out, replant, and start over. For the time being, they tried to forget about the assault to their ivy and saved the somber task for warmer weather.

 

When spring finally arrived, the family was shocked by what they saw: the broken vines had somehow mended, and tiny buds had appeared. In time, those little buds flourished into beautiful, green leaves. Today, several springs later, the ivy is robust and continues to spread its leafy sprouts around the home.

 

Though it seemed miraculous, the rebirth of the ivy was actually not that unusual. Similar miracles happen every year as spring follows winter in an unceasing and marvelous cycle of rejuvenation. It’s an eternal truth reflected in nature—an annual reminder that death is not permanent. Grass that looks dead, brown, and beaten somehow thrives again. Bulbs buried in the dark soil send their shoots toward the light, and flowers triumph afresh. Hope is always part of the landscape.

 

Beloved religious leader Gordon B. Hinckley said: "There is nothing more universal than death, and nothing brighter with hope and faith than the assurance of immortality. . . . What meaning would life have without the reality of immortality?”1

 

When we feel discouraged, when life seems bleak and gloomy, we can remember the One who declared, "I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). On that first Easter morning long ago, the promise of new hope and everlasting life filled an empty tomb: "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said” (Matthew 28:6).

 

1 "This Glorious Easter Morn,” Ensign, May 1996, 67.

 

 

Program #4359