Choir Notes

Consider the Lillies

From Music and the Spoken Word

Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell • Program 4362

In this remarkable age, everything seems to be moving faster and faster. The Internet provides almost instantaneous information; communication crosses oceans and continents in a flash. Nearly all of us live fast-paced, hectic lifestyles. Like the view of the countryside from a speeding car, life sometimes seems to go by in a blur.

The speed of life can be exhilarating but also exhausting. Fulfillment is usually found not in something up ahead that we’re pursuing but in the good things around us that we rush past in our haste. From the sacred suggestion to "consider the lilies”1. to the modern admonition to "stop and smell the roses,” we have all been invited to slow down, even for a few moments, and enjoy the beauty of the earth.

When we dash past a flower, we have missed an opportunity to consider one of nature’s most beautiful creations. Sunsets happen every day, but how often do we stop to let those moments of serenity and beauty lift our spirits and increased our peace? A short pause to feel the breeze on our face, to appreciate a towering tree, or to listen to the song of a bird can clear our minds and refresh our perspective, giving us renewed energy and motivation.

A kindly grandfather sat with his young granddaughter on a park bench. "Listen,” he said to her, "to the sound of the wind in the trees. The trees are speaking to you.” With innocent awe, the child asked, "What are the trees saying, Grandpa?” "Whatever you need to hear,” he replied, "Whatever you need to hear.”

Perhaps God has a message for each of us in His glorious creations—if we will only take a moment to stop, observe, and listen. As a wise man once said, "Where there are eyes to see, there will be visions to inspire.”2.

1 Matthew 6:28.

2 Spencer W. Kimball, personal notes.