Recently an older home was demolished to make room for a new house to be built on the same property. Over the decades, that home had been filled with laughter and memories, and now, almost in the blink of an eye, it was gone, and the slow work of rebuilding began. It was a reminder of the simple truth that it is always easier to destroy than to build.
This is apparent to anyone who has observed the construction of a house. From initial planning to laying the foundation, from framing the walls to adding the finishing touches, the whole process can take months or even years.
And yet as much effort as it takes to build a house, building a home requires even more. A house may have solid walls and a sophisticated security system, but to build a home where family members feel safe from the often cruel world is another matter. A house may be beautifully decorated and landscaped, but to create a home filled with peace and contentment, happiness and laughter takes time, often a long time.
The building materials for a home aren’t bricks and wood but love, understanding, sacrifice, and patience. It’s in the months and years of accumulated experiences—hard times and good times—that a house becomes a home. It follows, of course, that just as it’s relatively easy to demolish a house, a home too can be damaged—or even destroyed—by harsh words and hostility, rivalry and pettiness, jealousy and resentment. No home is flawless, and a little wear and tear is to be expected. Even so, any home that has suffered damage can be repaired with the tools of humility, forgiveness, and selflessness.
A home that is built and maintained with such qualities will long outlast any house. Many of us no longer live in the house where we were raised, yet we carry with us happy memories of home forever. No matter how many times we have changed residences, we hold on to good feelings of home. Nothing can demolish a home built on such everlasting things as love and trust and kindness. That home will last forever.
-Lloyd D. Newell
Oct. 18, 2015
Broadcast Number 4,492
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Members of the Orchestra at Temple Square
Conductor
Mack Wilberg
Organist
Andrew Unsworth
Host
Lloyd Newell
Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven
Mark Andrews; arr. Mark Hayes
Holy, Holy, Holy
John B. Dykes; arr. Arthur Harris
How Great Thou Art
Swedish folk tune; arr. Dale Wood
Rock of Ages
Thomas Hastings; arr. Arthur Harris
Love at Home
John Hugh McNaughton; arr. Mack Wilberg
Redeemer of Israel
Freeman Lewis; arr. Mack Wilberg