The Best Days Ahead – Sunday, December 29, 2019

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson.1 At first, that may seem like an overstatement. But while some days are clearly better than others, every day deserves at least the chance to be the best day of the year. That’s good to remember as we look forward to another year of “best days”—every day is worth living, and every day holds promise and possibility.

Emerson once wrote to his daughter while she was away at school: “Finish every day and be done with it. … You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. To-morrow is a new day; … begin it well and serenely. … It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the rotten yesterdays.” 2

The ability to live fully in the present—while continuing to look forward to the future—is the essence of hope. Yes, the past can give us wisdom and perspective, but it can also be disheartening if we stay there too long. Tomorrow is precious because it is yet unwritten, unlived, and full of opportunity. That’s why a sunrise, a new day, and a new year are so meaningful. They give us hope for better days ahead.

Very often, this truth is best understood by those who have more days behind them than in front of them. One such man was known to say, “Every day is precious—what a gift!” Or as a woman in her 80s used to say, “I’m so grateful for another day of life.” Whatever our age or stage of life, we can all give thanks for the opportunities that come with each new day.

What is it you want to do this year? What kind of person do you want to become? Maybe you want to read a little more, eat a little better, be a little kinder, and feel a little happier. Perhaps you want to slow down and enjoy life a little more, or maybe you want to be more productive and spend more time on things of lasting worth. Whatever your hopes may be, your “best days” are still ahead for you.

1 Society and Solitude (1870), 157.
2 In James Elliot Cabot, A Memoir of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1888), 2:489.
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December 29, 2019
Broadcast Number 4,711

The Tabernacle Choir
Orchestra at Temple Square
Bells on Temple Square

Conductor
Mack Wilberg

Special Guest Artist
Dallyn Vail Bayles

Bells Conductor
LeAnna Willmore

Organist
Brian Mathias

Host
Lloyd Newell

This Little Light of Mine
African-American Spiritual; arr. Mack Wilberg

Arise, O God, and Shine
John Darwell; arr. Mack Wilberg

The Ash Grove
Welsh melody; arr. John Longhurst

Vivace con Spirito
Jason W. Krug

I’ll Begin Again, from Scrooge
Leslie Bricusse; arr. Richard Elliott

Hold On, from The Secret Garden
Lucy Simon; arr. Ryan Murphy

Let There Be Peace on Earth
Sy Miller & Jill Jackson; arr. Michael Davis