Enter a search term below. If searching by episode number be sure to include the comma, for example 4,707
During one of the earliest performances of Peter Pan, the much-loved fantasy play for children, a small boy was invited to watch the production from the balcony. Afterwards he was asked what he liked best about the play. The pirates? The crocodile? Peter Pan flying through the air? The child’s response was surprising: “What I think I liked best was tearing up the program and dropping the bits on people’s heads.”
Too many people feel alone, figuratively wandering in the night. They search for purpose, meaning, and connection. They long to love and be loved, to help and be helped. Often their wandering is more desperate because they feel they don’t deserve love or help. Perhaps they’ve made poor choices or haven’t lived up to expectations—their own or others’.
Thomas Watson Sr. served for many years as the CEO of IBM and built the company into an international success. The story is told that during a business meeting in 1911, Watson became frustrated by the lack of good ideas being generated. “The trouble with every one of us is that we don’t think enough,” he declared. “Knowledge is the result of thought, and thought is the keynote of success in this business or any business.” Today, the word think adorns the walls of IBM buildings everywhere and remains at the heart of the company’s identity.
We’ve all heard the expression “light at the end of the tunnel.” But to anyone who has ever been completely engulfed in darkness, it’s more than just a nice saying. To them, a light at the end of the tunnel is a lifeline, a cherished spark of hope.
Not long ago, a middle-aged father took a vacation with his family. They toured historic sites and visited stunning natural wonders. Anxious to capture every moment of the trip, the father designated himself as the family photographer. Throughout the vacation he was consumed with taking photos. Later, as he looked at the photos and talked with his family, he was surprised to discover that he had actually missed many important moments of the trip. He had taken pictures of everything, but he had taken part in much less. Somehow his preoccupation with recording every moment prevented him from enjoying those moments—they had passed by him as he focused his lens elsewhere.
We all have our share of difficulty and tragedy in life. Some of us, in fact, seem to have more than our share. And then there are people who somehow, against all odds, survive multiple seemingly impossible situations.
Some years ago, a 17-year-old boy spent a long, hot summer doing landscape work. It was a hard, sweaty job—not the kind of thing most 17-year-old boys enjoy doing with their summer. He dug trenches, laid sod, spread rock and bark, planted trees and shrubs, and mowed and trimmed lawns. One by one, his friends who worked alongside him were worn out by the work and quit. It wasn’t their idea of summer vacation. But this young man stuck it out until summer’s end.
“Good fences make good neighbours,” remarks the surly neighbor in Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall.” Boundaries and borders, categories and classes seem to be an inescapable part of today’s world. We build fences to keep some things in and other things out—often with mixed results. Fences, both figurative and literal, can help and hurt, protect and hinder.
Life can be a roller coaster, with ups and downs, brief moments of calm, and then thrilling, sometimes scary bursts of speed. And what’s interesting about the roller coaster of life is that no two rides are ever the same. So it really does no good to compare our particular ride with someone else’s.
In the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, the young girl Dorothy dreams she is carried away from her home by a terrifying tornado. She finds herself in a strange land with unfamiliar people and unexpected challenges. Frightened at first, Dorothy learns to adapt to her new environment and to love the companions who walk with her on the yellow brick road, helping her find her way back home. In the end, after a tearful goodbye to her new friends, Dorothy clicks the heels of her ruby red slippers and says three times, “There’s no place like home.” Then Dorothy awakens well and safe in her own bed.
We know that nobody is perfect—the evidence is all around us. It’s not hard to notice faults and errors in other people. But we are often less eager to admit our own faults, our own mistakes. It’s sometimes embarrassing, uncomfortable, even risky. Will others think less of us if we confess to being wrong?
Do you consider yourself a creative person? Whether or not we know how to paint, decorate, or compose music, in a sense we are all creators. We create our own future, day by day. Our life is our creation, and we make the kind of life we want. That doesn’t mean we can control every detail—we all face circumstances we would never choose—but if our minds and hearts are open, we will be given opportunities to step up to the challenges we face and make something of ourselves.
The Choir and Orchestra have performed the music of Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein—two American artists and pioneers of musical theater.
Without question, the year 1929 was a memorable one. During that year, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began, a German airship circled the globe in record time, and the Academy Awards were presented for the first time.
Former U.S. First Lady Barbara Bush has been quoted as saying, “If human beings are perceived as potentials rather than problems, as possessing strengths instead of weaknesses, as unlimited rather than dull and unresponsive, then they thrive and grow to their capabilities.”
Sometimes life’s most difficult problems can be solved in the most unexpected ways. In fact, even when a situation seems downright hopeless, a little resourcefulness and ingenuity can lead to surprising solutions.
In 1872, United States President Ulysses S. Grant signed a bill designating Yellowstone as America’s first national park. In fact, it was the first national park in the world. More than that, it was the birth of a new idea—the preservation of a natural site of notable beauty and importance. The idea caught on, and over the next 44 years, another 34 national parks and monuments, along with an agency to maintain them, were created. Here at Yellowstone National Park, we celebrate what author and environmentalist Wallace Stegner called “the best idea [America] ever had.”
Most fathers know that fatherhood can be the source of life’s greatest joy and its deepest satisfaction. Of course, they also know that no work demands more of their energy or more of their heart. It takes time and effort to do fatherhood well.
Have you ever noticed how plants bend toward the sun? Whether it’s trees in a forest, flowers in a garden, or a potted plant in your window sill, most plants tend to grow in the direction of the sunlight that gives them life. Botanists call this heliotropism, but it’s really much simpler than it sounds. Plainly stated, most living things prefer light over darkness.
For many years, modern airplanes have been equipped with a feature called “autopilot.” When a plane is flying on autopilot, its direction and altitude are controlled automatically, without the pilot needing to constantly control its every move.
Every year on Memorial Day, a young woman visits the small community cemetery in her hometown. She is often drawn to four gravestones standing side by side. They mark the resting places of Clyde, LeRoy, Rolon, and Rulon Borgstrom. She never knew them, but she knows their story. Everyone in the small town of Tremonton, Utah, knows their story.
Joan of Arc was a courageous 15th-century French heroine who faced a martyr’s death at age 19. A play depicting her life has Joan declaring to her accusers just before her execution: “Every man gives his life for what he believes. Every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes people believe in little or nothing, [and so] they give up their lives to that little or nothing. One life is all we have, and we live it as we believe in living it, and then it’s gone. But to surrender who you are, and live without belief—that’s more terrible than dying—more terrible than dying young.”
Mother Teresa possessed a degree of goodness that’s rare in society today. Her acts of compassion began in 1948 in India, but her heart was too big to be confined to one place for long. Eventually her service reached around the world to more than 100 countries, transcending religious and political lines. She, and the thousands she inspired to work at her side, gave comfort to those who were forgotten or set aside—the tattered, diseased, crippled, orphaned, aged, homeless, and hungry. She embraced and loved them with encouragement, tenderness, and compassion. Truly, no better title describes her life and work than “Mother.”
Why is it that life is so hard for some and so much easier for others? Some people seem to have more happiness and opportunities, and others much less. Indeed, life can seem neither fair nor equal.
There may not be a single formula or step-by-step recipe for peace and happiness in this life. And that’s good, because no one’s life is so predictable that it always sticks to the script. A little improvising is often needed. Besides that, each life is as different as each individual. But there are noticeable patterns that can teach us how to cope with life’s difficulties and challenges.
In our efforts to improve the world, or even just improve ourselves, sometimes we need a catalyst.
What is a catalyst? A scientist would tell you it is a substance that starts or hastens a chemical reaction. But the word also has meaning outside the world of chemistry: a catalyst can be an event—or, just as often, a person—that causes change or action, that makes things happen.
Life is full of important things to do. But if we let those to-do’s fill up our lives, we may be missing something essential about what it means to be human. After all, as it is often said, we are human beings, not human doings. In other words, life is more about who we are becoming through our experiences—not just what we’re doing with our time. So while it’s helpful to plan what we are going to do each day, we might also consider what we are going to become each day. How might the person we are at the end of the day be a little different from the person we were at the beginning?
Thousands of years ago, Gautama Buddha became known as a wise teacher with keen insights into human nature. He often compared the mind to a wild monkey: jumping from limb to limb, restless, distracted, and a bit out of control. When we think about how hectic life can be sometimes, with so many important things to do, so many urgent matters clamoring for our attention, the analogy seems pretty accurate. When this happens, we may feel unsettled, anxious, and exhausted as we try to keep up with the little monkey in our mind.
Giving is good for the soul. That’s what a well-known billionaire learned after a life of sharing his wealth with others. Jon M. Huntsman Sr., who recently passed away, made it a habit to give generously throughout his life. Some might think it’s easy for a billionaire to give away money. But in reality, it’s the size of your heart, not the size of your bank account, that matters when it comes to giving.
If the message of Easter were reduced to just one word, that word might be hope. Easter declares, as almost nothing else can, that even in the most desperate situations there is hope. The worst storms eventually subside. The deepest emptiness can be filled. The darkest night soon gives way to the light of dawn.
Everyone wants to be successful, and everyone wants to have a good life. These may sound like the same goal, but depending on your definition of success, they might be quite different. A person can be “successful” in certain areas of life and yet feel miserable and lonely. On the other hand, a truly happy life, a good life, is a successful life in the most meaningful sense.