The Cricket and Seagull Fireside Chat

In spite of outward smiles, many people go through the motions attending church, giving service, and nurturing families, while feeling empty, broken, doubtful, and even guilty inside.  They tell themselves if they only work harder, they'd somehow earn the blessings of peace, security, and unconditional love they hunger for. Using the scriptures, words of prophets, insightful analogies, and stories drawn from poignant personal experiences, best-selling author Toni Sorenson explains that simply by the virtue of being a child of God, each of us is already loved beyond comprehension, without boundaries or conditions. No matter what our disappointment or failure or loss may be, allowing ourselves to be defined by Christ will lift us out of the darkness and into His light. That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull.

Composer Rob Gardner has never been less than ambitious in telling the story of the Restoration and the scriptures in music.  With "Lamb of God," he fulfills a lifelong dream in focusing on the week of the Atonement and the many individuals from the Apostles to Pilate to the mother of Christ—those who interacted with Jesus personally and lived the despair and new-found hope of that most important week. In this audio interview Rob talks about the writing process, recording with the London Symphony, and the thousand choices a composer makes in writing a sacred work, including deciding whether you're ready to tackle the most important subject that ever lived. That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull.

Diana Turnbow, Curator of Photography at the BYU Museum of Art, takes us on an audio tour of this fascinating exhibit shot by well-known photographer Dorothea Lange, which appeared in LIFE magazine in 1953. Besides exploring small-town life in the rural towns of Gunlock, Toquerville, and St. George, the photographer and her essayist son comment on the beauty created even in isolated communities, happiness in spite of hardship, and the deep respect they share with many historians on the strength and character of these Mormon women from a time that is disappearing from living memory. Explore the exhibit's website while you listen at 3mormontowns.byu.edu That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

After living for more than three decades with a congenital heart defect, award-winning LDS pianist Paul Cardall received a miracle. His life was saved by a last-minute heart transplant. In New Life, Paul’s newfound gratitude and humility for life pours through his fingers into inspiring new compositions perfect for meditation, contemplation, or even casual listening. In this audio interview Paul remembers waking up after the transplant and beginning to write again for New Life, which reached number one on the Billboard New Age charts. That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

In this audio interview BYU Religion Professor and former LDS mission president Brent Top joins his wife Wendy in sharing their years of research into near-death experiences from people of all faiths—drawing from them fascinating gospel insights. The Tops have created much more than just a collection of interesting accounts; this is a book rich with scripture and commentary from Latter-day prophets which creates a doctrinal lens through which to interpret the variety of experiences shared from people around the world.  From the amazing characteristics of our Spirit bodies to the incredible love and learning which are the hallmarks of "life on the other side," you'll find encouragement and peace concerning that next step which we all will eventually take. That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

Besides being a rock-solid fixture in the LDS music industry, composer Greg Hansen has teamed with his tech-savvy son Jade on an innovative delivery system for music and now a free daily scripture delivery system. The Hansens tell how you can choose which book of scriptures and how many verses you'd like to receive daily, plus muse on the future of LDS music in the day of rapid technological change. That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

Dr. Kirk Belnap was with Egyptian friends at a conference in the Middle East during the recent revolution centered in Tahrir Square in Cairo.  In this audio interview he shares the note he sent to friends about the joy of the moment and dismisses many of the fears of American political pundits. You'll hear behind-the-scenes stories of BYU's Arabic language study in countries as diverse as Israel, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco, and how he believes bridges of mutual respect can be and are being built between Mormons and Muslims. It's history in the making, on The Cricket and Seagull...

When your task is as daunting as interpreting the life of Jesus Christ through music, it's nice to have support from fellow artists throughout the centuries.  Taking inspiration from the religious paintings of Carl Bloch and drawing from the melodies of timeless hymns, LDS composer Marshall McDonald uses his gifts with piano and orchestra to create a moving and meditative narration of the life of the Master in "This is the Christ." In this interview you'll hear Marshall describe how he tells a story through music, whether or not he thinks the young people of today "get" the hymns, and why he didn't feel ready to tackle some moments in the life of Christ without benefit of the timeless melodies found in the hymns.

Dean Hughes may be best known to readers as the author of historical fiction and teen adventure books, but this first movie version of one of his novels is based on "Midway to Heaven," a romantic story with heavenly overtones. In this audio interview he talks about his writing habits, watching the process of "Midway to Heaven" being turned into a screenplay, and more. That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

The objects and settings of the New Testament parables are simple, everyday items and places from the past; candlesticks, bushels, fields, and seeds—and the cast of characters is nearly as familiar; travelers, herders, rich men and poor, but the storyteller himself, the one who spun these tales which are both simple and deep, well, He was one-of-a-kind. In this book, inspired by a visit to the Holy Land, author and speaker John Bytheway digs into the who, what, where, and why of the parables of Jesus, revealing additional meaning and application to these deceptively simple stories which have been teaching and blessing those willing to look below the surface, for centuries. That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

While it might seem strange that cutting the Tabernacle Choir in half would result in a number-one album on the Billboard Classical charts in its first week of release, that's exactly what happened. In this audio tour of the album, you'll hear the choir's director, Dr. Mack Wilberg, talk about the decision to make the album, the rich tradition of men's choral music, and why they chose this particular balance of classical and contemporary songs, which has struck a chord with so many listeners. That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull... Playlist: 1.   Brethren, We Have Met to Worship 2.   Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy 3.   The Morning Trumpet 4.   Fight the Good Fight with All Thy Might 5.   Evening (Aftonen) 6.   Land-Sighting (Landkjenning) 7.   Dance a Cachuca, Fandango, Bolero (Finale from The Gondoliers) 8.   Alleluia 9.   Pilgrim's Chorus from Tannhäuser 10. Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) 11. Hush, Little Baby 12. You Raise Me Up 13. Beautiful Savior 14. There Is a Balm in Gilead 15. He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

She may be in her 70's now, but Janice Kapp Perry is still writing and going strong with her series of hymns for choir and now "He Brought Me Light," her first album release in two years.  Janice is embracing change with the inclusion of instrumental versions of the songs included in the package along with a printable .pdf version of the sheet music, and is publishing what one fellow composer called "her best song yet." In this audio interview you'll hear excerpts of the songs, why they were created, plus details of the writing habits of this most prolific LDS composer. That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

It was Brigham Young himself who said, "The Mormon Battalion will be held in honorable remembrance to the latest generation," and the newly refurbished and renamed Mormon Battalion Historic Site in Old Town San Diego is bound to keep that remembering alive for years to come. Elder Evans, the current site Director, gives us an overview of the miracles of the Mormon Battalion and how the new site has become an integral part of historic Old Town for area 4th graders, and Sister Evans shows us the activites children and adults will experience when they visit this new state-of-the-art mixture of history and technology; talking pictures, movies, panning for gold, and feeling the earth shake during a stampede are just some of the exciting elements.  While you listen, why not Click Here to visit the website at http://historicmormonbattalion.net and explore? That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...    

A Musical Christmas Card for 2010 The story this week isn't breaking news even though it's good news. In fact, old or new don't really apply--it's timeless. I hope you'll have a quiet moment to relax and listen to The Christmas Story read from the New Testament, interwoven with timeless Christmas music. It's read by my neighbor, Myron Hassard, affectionately known as "Haz" by all the people in our ward, who think of him as our ward Grandpa. That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

In this engaging new book, author and historian Paul Thomas Smith has created my Christmas pick of the year--a text that is comfortingly familiar, yet filled with the bits of history and insight a life-long scholar can add to the narrative to make it vivid and alive in our minds and hearts; a book families and students of the scriptures can enjoy for years to come.  And the illustrations drawn from the religious paintings of Carl Bloch are the perfect accompaniment to the text throughout. Why were shepherds despised in New Testament times?  Was there really no rooster that crowed three times for Peter?  Was Luke wrong about the census?  Listen as the author discusses all of this and more. That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...