Radio Chapel 48-01-11 Religious Program

Summary

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Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: Radio Chapel 48-01-11 Religious Program
Date: September 20, 2025
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Featuring: Dr. Richard Steiner, Mrs. Carolyn H. Harrington, Paul Parse, Catlin School Choir

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Overview

This episode features a full broadcast of a classic “Radio Chapel” religious program originally aired on January 11th, 1948. The program, conducted by Dr. Richard Steiner of the First Unitarian Church and enriched with musical selections by Mrs. Carolyn H. Harrington and the Catlin School Choir, offers a reflection on faith, brotherhood, and the meaning of life through the lens of Christian philosophy. The show blends musical performances, scripture, and an insightful sermon, providing listeners an immersive experience from the golden age of radio.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Opening Call to Worship and Brotherhood

[00:44] Dr. Richard Steiner

• The service opens with a unifying invitation:

  “The voice of the organ speaks once again its sacred invitation for one and all to gather in your radio chapel...”

• Emphasis on interfaith unity: Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish faiths are all welcomed in a prayer for "world brotherhood."
• The program seeks to foster a spirit where all can "live as brothers," reinforcing the message of one loving God.

2. Spiritual Music as a Form of Worship

• At Vespers performed on the organ by Paul Parse sets a contemplative tone.

• The Catlin School Choir, directed by Mrs. Carolyn H. Harrington, presents sacred music:

  • [05:43] Bach compositions:
    • “Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light”
    • “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” (with violin obbligato by Mary Allison)

• Choir performances are used throughout as an integral part of worship, providing moments of reflection and spiritual elevation.

3. Scripture and the Nature of Life

[12:07] Dr. Richard Steiner (Sermon)

• Reflects on Romans 8:28:

  “To them that love God, all things work together for good.”

• The sermon explores the meaning of adversity and the importance of personal response:

  “What life does to us does not determine the consequence. It is simply the instigating factor. The consequence...is the direct result of what there is within us.”

• Dr. Steiner warns against fatalism and argues for human agency and spiritual initiative, stating the drama of life is not predetermined by fate.

4. Determinism, Free Will, and the Christian Perspective

[16:41] Dr. Richard Steiner

• Uses metaphor to clarify the difference between mechanism and free will:

  “Throw a tennis ball against the wall and it will come back to you. That is a mechanical process, a reaction. But let a prodigal son go into the far country...he may or may not come back to you. It will depend upon his response.”

• The core message:

  “To dramatize one’s life...is necessarily not to make yourself the central actor, but to make God and the purposes of God the center which will motivate your actions.”

• He emphasizes that greatness is forged in struggle and that faith provides both resilience and purpose.

5. Spirituals and Universal Themes of Faith

[24:41] Dr. Richard Steiner introduces two spirituals:

• “Steal Away”
• “Lord, I Want to Be a Christian”

[27:03] Choir lyrics highlight longing for a Christian heart, love, and Christ-like character, resonating deep themes of devotion and transformation:

“Lord, I want to be more loving… Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart.”

6. Closing Reflections and Invitation

[30:05] Ben Hunter (Host)

• Wraps up with “Be Thou My Vision” on organ.
• Expresses gratitude to those who made the service possible.
• Leaves listeners with an invitation:

  “On behalf of all faiths, may we invite you to attend the church of your choice this morning.”

• Closes with a blessing for “happiness and contentment of spirit.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Let us truly come as brothers worshiping our one, all caring, all loving God.”
  – Dr. Richard Steiner [00:44]

• “What life does to us does not determine the consequence. It is simply the instigating factor.”
  – Dr. Richard Steiner [12:07]

• “To dramatize one's life...is not necessarily to make yourself the central actor, but to make God and the purposes of God the center…”
  – Dr. Richard Steiner [16:41]

• “Those souls that become great have something in them so that all things do work together for good.”
  – Dr. Richard Steiner [20:45]

• “May we invite you to attend the church of your choice this morning... KEX wishes all men happiness and contentment of spirit.”
  – Ben Hunter (Host) [30:45]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:44 – Dr. Richard Steiner’s opening welcome and interfaith message
• 05:43 – Choir: Bach’s “Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light” / “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”
• 12:07 – Dr. Steiner’s sermon begins: “It is not so much what life brings to us…”
• 16:41 – Discussion of determinism vs. free will and Christian drama of life
• 24:41 – Introduction of spirituals: “Steal Away” and “Lord, I Want to Be a Christian”
• 27:03 – Choir: “Lord, I Want to Be a Christian”
• 30:05 – Ben Hunter: Closing remarks and benediction

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Tone and Language

Dr. Steiner’s language is reflective, earnest, and philosophical, combining scriptural references with an appeal to human experience and agency. The choir’s contributions add reverence, warmth, and an emotional depth to the proceedings. The atmosphere is inclusive, universal, and deeply spiritual.

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This episode provides a heartfelt window into mid-century American religious radio, seamlessly blending musical richness with thoughtful spiritual reflection and an unwavering call for unity, free will, and higher purpose.

Transcript

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[Doug]

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[Radio Host Ben Hunter]

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[Dr. Richard Steiner]

That men of all races and creeds might gather before him on this Sunday of January 11th. The voice of the organ speaks once again its sacred invitation for one and all to gather in your radio chapel. From your radio chapel, Kex again invites you to draw closer to him who would have all men live as brothers. For it is in the cause of world brotherhood that Kex has invited all faiths, Protestant, Catholic and Jewish, to declare in song and in spoken word their faith in a world that knows only one God. And so, as we gather together on this Sunday morning, let us truly come as brothers worshiping our one, all caring, all loving God. Conducting the service in your radio chapel this morning is Dr. Richard Steiner of the First Unitarian Church. And our choir is under the direction of Mrs. Carolyn H. Herrington and is from the Catlin School. As we begin the service, Paul Parse at the organ plays for you at Vespers.

[Limu]

It sa.

[Dr. Richard Steiner]

Mrs. Harrington directs the Catlin School choir in two Bach compositions. First, break forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light. Then Yesu Joy of Man's Desiring. Featured in the second selection will be a violin obbligato played by Mary Allison.

[Limu]

La Holy Wisdom, the most Christian sa Sam Word of God.

[Dr. Richard Steiner]

And now the choir sings for you a lovely melody from the oratorio Elijah. Lift thine eyes. As the music is hushed, the word is spoken. Dr. Richard Steiner.

[Doug]

Someone has said that it is not so much what life brings to us in her hands as what we bring to life in our spirit that makes the difference between people. Paul may have had this truth in his mind when he wrote in the Book of Romans, we know to them that love God, all things work together for good. The crucial part of that phrase lies in its statement that it is to them that love God that all things work together for good. For all things by themselves do not work together for good. And there is no sense in pretending that they do. But Paul did not omit the first part. He did not omit it because he had a very real sense of the drama of life. And he knew that by our interior attitudes we gain exterior results what life does to us does not determine the consequence. It is simply the instigating factor. The consequence of what life does to us is the direct result of what there is within us. Millions of people have asked themselves the question, is life worth living? Many people who ask that question think that they are asking it about something cosmic in scope, having to do with the purposes of God. But as a matter of fact, that question is not cosmic at all. It's a very personal question having to do with the inside attitude of the questioner. No one could by any stretch of the imagination ask the question. Question is, what is life worth living? If he found that life was in any way dramatic. For if the essence of a dramatic situation is the presence of conflict, the only reason why anyone should be interested in that conflict is the desire to know how it is resolved. Any dramatist who would pose a dramatic problem and before the final curtain, fail to arrive at a solution to the problem, would have his audience jeering him as a cheat and demanding their money back at the box office. It is the basic fact that a solution to a dramatic human problem is possible that holds the spectators in their seats up to the final curtain. If a person is bored and wants to leave before the final curtain, it simply means that the dramatist has utterly and completely failed in presenting the problem so that the individual may identify himself with it. Basic to an affirmative answer to the question, is life worth living? Is the conclusion that men and women possess real freedom to control their lives. Determinism and free will, State and freedom have been endlessly debated. But the time comes in every individual experience and in the social life of our time when that question goes far beyond any theoretical debate into a practical urgency. That time is on us. Now all things are happening to some of us, and it does make a difference whether we think of ourselves as free creative personalities who can make dreaming.

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[Doug]

All things work together for good or as mere victims of fate. I'm not interested this morning in any theoretical debate between determinism and freedom. But I would be less an American and much less a Christian if I did not believe that the evolution of life has been the progressive development of free initiative. Throw a tennis ball against the wall and it will come back to you. That is a mechanical process, a reaction. But let a prodigal son go into the far country and discover what it is like there, and he may or he may not come back to you. It will depend upon his response. We cannot by any possibility reduce the personal experience to a mechanical principle. The spiritual response of the prodigal son is not to be explained in any merely mechanistic terms. Something new is there. Freedom of initiative and choice, a choice that has to be made in the very midst of conflicting forces being exerted upon his life. Any actor in any real drama, whether that drama be of the theater or of life itself, has the choice of either reacting or responding to something that lies close upon him. A reaction may be mechanistic or physical, but a response takes in far more territory. A response is conditioned upon certain very fundamental beliefs that the individual holds concerning his nature and the nature of the universe. If he believes that God is love, and that he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him, then his response to any of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune will be a totally different response than the reaction of an individual who is without that faith. To dramatize one's life, to find drama in life, is not necessarily to make yourself the central actor. Rather, it is necessarily not to make yourself the central actor, but to make God and the purposes of God the center which will motivate your actions. It is simply to be vitally aware of the conflict between good and evil and to see the part that you can play in making life good and then making it good. I have not purposed in this talk to provide a Pollyanna philosophy of life which will cover all situations from doing the Monday morning washing to watching at the bedside of someone you love whose life is in immediate and terrible danger. There undoubtedly will in every life be moments of drudgery and moments of boredom, as there are in every life moments of great crisis and great anxiety. But the person who conceives of life as a great drama and who believes that he or she has a real, if not the leading part to play in that drama, not as a puppet, but as a freely acting and freely initiating personality, that person will certainly find life much more exciting and much more fruitful than the individual who holds to the view that fate is everything, that all that one is and all one does is somehow or other created, predestined by a divine providence or by the workings of a mechanical universe. And the person who is able to find for himself or herself the greatest personal satisfactions in living this drama is by that very reason able to do that which is of infinitely greater importance. Give excitement and satisfaction to. To all those people whose lives touch his own. Some souls go to pieces under the impact of the drama of life. But no soul has ever achieved greatness unless it has participated in the drama of life. Those souls that go to pieces have nothing within themselves to sustain themselves. Those souls that become great have something in them so that all things do work together for good. Nothing will happen to us in the future that had not happened to others in the past. Life and death, joy and sorrow, romance and loss, friendship and bereavement, happiness and tragedy. What these things will do to us will depend on whether they find in us either the desire to participate in the drama of life with a high faith and a high purpose, or to stand aside from life with no faith and no purpose, it would be folly to choose the latter. It is only Christian to choose to make of life a high drama, rich in high purpose, fruitful in a high purpose. Me.

[Limu]

Within the bowels of blessedness. He for his own names say within the paths of blessedness.

[Doug]

My.

[Limu]

Presence of my foes, my every and in my Father's heart always my wedding face shall be and in my heart forevermore.

[Dr. Richard Steiner]

Two well known Negro spirituals have been chosen by Mrs. Harrington for the choir's next offering. Steal Away and Lord, I Want to Be a Christian.

[Limu]

I Come Home to stay here My Lord he calls me he calls me by the thunder God to save you Steal away, steal away Steal away to.

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[Limu]

My Lord he calls me he calls me by the lightning Lord I want to be a Christian in my heart in my heart Lord I want to be a Christian in my heart in my heart in my heart Lord I want to be a Christian in my heart Lord, I want to be more loving in my heart, in my heart Lord I want to be more loving Lord, I want to be Lord Jesus in my heart in my heart Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart in my heart in my heart Lord, I want to be like you Jesus.

[Radio Host Ben Hunter]

As the organ plays Be Thou My Vision, another service in your radio chapel comes to a close. Your service this morning was conducted by Dr. Richard Steiner of the First Unitarian Church, music by the Catlin School Choir under The direction of Mrs. Carolyn H. Harrington, accompanist Ms. Emily Jones, violin obbligato by Mary Allison and at the organ Paul Parse. Their services to your radio chapel are gratefully acknowledged by station kex. And on behalf of all faiths, may we invite you to attend the church of your choice this morning. And now until next Sunday at 9 when once again the organ will speak its sacred invitation for one and all to gather in your radio chapel. KEX wishes all men happiness and contentment of spirit. Ben Hunter speaking on behalf of radio station kex. This is Westinghouse.

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