The new hymn “The Power of the Holy Ghost,” released in the latest batch of hymns in “Hymns for Home and Church” of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, began in a small inn far away from Delys Waite Snyder’s home in Salem, Utah.
In 2009, Snyder and her husband, Phil Snyder—who were both Brigham Young University professors of English at the time—visited the Cotswolds in England after a conference. Their plans to walk through the scenic hills and small villages ended when he became quite ill.
While her husband recovered, Delys Snyder sat by his bedside and read from the small Book of Mormon she had placed in her pack.
Coming to 2 Nephi 31:20, she read again “that fantastic scripture about how you must press forward,” she said, and she remembered the hymn, “Press Forward, Saints,” (“Hymns” 81) by Marvin K. Gardner and Vanja Watkins, which is based on that scripture.
Continuing to read in 2 Nephi, Snyder contemplated how the Holy Ghost enables people to press forward and endure and how “it will show unto you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:5). She was especially struck by the idea to speak “with the tongue of angels” (2 Nephi 32: 2) and thought of the angels who sang at Jesus Christ’s birth.
She couldn’t think of any hymns that teach specifically about the Holy Ghost, and, as a writer and a musician, she had often thought about writing a hymn. So in the inn in the Cotswolds, she began to write down words and phrases that had to do with the topic of the Holy Ghost, and she worked on lyrics while her husband slept.
Visit the Church News to learn more about the hymn-writing process.
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