A Hymn for My Mother

One day when I was about 10 years old, I heard my mother crying. Peeking at her from another room, I could see she was alone. I stood there for a moment, wanting to comfort her but not knowing what to do.

As I turned away and walked near the piano, I had a strong feeling that I should play a hymn. I had been taking piano lessons for several years and could play most of the hymns in the hymnbook. I thought it unusual that I was prompted exactly which hymn to play, but I obeyed the feeling and enthusiastically played all three verses. When I finished, I quietly put the bench back under the piano and went on to other things.

A few hours later, my mother, smiling now, questioned me as to why I had played that hymn at that particular time. I told her I had had the feeling that I should. The answer seemed to please her, and she beamed. She told me she had been praying about a problem that had made her cry and that Heavenly Father had communicated His love to her through a piece of sacred music. She was comforted, and I learned how the Spirit of the Lord can quietly touch a heart through a hymn.—Barbara Blackburn, Pioneer First Ward, Provo Utah Central Stake