Of Flowing Waters and Turning Wheels
Last winter, I listened as my friend Danica shared her witness that the gospel is indeed sweet in our lives. She mentioned the opening words to the hymn “Sweet is the Peace the Gospel Brings,” and as she spoke, in my mind I heard the familiar words, but with a different tune. I tried to capture the tune on a scrap of paper fished from my bag. At home that afternoon, the music pouring onto the page began to remind me of flowing waters and turning wheels as I began to wonder about the woman who wrote the comforting words. Mary Anne Morton was born in late 1828 or early 1829 in Lancashire, England. 1 As a young woman, she embraced the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and was baptized in August 1845. Her intense feelings about the Gospel found release in poetry, and several of her verses were published by the Church newspaper in Britain, the Millennial Star. One of these poems was “Sweet is the Peace the Gospel Brings. 2 This poem describes the path of change ...