The Light Divine
305

Text: Matilda Watts Cahoon (1881–1973; LDS)
Music: Mildred T. Pettit (1895–1977; LDS)
Tune name: LIGHT DIVINE

Originally written for a chorus of Primary children, “The Light Divine” is poetic description of the beauty of the light of faith. Just as the heavenly light permeates every creation of nature, so it will abide within the hearts of those who seek it.

Verses one and two tell of the warmth and growth that accompany the light of faith. Faith brings hope and radiance, and it will grow within the heart of a child, just as a bud will blossom into a flower. The third verse and the chorus are a prayer asking our Heavenly Father to continue to touch us with his light. Matilda Watts Cahoon’s purpose was to offer to the Primary children the same reminder that Paul sent to the Corinthians: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

On 3 September 1985, a meeting was held in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square in Salt Lake City to celebrate the completion of the new hymnal. One of the speakers on this occasion, President Gordon B. Hinckley, paid tribute to Matilda Watts Cahoon:

“She was my music teacher in junior high school. The only claim I have to musical fame is that I was a part of the boys’ chorus in junior high which won two district championships of the Salt Lake and Granite school districts. Since then I’ve forgotten how to read music and all about it, but I do hold up my hand to Matilda Watts Cahoon who somehow coaxed a tune out of me as a part of the boys’ chorus of that junior high school. She was a great and delightful and lovely teacher.”

Dr. William A. Pettit, son of composer Mildred T. Pettit, recalled his mother’s concern over the last line of the tune, “which she at first thought should go up rather than down.” But the firm downward motion of the last five notes seems to correlate well with the assertion that truth is “our guiding star.”

“The Light Divine” was first printed in The Primary Song Book in 1939.