A Terrible Tragedy, A Moving Hymn

Last updated on: May 4, 2015 at 4:01 pm by Jeremy Neill

A Terrible Tragedy, A Moving Hymn 2015-05-04T16:01:11-06:00 Jeremy Neill

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One of my favorite hymns in the Christian tradition is the Horatio Spafford hymn “It is Well with my Soul.” The first verse is especially poignant.

When peace like a river attendeth my way

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say

“It is well, it is well with my soul.”

The story behind this hymn is well-known, but it deserves re-telling. Spafford was a successful Chicago lawyer in the 1870s. With a wife, four daughters, and a son, he was a prosperous and happy man. His devotion to his Christian faith was well-known in his community. Unfortunately, just as everything seemed to be set up for a terrific professional and familial life, Spafford and his wife Anna lost their youngest son. Then in 1871 the Great Chicago Fire destroyed almost all of his real estate investments. In despair, Spafford arranged for his wife and daughters to take some time away to recover from these dual tragedies by vacationing in Europe. Spafford had business matters that still pressed him in Chicago, so he stayed behind while his wife and daughters went on ahead to England. Then, several days later, calamity struck again. Spafford received word that the ship carrying his wife and daughters had been in a collision on the ocean. His four daughters drowned, and only his wife Anna was saved. His wife famously sent Spafford a telegram once she reached England, telling him “alone am saved.” Spafford was grief-stricken by these horrific events. Alone, traveling on board a ship to join Anna in England, Spafford composed the lines of the well-known hymn. Later, Philip Bliss, a composer of many songs, put Spafford’s poem to the music that we know and love in the hymn ‘It is Well With My Soul.”

“Frederic Edwin Church – Aurora Borealis – Google Art Project” by Frederic Edwin Church – 3QGtI0P71obkqA at Google Cultural Institute, zoom level maximum. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frederic_Edwin_Church_-_Aurora_Borealis_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg#/media/File:Frederic_Edwin_Church_-_Aurora_Borealis_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

What incredible faith this man had! If I lost my wife – I don’t have any children yet – I think that I would be grief-stricken and that I probably would be mad at God for quite some time. Yet Spafford immediately cast his cares upon the Lord who cared for him. And his great hymn of faith has been an inspiration now to millions of people in the 140 years since he penned its magnificent lines.

The hymn’s last verse is a beautiful meditation on the future life that awaits us as Christians in heaven:

And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll

The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend

Even so it is well with my soul.

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