During my time in college, the draft was reinstated, protests of the Vietnam War were numerous and the riots surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention in the city were infamous. I hadn’t been back to the Chicago area since I had graduated from a college in a nearby suburb in 1970. I chose to attend the Vietnamese service, which I was told consisted of refugees from the Vietnam War-the famous Boat People who had fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975.
I had taken a group of youth to Chicago to work in an inner-city church that housed several congregations of immigrant groups. The hymn came to life for me in the summer of 1981. Yet I had difficulties identifying with the text in many ways. Its somber and peaceful music, written by gospel songwriter Philip Bliss (1838-1876) and named after the ship that carried Spafford’s daughters to their death, was spellbinding to a young boy. On a personal note, this was a hymn often sung on Sunday evenings in my congregation as I was growing up. There they established the American Colony, a Christian utopian society engaged in philanthropic activities among Jews, Muslims and Christians.Īfter decades of benevolent activities, the Colony ceased to be a communal society in the 1950s, though it continued in a second life as the American Colony Hotel, the first home of the talks between Palestine and Israel that eventually led to the 1983 Oslo Peace Accords. After the birth of daughter Grace in 1881, Spafford and his wife moved to Jerusalem out of a deep interest in the Holy Land. This hymn is said to have been penned as he approached the area of the ocean thought to be where the ship carrying his daughters had sunk.Īnother daughter, Bertha, was born in 1878 as well as a son, Horatio, in 1880, though he later died of scarlet fever. Spafford left immediately to join his wife. Spafford cabled her husband, ‘Saved alone.’” Several days later the survivors were finally landed at Cardiff, Wales, and Mrs. “On November 22 the ship was struck by the Lochearn, an English vessel, and sank in twelve minutes. In November of that year, due to unexpected last-minute business developments, he had to remain in Chicago, but sent his wife and four daughters on ahead as scheduled on the S.S. Hymnologist Kenneth Osbeck tells the story: “Desiring a rest for his wife and four daughters as well as wishing to join and assist Moody and Sankey in one of their campaigns in Great Britain, Spafford planned a European trip for his family in 1873. In a saga reminiscent of Job, his son died a short time before his financial disaster. Having invested heavily in real estate along Lake Michigan’s shoreline, he lost everything overnight. Spafford’s fortune evaporated in the wake of the great Chicago Fire of 1871. Among his close friends were several evangelists including the famous Dwight L. He had established a very successful legal practice as a young businessman and was also a devout Christian. Spafford (1828-1888), was a Presbyterian layman from Chicago. The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!Īnd Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight, No pang shall be mine, for in death as in lifeīut, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!įor me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live: Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, My sin-oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!. That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, You may consider to add It Is Well In My Soul Hymn in your repertoire or worship line-up when the topics are about faith, trials, death, hope, depression and storms in life. It Is Well With My Soul is a PowerPoint Worship Song about trusting in God fully when facing great hardships and trials in life. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.