Today It Truly is Well With My Soul

This weekend was one of those rare weekends when all is well and right with the world...at least it was that way in my world.  I am a member of the Emmaus community and this weekend I sponsored my friend and collegue, Marie Parks.  I drove her to Camp Alimisco to begin her 72 hour retreat on Weds. night.  During the weekend I was in and out, attending functions which were very uplifting.  Friday night we had a singing and I loved it...the only song missing from my to ten list was, "It Is Well With My Soul."  It truly was well with my soul.  That song was my father's favorite song...when I was 12 he asked me to sing it at his funeral...I was 12...what did I know....so I agreed.  Little did I know that 43 years later I would stand before his coffin and sing that very song to him for the last time.  The song has always been one of my favorites in the Old Hymn division.  As you probably already know I am a music fanatic and have hundreds of favorite songs...so I have taken to catagorizing them.  I love the lyrics of the song, I love the harmonics of the song,  I love the story of the song.  Have you ever wondered where hymns and songs come from?  I have.....so many years ago I researched this one and found out about Horatio Spafford.  Do you know who he is?  I didn't....but do now.  Horatio Spafford (1828-1888) was a wealthy Chicago lawyer with a thriving legal practice, a beautiful home, a wife, four daughters and a son. He was also a devout Christian and faithful student of the Scriptures. His circle of friends included Dwight L. Moody, Ira Sankey and various other well-known clergymen of the day. At the very height of his success, Horatio and his wife Anna suffered the tragic loss of their young son. Shortly thereafter on October 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed almost every real estate investment Spafford had.  In 1873, Spafford scheduled a boat trip to Europe, to give his wife and daughters a much needed vacation from tragedy, and so that he might join Moody and Sankey for an evangelistic campaign in England. Spafford sent his wife and daughters on ahead while he remained in Chicago, to take care of some unexpected last minute business. Several days later he received notice that his family's ship had encountered a collision in which all four of his daughters drowned; only his wife had survived.  With a heavy heart, Spafford boarded a boat that would take him to his grieving Anna, in England. It was on this trip that he penned those now famous words, when sorrow like sea billows roll; it is well, it is well with my soul.  Philip Bliss (1838-1876), composer of many songs including Hold the Fort, Let the Lower Lights be Burning, and Jesus Loves Even Me, was so impressed with Spafford's life and the words of his hymn that he composed a beautiful piece of music to accompany the lyrics. The song was published by Bliss and Sankey, in 1876.  I love to hear the Isaacs sing it....so I thought I would share with you their version today...since all is right in my world.  Happy Saturday and God Bless You!