All is Well

My classmate’s aunt and cousin died yesterday in the wake of typhoon Sendong. This is the same classmate who lost his dad last year to a heart ailment that came suddenly knocking on the door while we were reviewing for the bar exams. Another good friend lost her home in Iligan City to flood waters that caught most people by surprise. Another friend recounted how her parents barely made it to the roof of their house, and a second too late would have cost them their lives.

With all that has happened, I am reminded of “It is Well with My Soul”, an old hymn written by Horatio Spafford whose life and whose faith in God was like that of Job’s:

This hymn was written after several traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first was the death of his only son in 1871 at the age of four, shortly followed by the great Chicago fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer). Then in 1873, he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the SS Ville du Havre, but sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sailing ship, the Loch Earn, and all four of Spafford’s daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, “Saved alone . . .”. Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.★

Here is a wonderful rendition of this song by Daniel Martin Moore. He is a young musician from Kentucky. His album In the Cool of the Day is worth checking out.

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★From  Wikipedia referencing McCann, Forrest M. (1997). Hymns and History: An Annotated Survey of Sources. Abilene, TX: ACU Press.ISBN 0-89112-058-0. Pp. 154, 327-328, 359-360, 520, 597.

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