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When peace like a river...

Saturday, 17 March 2007 12:46

It is Well with My Soul - The rest of the story...

???It is Well with My Soul??? ??? Songs of the Kingdom, #456 (Archive from March 7, 2005  - Toney Mulhollan)

 

We don???t know how we will react to adversity until it happens. It is the storms of life that stretch our faith and test our foundations.

 

Horatio G. Spafford was unfortunate to have been tested by many storms. He was a successful attorney in Chicago during the latter part of the 19th century. He was a Christian and supported a number of well known Christian ministries of his day. Though the father of five children, his only son unexpectedly died. Then, in 1871, the great Chicago Fire wiped out the family???s extensive real estate investments.

 

It was a tremendous blow, so he decided to send his wife and four daughters to Europe to lift their spirits as well as to help in some evangelistic work there. In November 1873, his wife and daughters boarded the S.S. Ville du Harve. In the mid-Atlantic it collided with an English vessel and sank in 12 minutes. Two hundred twenty-six people drowned, including his four daughters. His wife sent a telegram with only two words ???Saved alone.???

 

Horatio caught the next ship to Cardiff, Wales. In the area of the accident (with undaunted faith) he wrote the words to this song. It???s a sober reminder, that no matter what our trials, God can give us peace and hope.

 

When peace like a river attendeth my way,
   When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
   ???It is well, it is well with my soul.???

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.???

 

The Rest of the Story

Roger Lamb

"It Is Well With My Soul" was deeply meaningful to me through our family's ordeals with cancer, persecution and the everyday challenges of life.  But the beautiful song took on a whole new depth when I was privileged to attend the first service of our church planting in Jerusalem.  Our dear friends Dr. Henry Cramer, his wonderful wife Lanna led the church planting.  The service was held in The American Colony Hotel just outside the walls of the Old City.  

As a lover of history, I sought out the origins of the hotel which turned out to be the former home of the American Colony which was established by the grief-stricken Horatio and Anna Spafford.  They had lost their home and business in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.  For a recuperative vacation, Horatio sent his wife and daughters ahead of him on a ship bound for England.  The ship was struck by another vessel and 226 people died including all four of the Spafford's daughters.  It is said that the only reason Anna survived was that a beam from the ship came up underneath her.  When Horatio was sailing to meet his grieving wife, the captain pulled him aside and showed him the spot where his daughters had perished.  There he penned the song, "It Is Well With My Soul."  
The Spaffords led a group of people to Jerusalem to live as simple Christians and to await the return of Jesus.  They established The American Colony.  Eventually they rented rooms, survived the Ottoman Invasion, and today the building is The American Colony Hotel. (A much more luxurious hotel today.)  The first service of our church in Jerusalem was in the living room of Horatio and Anna Spafford.  

Click here to see:  

the original manuscript of "It Is Well With My Soul."

Horatio Spafford

The American Colony Hotel

The Jerusalem Church of Christ


Henry and Lanna Cramer were living in Chicago when they became disciples.  Henry took the family on a vacation to Boston to study the Bible with a friend who had become a disciple there.  Marcia and Tricia Staten studied the Bible with Lanna when they returned. Later the Cramers moved to Los Angeles.  He gave up a large medical practice to plant the church in Jerusalem.  Henry now serves as an elder in the LA Church South Region.  He is a very accomplished physician loves the Lord first.

Grace & Truth,

Roger Lamb

 
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Published in The Arts