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It Is Well With My Soul
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. — Horatio G. Spafford, 1873
This is but a snippet from one of my most favorite hymns. I wouldn’t call myself a particularly religious person, but I do enjoy gospel hymns and this is the one I turn to when I’ve had a very trying day. This hymn is incredibly calming and has always helped me re-center in the midst of chaos.
Hopefully it helps you too!
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Published in Group Writing
We always sang “Blest Be the Tie That Binds” during communion. (Protestants: Welch’s Grape Juice)
She definitely had me do the hand gestures and tells me that it was my favorite song when I was little. :)
I also remember “Old Time Religion” as we sang that in church all the time. I never knew what verse they were going with next so I’d belt out whatever I thought it should be. I was pretty loud and it was a small congregation.
That was my grandpa’s favorite hymn and they played it at his funeral. I love that song, but I still tear up even thinking about it. :(
At the edge of the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University is a small, shaded cemetery, in which Horatio Spafford, his wife Anna, and several members of their American-Swedish commune (the “American Colony”) lie buried. I first learned of the American Colony in the 1960s when Hallmark published a small book of Holy Land flowers painted by Bertha Spafford. I was so charmed that I bought several copies to give as gifts to relatives, and somehow over the years lost my own copy, alas.
Years later, I began working with Ruth Kark, and edited some of her articles about the American Colony, which is one of the astonishing stories of a successful commune in Jerusalem that existed for 80 years. It eventually broke up amidst numerous court cases in the 1930s. After Horatio Spafford’s death (IIRC 1887), Anna Spafford became the “prophetess” and dictator of the commune, which had since its inception practiced abstinence and celibacy, and did not engage in missionary activity — all of which raised the eyebrows of the American Consul, Selah Merrill (a Congregationalist minister), with whom the commune had some notable clashes. Only when Bertha Spafford (she and Grace were born after the tragedy in which their sisters were drowned at sea) reached an age at which she wished to marry did Anna have a prophecy that allowed it.
I should probably write a piece for Ricochet about this fascinating bit of Jerusalem history — many people are quite unaware of the numerous non-Jewish settlers in 19th-century Ottoman Palestine, or the curious Anglo-Prussian bishopric that established the first Protestant presence in the Holy Land (Christ Church still stands just inside Jaffa Gate); the celebrated visit of Kaiser Wilhelm; the story of the Garden Tomb as a Protestant alternative to the (despised) Holy Sepulchre; or the growth of Jerusalem outside the walls of the Old City.
Horatio Spafford’s hymn remains much beloved; no doubt few people are aware of the later controversies that arose over his theology that developed as he and Anna tried to cope with their grief — eventually leading them and a group of followers to Jerusalem to await the Lord.
It’s so….romantic!! I mean, if you didn’t know it was about God…..
Oh RA! You must be a Methodist, too! As I recall, we used cubed white bread, like for stuffing, for The Body.
Please do, I would love to learn more about this.
And for what it’s worth, you might be able to replace your lost book for peanuts: https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/flowers-of-the-holy-land/author/bertha-spafford-vester/
That is just one place. Do a search and you might find a better deal (or a book in better condition) elsewhere. I have replaced a number of “loaned & lost” books of my own this way.
I remember seeing a lot of what looked like oyster crackers in the church I went to as a kid.
One of my churches used crushed up Zesta saltines and 2 others used oyster crackers. I always looked forward to communion because of the grape juice and crackers.
Haha! We had cubed white bread too!
We did hand gestures with “Deep and Wide” too.
Guy Penrod and David Phelps are IMHP the two best singers ever!
Beautiful. Thanks!