Author’s Note: To celebrate the recent announcement that “It is Well With My Soul” will be included in the new Latter-day Saint hymnbook, I wanted to share again the story behind the song that inspired our “It is Well With My Soul” Gratitude Journal.
In addition, if you CLICK HERE, the journal can be purchased for 25% off with the code THANKYOU25
It is well with my soul.
These are words from the pen of Horatio Spafford, written over 150 years ago from the reflections of a starry night on an ocean liner in the middle of the Atlantic. The captain had called him out on deck for a reason that makes it difficult to understand how he could possibly write the phrase and mean it.
You see, Horatio had been a successful lawyer in Chicago. His business was prospering. He had a wonderful wife and four daughters whom he loved. He had real estate investments all over the city and faithfully served as an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He could truly say things were well with his family. But in 1871, the Great Chicago Fire tore through the city, turning his real estate investments and his law firm to ash. Not long after, he and his family decided to travel to Europe for an extended stay, but at the last minute, he was detained by business. He sent his wife and children ahead, with the intent to join them a few days later.
They set sail on the Ville de Havre from New York, bound for Paris, but on November 21, 1873 their ship was struck by a British iron sailing vessel, the Loch Earn. The damage was instantaneous and severe. The ship sank in only 12 minutes, costing the lives of 226 passengers. Days later, Horatio received a telegram from his wife, now arrived in Cardiff, Wales, that read, “Saved alone. What shall I do…” Their dear, beloved daughters; Annie, age 12; Maggie, 7; Bessie, 4; and 18-month-old Tanetta had been lost to the depths. His wife, Anna, was understandably in despair. Horatio rushed to be with her.
And so it was, on this Atlantic crossing, that the captain called him from his cabin. The reason? Because according to the captain’s reckoning, they were sailing right over the waters where his dear ones had been lost.
What were his thoughts under that vast blanket of stars, staring into the three-miles-deep ocean that had taken so much from him? Did he envision their last moments? Did he wonder if he could’ve somehow saved them if he had been there? In the chaos and panic of discovering how fast the ship was sinking and that most of the lifeboats were painted fast to the deck and could not be moved, one survivor reported that 12-year-old Annie Spafford was a voice of calm and said, “Don’t be afraid, the sea is His and He made it”.
It was with similar, astonishing tranquility in his heart that Horatio—in that place of his unbelievable heartache and loss—wrote the words to the now beloved hymn:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
How can we too become the people that can say, “It is well with my soul” when grief is so heavy and struggles so relentless?
Get your copy of of our “It is Well With My Soul” Gratitude Journal HERE.
By intentionally cultivating gratitude and endeavoring to see the ways that we are encircled in the arms of a loving Savior even when things are at their hardest.
Horatio wrote to his sister-in-law of his voyage over that poignant place, “I do not think of our dear ones there. They are safe, folded, the dear lambs.” We too can become people who look into the icy depths of our lives and see instead, the comfort of being folded in the arms of the Divine.
The Savior’s sacrifice broke the chains of death and sorrow. That does not mean we will never feel grief or heartache or that every complex problem we face will have an easy solution. But it does mean that when our strength runs out, we will always have somewhere to turn for more. When the world looks on us with no compassion, we will always have a place to turn for relief. And it also means that those we lose, are not lost to us forever.
Being someone who “looks on tempests and is never shaken” is not something you’re either born with or not, it is a skill you can cultivate. Seeing life for its blessings is a lens you can choose to have. Developing that skill in yourself will change your life. I hope this tool can help.
Get 25% off the “It is Well With My Soul” Gratitude Journal with the promo code THANKYOU25
Enjoy this beautiful dramatization of the Spafford’s story along with the song as sung by The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square:
