HYMNS FROM HOME: IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL

​​PRAY
Lord, there is no situation too bleak, no tragedy too deep, and no storm too fierce to separate us from you.  Thank you for the kind of peace that can only come to our soul through your love and grace, no matter what trials may come.

LYRIC

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."
It is well with my soul;
it is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control:
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
and has shed his own blood for my soul.
It is well with my soul;
it is well, it is well with my soul.

 My sin oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
my sin, not in part, but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more;
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
It is well with my soul;
it is well, it is well with my soul.
 
O Lord, haste the day when my 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. 
It is well with my soul;
it is well, it is well with my soul.

SCRIPTURE
John 14:27
​
BACKGROUND

Because their account of the story says it best, I am sharing with you verbatim the hymn history from Hymnary.org.  

In November, 1873, Horatio Spafford sent his wife and four daughters on the French ship Ville du Havre from their home in Chicago to a vacation in France, planning to set out a few days later himself. Somewhere in the Atlantic, the Ville du Havre collided with a British ship coming the other way, and sank in just 12 minutes. Of his family, only Spafford’s wife survived. Spafford took the next boat over, and as he passed the spot where the ship went down, began to write, “When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll,” and continued until he had the text, “It is well with my soul.” His good friend, Philip Bliss, composed the tune for his words, naming it after the ship, VILLE DU HAVRE. In this hymn, Spafford has given all of us words of comfort and assurance in times of physical and spiritual crisis, paraphrasing those familiar words of Julian of Norwich: “And all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”

PERSONAL

In addition to once again having Michelle Margiotta on keys, tonight's featured guest performer is incredibly accomplished cellist, string arranger, composer and all-around musician, Cara Fox.  I won't even try to list her accolades as her album credits alone are a mile long, but it's safe to say that if there's a cello line you've loved in a song...any song recently, it might just be her.  Cara is married to accomplished producer Jared Fox and they live in Nashville with their toddler son.  I knew that having Cara and her cello lend their voice to this tune would bring to life the hope that we each can have in Christ no matter our pain or loss.  I'm grateful for her as a musician and a friend and I know you'll be blessed by her artistry.

I honestly can't remember when I actually first met Cara, but what sticks out in my mind as the "official" beginning of our friendship was when she graciously agreed to be the cellist at our wedding when Keith and I got married 10 years ago.  She rocked out both a Bach cello suite and a YoYo Ma/James Taylor arrangement of "Here Comes The Sun" when I came down the aisle and I'll be forever grateful for the literal tone that she set for the rest of our marriage: rich, deep, and sunny.  Since then we've had the opportunity to play together at sessions, on a music video and at various events...she's on the short list of people I can say I have played with onstage at the Ryman auditorium...but on the non-musical front, we've also been blessed to get to walk through motherhood together as our sweet little ones were born on the same day in the same hospital.  

My earliest memory of the hymn "It Is Well" is a tragic one but it is so deeply etched in my head that I truly think about every time I hear the song and it was present on my mind as I recorded this version I'm sharing with you tonight.  Growing up, a boy my own age that I was acquainted with accidentally killed his cousin with a gun that the two boys were playing with but didn't realize was loaded.  Although I did not attend the service, I remember my mom and a friend crying and recounting how the divorced parents of the deceased child sang this hymn together as a duet at the funeral.  Processing this situation now as an adult, wife and parent, although I can't possibly understand how these grieving parents would have been able to share this message under those circumstances, the impact on my soul is heavy as I realize the extreme faith it must have taken to claim Christ as the Healer of all souls.

Whatever loss or hardship you are facing right now, even if it seems insurmountable and impossible that you will ever be able find life again on the other side, I promise that there is One who has given His life to redeem yours.