Horatio Spafford

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.

These are song lyrics from the hymn  It Is Well With My Soul.

I always thought this song was inspirational, but when I learned a few years ago the story behind it, I thought of it as even more profound.

Horatio Spafford is the man who wrote it and he experienced a great loss when his four daughters died in a shipwreck. His wife survived but imagine what it would be like to lose four daughters...


On his way to go be by the side of his wife in England, as he passed over the place where his four daughters had drowned, he wrote the lyrics to It Is Well With My Soul.


If anyone wants more of a full story, you may go here since Wikipedia's article is very uninformative.



Imagine having such resilience!

Imagine having been stricken with such terrible tragedy only to rise above it and be thankful for the things that you do have! That is some incredible determination and I daresay (no matter your views on spirituality - I think this is nearly impossible for a miserable atheist to achieve) that such resilience is due a strong belief in a higher being. I don't know of anything else on earth or heaven, in this life or the next, that can create such a strong "peace that passes all understanding" (Philippians 4:7)

That is inspiring. 




Imagine...."peace like a river..." as the first verse suggests.