It is Well

My grandparents' kitchen always had one of two radio stations on: an AM country western station or a gospel station that rotated between hymns and distant evangelical preachers like Billy Graham. It's part of the sound of my youth. Our house is never without some sort of music. There are the styles and artists I always go back to, like Josh Garrels and Bon Iver, folk or lo-fi, the Tragically Hip and Bieber (I'm not ashamed to admit it), but ultimately, I'll listen to almost anything as long as it has a melody or a groove.

Lately, I've gone back to my grandparents' old Christian station. What started as soft background noise for our anxious dogs while we're away has turned into the standard soundscape for our home. One morning while I was making coffee, the classic hymn "It Is Well with My Soul" came on. I've probably heard it a thousand times in my life, but like all great poems, you can hear it for the first time, almost every time.

Horatio Spafford wrote the lyrics after a series of tragedies. He lost most of his money when the Great Chicago Fire leveled his real estate investments. Two years later, all four of his daughters drowned when their ship sank crossing the Atlantic. His wife survived the shipwreck and sent Spafford a telegram that simply said, "Saved alone."

Not long after, he wrote the lyrics:

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.

Like many others, I have a series of first-world problems, but thank God, I have my health and my family. I can't imagine walking through the heartbreak of Horatio Spafford and still having the faith and conviction to say, "It is well." Perhaps no matter what, we can thank God that it is.

Sidenote: the joke in our family right now is that our dogs are much better behaved after listening to hymns all day. ;)