It Is Well With My Soul

by Monica  Columbus, Ohio

The following song is for those who have experienced immense long-suffering (one of the virtues) in waiting for God's Will to unfold in beautiful visions and dreams, especially ones for Him.  It is also for any suffering religious persecution, which can be the most painful. Moreover, this is also dedicated to those with huge and painful setbacks in life of all kinds --- cancer, job loss, money loss, family and friends' deaths, etc.  Christ's peace is at our fingertips, and His healing rays are on their way. Find someone to pray with you who has the gift of calling down the Holy Spirit in a mighty way.


This was written by Horatio Spatford in the late 1800's at the death of his four little daughters just after the loss of all of his assets and job in the Chicago fire. 

IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know^a

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

Refrain

It is well, (it is well),

With my soul, (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 hath shed His own blood for 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!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:

If Jordan above me shall roll,

No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,

Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,

The sky, not the grave, is our goal;

Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!

Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

A song in the night, oh my soul!^b

Background

This hymn was written after traumatic events in Spafford's life. The first was the death of his son at the age of two and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer and had invested significantly in property in the area of Chicago that was extensively damaged by the great fire). His business interests were further hit by the economic downturn of 1873, at which time he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the SS Ville du Havre. In a late change of plan, he sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sea vessel, the Loch Earn, and all four of Spafford's daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved alone …". Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.^[2] Bliss called his tune Ville du Havre, from the name of the stricken vessel.^[3]

The Spaffords later had three more children. On February 11, 1880, their son, Horatio Goertner Spafford, died at the age of four, of scarlet fever. Their daughters were Bertha Hedges Spafford (born March 24, 1878) and Grace Spafford (born January 18, 1881). Their Presbyterian church regarded their tragedy as divine punishment. In response, the Spaffords formed their own Messianic sect, dubbed "the Overcomers" by American press. In 1881, the Spaffords, including baby Bertha and newborn Grace, set sail for Ottoman-Turkish Palestine. The Spaffords settled in Jerusalem and helped found a group called the American Colony. Colony members, later joined by Swedish Christians, engaged in philanthropic work among the people of Jerusalem regardless of their religious affiliation and without proselytizing motives—thereby gaining the trust of the local Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities. During and immediately after World War I, the American Colony played a critical role in supporting these communities through the great suffering and deprivations by running soup kitchens, hospitals, orphanages and other charitable ventures. The colony later became the subject of Jerusalem by the Nobel prize-winning author, Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlöf.^[2]

 For those undergoing great setbacks in their ministries, particularly slanderous attacks and persecutions, here is a quote given to me by my good friend and co-teacher (of 4th graders) at my new building, Karol Carmen.  She handed me a mug with this quote on it and said, "I felt like God was asking me to give this to you."  She had no idea about all the religious persecution I have been going through because I had never mentioned it to her.

   It goes,

"The tallest Oak in the forest was once just a tiny nut that held its ground."

Thanks Karol!

I only knew Karol for 3 months because she just died of a massive coronary on Nov. 4.  Thank you, Karol, for this powerful message!  I thank you, Jesus, especially, for giving it to me through her.  Yes, I have finally begun to hold my ground, thanks to you, Karol, and God's message to me through you!  More inspirations about God's "permissive Will" below -- worth reading!

The following video, the holiest video on Youtube in my opinion, helps one to get through ANY kind of adversity!  Here is the link to the Litany of Humility with pictures from the movie, The Passion of the Christ:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm2kfTwncbI

  

Does God ever cause or is part of actually causing suffering of His servants, His beloved, His closest followers? After reading several books such as Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence by Fr. Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure and St. Claude de Columbiere, as well as The Ascent to Mt. Carmel and Dark Night of the Soul (one of St. Teresa of Calcutta's all time favorites), by St. John of the Cross, I have come to believe that God allows the suffering of innocent and even holy people, called his "Permissive Will," I learned recently from a dear friend.  (the word, "demon" comes from "demean," especially in terms of good people wrongfully persecuted).

I recently had a long trip home with a very holy dear friend who believes that God never ever causes anything we would consider "bad" or persecuting to an individual.  We are in agreement that God never causes illness, disease, major accidents, and so forth, which are caused by everyone's free will bumping against each others' in addition to the human condition while here.

We talked about God's permissive Will too -- how God sometimes allows persecutions in order to forge us like metal into His tools, like Isaiah being forged into a ploughing tool and gold that is tested in fire, with others.  The following are a few Bible quotes.

Job 42:10   "They [friends, family, etc] consoled him and comforted him for all the evil the Lord had brought upon him."

Sirach 2:3-5   "Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient, for in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation."  Does He then, or can He then, actively do the purifying without pain and suffering?  Can metals and elements that are not gold, (and other flaws), ever be separated out except for heat high enough to make metal a liquid?  Can this ever not involve suffering?  Does God do this intense purifying so that the final product is pure gold alone? 

Isaiah 41:15   "I will make of you a threshing sledge (large metal tool), sharp, new, full of teeth, to thresh the mountains..."  The strikes to hot metal in making tools are immense. 

Isaiah 50:6   "I gave my back to those who strike me, my cheeks to those who pluck out my beard; I did not cover my face from buffets and spitting..."  Coming right after the above quote, it appears that Isaiah is spelling out the details of how God Himself actually made of him a sharp-edged tool, through these very things He willed for him, even in excruciating torment at the hands of other religious people.

Even with Christ Himself, the Father willed enormous suffering upon Him, fully human and fully divine, as shown in the following quotes.

Isaiah 53:5 "But He was pierced for our offenses; crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." 

Hebrews 5: 8-9  "Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through suffering.  And having been made perfect, He became the source of salvation to all who obey Him."  Hebrews 5:8-9

Philipians 2:8   "And being found in appearances a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross."  Who is He obeying that is doing this to Him?  Could the Father ever not actively Will all aspects of His death for the salvation of the world?

St. Teresa of Calcutta was a huge St. John of the Cross fan, as many of us. His books mentioned above also propose God doing the purgations of our soul to bring us to higher levels of oneness with Him.

The nights which the soul experiences are the two necessary purgations on the path to Divine union: the first purgation is of the sensory or sensitive part of the soul, the second of the spiritual part (Ascent of Mount Carmel, Ch. 1, 2). Such purgations comprise the first of the three stages of the mystical journey, followed by those of illumination and then union.^[2]St. John does not actually use the term "dark night of the soul", but only "dark night" ("noche oscura").  

Below is the poem He wrote when imprisoned wrongly by his fellow Carmelite brothers for nine months in a "dungeon," beaten and nearly starved.  He came to heavily embrace the experience from God's own hand that lead to much deeper levels of mysticism and oneness with God.

The Dark Night 

St John Of the Cross

"On a dark night,
Kindled in love with yearnings–oh, happy chance!–
I went forth without being observed,
My house being now at rest.

In darkness and secure,
By the secret ladder, disguised–oh, happy chance!–
In darkness and in concealment,
My house being now at rest.

In the happy night,
In secret, when none saw me,
Nor I beheld aught,
Without light or guide, save that which burned in my
heart.

This light guided me
More surely than the light of noonday
To the place where he (well I knew who!) was awaiting me–
A place where none appeared.

Oh, night that guided me,
Oh, night more lovely than the dawn,
Oh, night that joined Beloved with lover,
Lover transformed in the Beloved!

Upon my flowery breast,
Kept wholly for himself alone,
There he stayed sleeping, and I caressed him,
And the fanning of the cedars made a breeze.

The breeze blew from the turret
As I parted his locks;
With his gentle hand he wounded my neck
And caused all my senses to be suspended.

I remained, lost in oblivion;
My face I reclined on the Beloved.
All ceased and I abandoned myself,
Leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies."

Does this idea make one want to run from God, or hate God?  Is He a good Father or not, one may think.  Do children run from a genuinely loving human father or Dad who has to sometimes harshly reprimand children or teenagers when their behavior is totally out of control?  Do they turn around and hate Him or eventually love him all the greater.  Especially when they realize he was so good for them at that time?

This is all the more true when they realize that he knows what he is doing from past history and they already have a trusting, tender relationship with their father, who must come down harshly from time to time.

Listen to the music and lyrics of the Hillsong, "New Wine," about the crushing and pressing God does to make us into new, powerful wine! This goes hand in hand with what one of my dear Benedictine monks, Brother Martin, says that God does to us to prepare us to be His bread and wine in the world.  

The song, "New Wine":     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxo-_SrV1q4&list=RDQxo-_SrV1q4&start_radio=1

Brother Martin explained that He did not come as grapes and wheat, but bread and wine, two man-made things.  HE NEEDS US to be His bread and wine in the world.  He first takes the wheat and pulverizes it to a fine powder.  Then he mixes is with ingredients and BAKES it at a high temperature.  The grapes he smashes to smithereens, liquifying them completely, then he ferments them over a long period of time in which there is a strong chemical change, making them into wine.

But what about when it is not to correct faults, but to strengthen and ready a soul for something big coming in their lives?  Is God the alchemist, then, starting and stoking the fires of purification or strengthening of metal, done in great love, as with Isaiah?

On a sidenote, St. Teresa of Calcutta once said that a turning the other cheek, also a painful persecution, is not a passive act, but a standing your ground in offering the other cheek.  It is a choosing to love, even those who strike you or crucify your character with slanderous words, to offer the cheek in staying within these scenarios, in standing the ground in the righteousness of God.

Finally, what did Jesus say about persecution.  At the end of my favorite all time Bible reading, the Beatitudes, He emphasizes the following (Luke 6:22-23).

"Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude you and insult you,
and denounce your name as evil
on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
Behold your reward will be great in heaven.
For their ancestors treated the prophets
in just the same way." 

"Would that I might know Christ
and the power of His resurrection
and that I might share
 in His sufferings."
          -  St. Ignatius of Loyola

     Please, dear Pope Francis, dear Papa, assign a beloved new bishop to the Columbus, Ohio diocese who will be a voice for the charismatic renewal here, especially reopening Encounter Ministries U.S., and one with a heart and voice for the poor and for peace.  Here is the song and background information from Wikipedia.

  Please, dear Papa, if you will, could you go ahead and canonize Dorothy Day (and Peter Maurin), please.