Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
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.
While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after
a collision with another ship. All four of his daughters died. His wife Anna
survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved alone . . .” Shortly
afterwards, as Horatio G.
Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write
these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.
When peace like a
river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
We’ve all had bad days.
We’ve all had hard times that felt like they would last for months, possibly
even years. How many of us in the span of three years after seeing the joys of
our only son (or daughter) born and losing them suddenly; after having our businesses
take off and we experience the joy that we had “finally made it”, only to lose
it all; and then to be further devastated with the loss of our other children
would have the fortitude to be able to muster the words, “It is well with my
soul”?
It takes great courage.
Whether you are religious or not; whether you believe Jesus Christ died for the
sins of mankind or you believe in some other deity, it takes a lot to look at a
bad situation, a perilous situation and be able to revel in the knowledge that
there is a plan in all of this. It’s not just a scenario of coincidences; there
is a purpose to your life and you must carry it forward.
I am not going to use this
column to try to convert you to the ways of Christianity (I’ll do that off line
if you like). What I want us to realize as a community is that we have people
around us hurting every day.
Many of us know each other
well enough. We know each other’s kids. We know each other’s habits. We know
when our friends and business colleagues are having a bad day. We know when
they are going through a tough time.
What about those that we
don’t know? What about the gas station attendant who is slow to ring up our
total? What about the fast food worker who can’t seem to take our order right?
What about the bank teller who is slow to count our paycheck? How are they
hurting?
More importantly, what can
you or I do to make their day a little brighter? Why does it always have to be
about me? Why can’t for a moment it be about them? There are two quotes I am reminded of by two
notable women I would like to share with you, the first is by Mary Anne Evans, an English novelist and one of the leading writers of
the Victorian era, she was better known
by her pen name George Eliot. She penned the words, “What do we live for if it is not to make
life less difficult for each other?” The second is from Mother Teresa, who
stated, “Kind words can be short and easy
to speak, but their echoes are truly endless”.
How beautiful. How simple.
How true. It only takes a kind word or a simple smile in times of turmoil and
strife to give someone hope. Be that hope for someone. Be that beam of light
through the dark clouds.
I encourage you to use
your skills, your talents, and your words to help others. It can be in a small
way or it can be a bold outright act of service to others. However you choose
to help, I guarantee you will get as much or more out of the act of giving than
others will from receiving your wisdom. Be someone’s hope and together our
community will grow to reach its full potential.
But Lord,
'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
Sources consulted: Wikipedia.org - ItIs Well with My Soul; Wikipedia.org - George Eliot; Cyberhymnal.org – It IsWell With My Soul; Leadership Through The Ages: a Collection of Favorite Quotations
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* This article was originally printed in the Sunday, March 17, 2013 issue
of The Chronicle's"Planting Seeds" column.
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