Reflecting on the impact of hope as an anchor, the words of a timeless hymn resonate within our hearts. The hymn It is Well with My Soul, states:
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll-
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to know
It is well, it is well with my soul.
These words demonstrate the truth that even in trials our souls can be at peace. To understand the full impact, here is the story behind the song. Horatio Spafford, the song's author, was a successful attorney and real estate investor who lost a fortune in the great Chicago fire of 1871. Around the same time, he lost his four-year-old son to scarlet fever.
Thinking a vacation would help, he sent his wife and four daughters on a ship to England with plans to join them after he completed business at home. Sadly, tragedy struck when the vessel his family was on sunk. All but 81 of the 307 passengers and crew lost their lives, including Spafford's four daughters. Anna survived and when she arrived in England, she sent a telegram to her husband that began: "Saved alone. What shall I do?"
Horatio immediately set sale for England. Crossing the Atlantic, the captain of the ship called him to the bridge to show him the place where the shipwreck that took his children had occurred. In that moment, the words of this hymn came to his heart and mind.