Is it well with your soul even when you suffer? The hymn “It Is Well” not only expresses loss, but also the writer’s confidence in God and his sovereignty. Today, on Memorial Day, take a moment to pause and remember those who have sacrificed for you, and pray for their families.
It’s not every day I get a letter from a sailor named Ken!
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and I received a letter from a veteran US Navy sailor named Ken. He served on the USS Constellation in the 1960s, and he took the time to share several memories of life on board that aircraft carrier for three and a half years. It was, after all, Ken’s home all that time. But, oh, my goodness, what a home, considering all the restrictions – when Ken would shower, there was always a fellow sailor standing outside the stall timing his water consumption!
But he also shared a memory that holds special significance for Memorial Day. Toward the end of his time aboard ship, they suffered a casualty when one of their jets went down and the Navy pilot could not be recovered. It was only right and fitting that the loss be marked by holding a memorial service on the ship’s flight deck. The parents of this downed serviceman, of course, could not participate from so far away, but they made one single request of the navy: would some of the sailors please sing the hymn "It is Well with My Soul"? Well, of course, the chaplain was eager to arrange this, and Ken – the Navy veteran sharing this story with me – he was chosen to join the small men’s choir. With a little bit of practice, the men were ready and joined the others on the huge hangar deck for this somber memorial on the open seas.
During the memorial service, the captain had the engine room shut down its motors. The massive ship slowly drifted to a stop. And there, on the silent ocean, the words of the hymn rang out: “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.” And needless to say, it was a powerful moment and the hearts of every sailor were moved. My naval veteran friend, Ken, never forgot that moment. And to this day, whenever he hears “It Is Well,” he recalls that majestic moment when the strong voices of that naval choir rang out across the open seas. It was a moment “when sorrows like sea billows roll;” but it was also a declaration of confidence in the God of the Bible who created the depths and the boundaries of all the oceans of the world.
On that solemn occasion, it was noted that the stirring words of the ‘very appropriate’ hymn, those words were penned by Horatio Spafford who, like those naval veterans, also remembered the loss of life in the middle of the vast ocean. It was Mr. Spafford who, after the captain stopped his ship at the very place where his daughters drowned, Mr. Spafford left the deck, went down to his cabin, and wrote that hymn as not only an expression of his sorrow, but as a statement of confidence in the God of the Bible. This story that Ken shared is a good reminder on Memorial Day. Today is an opportunity for us to stop the engines, turn off the motor, so to speak, and pause in the midst of the vast ocean of our active, busy life. To remember, and honor, and pray, and yes, maybe to sing: “O Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds [will] be rolled back as a scroll; the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend; even so, it is well with my soul.” Oh, may it be well with the souls of those family members, right, who, today, are remembering their loved ones on Memorial Day, friends like that Navy pilot who went down at sea.
© Joni and Friends