It is well, with my soul.
Good Friday 2020
Good Friday is a significant day in the Christian calendar. It also appears to be a significant day for me and the understanding of my faith.
Looking back I can see that for me this day matters. Whatever my mental, emotional or physical state, or the outward manifestation of my faith, Good Friday draws me back. Back into the understanding that to worship God and follow the path laid out in the life of Jesus of Nazareth is at the heart of who I am. It is comforting.
There have been many times when I have found myself uncomfortable in a community of faith. Unable to attend community worship because of feeling disconnected. Today reminds me that that is okay. It is not a reflection of the state of my faith, but a reflection of my human, mental and emotional capacity.
A few years ago I spent a month with a dear friend. Catharine was one of the smartest and most uncompromisingly honest people I have known. Tragically, she had been diagnosed with a brain tumour. The operations and treatment had been brutal and the month was spent in hospitals and rehab places in Philadelphia. She has been on my mind a lot lately.
One evening Catherine had decided she wanted to hear and sing some hymns. She was still well enough to insist on no ‘Hillsong,’ even Sandi Patty was too much of a ‘belter.’ Thankfully Youtube had a good selection and we enjoyed a couple of hours of Christian Karaoke. I had closed the door, but there is no way that the nurses didn’t hear us. That they did not ask us to shush is remarkable.
A week or so later, on my last evening with her, she looked me straight in the eye and said ‘I am not going to get my apartment in Richmond, am I?
What happened next was obvious and expected. I was sent across the road to Walgreens for ice cream. We had eaten a lot of ice cream. Orange sorbet was her favourite for breakfast, but after that it was always coffee flavour.
As we sat together, eating ice cream and talking of many things, there was only one hymn she wanted. A hymn that had been written in response to a great tragedy by Horatio Spafford . It was a comfort to her then and today is a comfort to me.
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.
It is well
With my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul.
