Sunday, February 24, 2008

Sunday Doodles: Kenya Shall Rise; It is Well

There is a hymn I like very much. The story behind the penning of the hymn is a humbling one indeed. The hymn, It is Well with My Soul, was penned by Horatio Spafford.
This hymn was written after several traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first was the death of his only son in 1871, shortly followed by the great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer). Then in 1873, he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the S. S. Ville Du Havre, but sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with another ship, and all four of Spafford’s daughters died. Spafford’s wife, Anna, survived and sent him the now famous telegram, “Saved alone.” Shortly afterwards, as Spafford travelled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write the hymn as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.

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

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, 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!

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

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

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


Just like Horatio, Kenyans have lost a lot and some are barely holding on. Some are holding to a thin, frayed thread to avoid sliding off the edge of the precipice into an abysmal abyss. And the thread is threatening to snap…

One thing I believe with all my heart is that Kenya will rise above this present situation (oh, but at what cost!); Kenyans will smile again; Kenyans will ‘live’ to see tomorrow. This has, and will always be, my prayer.

Every time I look into the eyes of the children in the camps, tears well up in my eyes and course down the entire breadth of my face. If only tears could help!

I call upon all of us to help in our own unique ways. Emotionally: hold, embrace, speak positive words to the affected etc; Socially: offer whatever you could offer to alleviate the suffering (food, clothing etc).

Let the Golden Rule ‘speak’ in our actions: Do unto others what you would like them to do unto you.

Have a blessed week.

(Drop me a line at: undaunted at yahoo dot com)

4 comments:

  1. Amen Ritch.

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  2. Ritch,
    I join you in singing "it is well with my soul." This does not mean that I am enjoying the present. No. It is still gloomy. But there is a sense in which I really don't care how it turns out. What is important is that my relationship with God is OK. I want to say with Paul of the Bible, "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain." There is a peace in knowing that God is in control, and that my destiny is not dependent on what politicians think or want-it is dependent on God's will for my life. In Ruanda, more than a million people died, but there are many other millions who, thro' God's will lived to tell the tale. What I am saying is that my hope and trust is in the LORD, not any man. The Bible acknowledges that the heart of man is desperately wicked, and only the LORD can change hearts of stone to those of flesh. Our hope should be in God, not Annan. Annan is a finite human being with limited capacity, but God is infinite and omniscient. Could this crisis be an answer to prayer that the 80% Kenyan population which is Christian should turn to God with all its heart? Could God be asking us to fast and sit in sackcloth and pray? could God be telling us that we should acknowledge that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and that we should see one another thro'the eyes of God and not thro' the eyes of politicians? I think so.

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  3. O GOD OF ALL CREATION

    BLESS THIS OUR LAND AND NATION

    JUSTICE BE OUR SHIELD AND DEFENDER

    MAY WE DWELL IN UNITY

    PEACE AND LIBERTY

    PLENTY BE FOUND WITHIN OUR BORDERS


    The future is promising if we seize this constitutional moment.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The buck does not stop with Annan or Martha Karua.....The answer to our predicament is God and only God

    ReplyDelete

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