Homeless persons’ memorial: ‘The work of loving, giving, serving, and rescuing is ours, if we choose’

Presenter: Speaking at a candlelight vigil and memorial on the longest night of the year, from the Lived Experience Advisory Group for Unhoused Engagement (LEAGUE), Richard Self:

Richard Self (LEAGUE): On this long night, we gather to honor and celebrate the lives of those unhoused we have lost. Our neighbors to the north, in Multnomah County, tallied 453 souls lost this year.

[00:00:32] Being unhoused comes with constant trauma and tragedy, many times seeming to be overwhelming—especially at this time of year. So as we remember those we have lost, we must remember that it is us, the living, that must not give up, nor lose our faith.

[00:00:58] In that spirit, I will now share a story, over a century old, of trauma, tragedy, and loss during what is supposed to be the most joyous time of year.

[00:01:15] In mid-November 1873, an ocean liner set sail from New York with 313 passengers on board. One can imagine their festive Atlantic crossing with ribbons of red, swags of evergreen, and Christmas carols waffling through the dining room. In a few days, they would make landfall in Europe just weeks before the Christmas in Paris.

[00:01:43] Anna Spafford and her four little girls were among the happy passengers. They had come from Chicago. And their father, Horatio, had intended to sail with them, but was detained on business. Not to worry, he assured his wife and children. He would book his passage in a few days, and they would soon be in the City of Lights, celebrating the seasons of joy.

[00:02:09] And joy is what they needed. Two years earlier, the Great Chicago Fire had all but destroyed Horatio’s business. This journey was intended to restore hope and bring healing into their lives, which was why on the ship on the evening of Nov. 22, Anna and her girls knelt down and said prayers for peace and fell asleep dreaming of the Yuletide festivities to come.

[00:02:42] At about two o’clock in the morning, they were jolted awake in their berths. Despite the clear, starry night sky, the ocean liner had inexplicably collided with the Loch Earn, an iron-hulled Scottish clipper.

[00:03:01] Lifeboats were quickly filled with people; many passengers leapt into the icy waters. Anna tried desperately to keep her children together, but the two eldest became separated in the confusion.

[00:03:16] Just 12 minutes after impact, a wave washed over the deck and Anna was drawn under the water with her youngest daughters. She held on to her five-year-old until her strength gave out, and her last memory was of two-year-old Tanetta in her delicate nightgown, getting drawn down and getting smaller and smaller until she, too, finally disappeared.

[00:03:45] Later, the crew of the Loch Earn found Anna unconscious, floating on a wooden plank. When the ship docked in Wales, Anna sent a telegram to her husband saying, “Saved alone. What shall I do?”

[00:04:05] Horatio immediately sailed from New York. And there is just one thing in these days that became magnificently clear. He wrote to a friend: ‘I must not lose faith.’

[00:04:21] Four days into his voyage, on a Thursday evening, the captain summoned Mr. Spafford to the foredeck. By the crew’s calculations, they were nearing the place where the ship had gone down, taking it with the bodies of the four daughters, now residing three miles below. But Horatio, Horatio refused to look down.

[00:04:50] He did not think of the dear ones there, he later recounted. Instead he gazed out over the rolling waves and up into the moonlit sky and there he began to formulate a simple expression of his faith, a verse that would become a beloved hymn.

[00:05:11] ‘When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.’  

[00:05:27] A few weeks earlier, in the same place, on the open sea, Anna had experienced a similar awakening. After her rescue, she regained consciousness and became overcome with despair. She wanted to throw herself back into the ocean. What was life worth living without her beloved children?

[00:05:54] But then, as she heard a voice in her mind, and in her heart, that said: You are spared for a purpose. You have work to do. They returned to Chicago and Anna gave birth to a boy and then a girl. But sorrow upon sorrow, Horatio Jr. succumbed to scarlet fever, and although only two of their seven children survived to maturity, the Spaffords never yielded hope.

[00:06:35] They moved their family to Jerusalem and established what they called the American Colony not far from the little town of Bethlehem we celebrate at Christmas. Although they were deeply religious, their purpose was not to preach or proselytize, but to serve the people of all backgrounds, relieving the effects of poverty, disease, and strife, wherever they were found.

[00:07:01] Seven years later, Horatio died. Once again, Anna had the reason to give up, but she did not. In her most profound spiritual crisis, when all seemed lost, Anna found the strength to move forward and to turn outward to continue what she and her husband had begun. And the seed of service they planted in others bore sweet fruit.

[00:07:30] And so they established the Spafford Family Hospital for Children, which is their most established work and still bears their name to this day. For over 150 years, millions have sung and been lifted by Horatio’s hymn, ‘It Is Well With My Soul.’ Most are unaware of the circumstances in which it was written.

[00:08:00] But they have been strengthened by its universal message. Horatio’s words resound with the truth we celebrate at Christmas. A child was born in Bethlehem, bringing peace on Earth and goodwill toward men. Because of him, the human spirit can arise above tragedy, wherever and whenever we suffer our own night of sorrow.

[00:08:30] His love does shine in the darkness. His peace can heal the wounded soul. And the Christmas work of giving, loving, serving, and rescuing is ours, if we choose to make it so. And as we do, we join with saints and angels to rejoice and sing: ‘It is well, it is well with my soul.’

[00:08:55] Presenter: Richard Self of LEAGUE, speaking at the Homeless Persons’ Memorial in downtown Eugene Dec. 21.

Image courtesy Wikimedia, by Horatio G. Spafford (words); Philip P. Bliss (music) – Ira David Sankey, Philip Paul Bliss: Gospel Hymns No. 2, Cincinnati-Chicago-New York 1876, No. 76, Public Domain.