All is well! All is well!”
More voices joined as Elizabeth continued with the second verse.
“Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
’Tis not so; all is right.”
A few people let go of the railings and started to walk together, forming an impromptu choir.
“Why should we think to earn a great reward
If we now shun the fight?”
Ann glanced around her as her throat constricted. Perhaps her anger toward God was a type of “shunning the fight.”
How could she earn the great reward, if she now shunned what she’d believed in?
Of course this was hard. It was meant to be.
A ribbon of hope started to swell within her.
As though the next words had been written for her, the unified voices of nearly one hundred people sang together, filling the air with a tangible power.
“Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake.”
Would He really never—no matter her sorrow—forsake her? Ann turned around slowly, taking in each hope-filled face, each dewy eye.
“And soon we’ll have this tale to tell—
All is well! All is well!”
The tears rolled down her cheeks. Her anger and guilt started to crumble, her heart buoyed by the encouraging lyrics, the sheer power of the song. By truth carried on a melody directly to her soul.
Person by person, every passenger on deck began to sing.
“We’ll find the place which God for us prepared,
Far away in the West,
Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid;
There the Saints will be blessed.”
Gathering her voice through her tears, Ann finally joined in, squeezing Elizabeth’s hand once more, her voice feeble yet hopeful.
“We’ll make the air with music ring,
Shout praises to our God and King;
Above the rest these words we’ll tell—
All is well! All is well!”
As she wiped away tears, she glanced up at the sailors who had turned, and though silent and still as they hung on the yards, they watched the passengers with curiosity, their countenances completely changed from just a few minutes before.
Two of the male passengers jumped up on one of the dried meat barrels near the bowsprit and sang with full voice the next verse despite the many in the crowd who were too taken with emotion to continue with loud volume.
