My next youngest brother, David, was a Baptist pastor. For that matter, my dad, Doug, and my brother Andy are also retired Baptist preachers. I like to say they were all paid to be good and I’m good for nothing… but back to David.

David passed away on Easter Sunday morning, April 11th, 2004 after a lengthy illness. He spent from just after Christmas to the morning he died in hospital. Because of his condition, our family stayed with him the whole time he was in the hospital. His wife and kids were there constantly when they weren’t in school. Mum was there overnight almost every night with the rest of the family filling in so he wasn’t ever alone. It was a long, tear filled time while the docs did their best to try to figure out what was wrong and what they could do to fix it. In the end, they couldn’t.

I wrote “We’ll Sail on Through” while David was in the hospital and finished it shortly after his death. It’s a song that’s reminiscent of Nova Scotia; sea, ships and sailing. It’s a song of hope that looks to the future. The idea came from Matthew 8:23-27. If you’re in the midst of life’s angry seas, I hope you’ll find some comfort in the lyrics.