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Amazing Grace
Thu Mar 18, 2004
Listen in RealAudio 
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound..." So begins the beloved spiritual. But did you know its
author, John Newton, was inspired by a storm at sea? Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather
Notebook.
By his own accounts, Newton was truly a wretch: "My whole life," he said, "...a course of most
horrid impiety and profaneness." But, in 1748, when the captain of
the Greyhound
befriended Newton, the seeds of Grace were sown.
Between the Grand Banks and England, a brutal storm catches the Greyhound.
Crashing waves sweep the deck and flood the cabin below.
As Newton reaches the companionway ladder, the captain orders: "Get a knife." As Newton obeys,
another sailor climbing the ladder is swept overboard.
Miraculously, though gale-battered and leaking badly, the Greyhound remains
afloat,
buoyed by its cargo of beeswax and wood. The crew labors to plug the leaks and pump the bilge.
A shipmate cries out, "We cannot save her."
To his amazement, Newton prays for divine assistance and mercy. "I thought I saw the hand of
God displayed in our favour," he said. His faith reawakened, Newton pumps to exhaustion, then
staggers to his bunk to await death. But the captain orders Newton to take the helm and for
eleven hours, he guides the ship through the gale's fury.
The storm passes, leaving Greyhound nearly derelict but afloat. John Newton
receives
his "great deliverance."
Newton is convinced that God's grace has led him through the storm:
"Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home."
For his remaining life, Newton observed March 10th as the day of his conversion, eventually
leaving the sea to be ordained a minister in 1764.
Thanks to our contributing writer, meteorologist Keith Heidorn. The Weather Notebook is
supported by Subaru and the National Science Foundation.
Today's Links
Amazing Grace: The Story of John Newton
http://www.texasfasola.org/biographies/johnnewton.html
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