Amazing Grace

HE HAD SERVED ON THE SEAS SSINCE HE WAS ELEVEN YEARS OLD. HIS FATHER, AN ENGLISH SHIPMASTER IN THE MEDITERRANEAN, TOOK HIM ABOARD AND TRAINED HIM WELL FOR A LIFE IN THE ROYAL NAVY.

YET WHAT JOHN GAINED IN EXPERIENCE, HE LACKED IN DISCIPLINE. HE MOCKED AUTHORITY. RAN WITH THE WRONG CROWD. INDULGED IN SINFUL WAYS OF A SAILOR. ALTHOUGH HIS TRAINING WHOULD HAVE QUALIFIED HIM TO SERVE AS AN OFFICER, HIS BEHAVIOR CAUSED HIM TO BE FLOGGED AND DEMOTED.

IN HIS EARLY TWENTIES, HE MADE HIS WAY TO AFRICA, WHERE HE BECAME INTRIGUED WITH THE LUCRATIVE SLAVE TRADE. AT AGE 21, HE MADE HIS LIVING ON THE GREHYOUND, A SLAVE SHIP CROSSING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.

JOHN RIDICULED THE MORAL AND PODED FUN AT THE RELIGIOUS. HE EVEN MADE JOKES ABOUT A BOOK THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY HELP RESHAPE HIS LIFE: THEIMITATION OF CHRIST. IN FACT, HE WAS DEGRADING THAT BOOK A FEW HOURS BEFORE HIS SHIP SAILED INTO AN ANGRY STORM.

THAT NIGHT THE WAVES PUMMELED THE GREYHOUND, SPINNING THE SHIP ONE MINUTE ON THE TOP EO A WAVE. PLUNGING HER THE NEXT INTO A WARTERY VALLEY.

JOHN AWAKENED TO FIND HIS CABIN FILLED WITH WATER. A SID OF THE GREYHOUND HAD COLLAPSED. ORDINARILY SUCH DAMAGE WOULD HAVE SENT A SHIP TO THE BOTTOM IN A MATTER OF MINIUTES. THE GREYHOUND, HOWEVER, WAS CARRYING BUOYANT CARGO AND REMAINED AFLOAT.

JOHN WORKED AT THE PUMPS ALL NIGHT. FOR NINE HOURS, HE AND THE OTHER SAILORS STRUGGLED TO KEEP THE SHIP FROM SINKING. BUT HE KNEW THAT IT WAS A LOSING CAUSE. FINALLY, WHEN HIS HOPES WERE MORE BATTERED THAN THE VESSEL, HE THREW HIMSELF ON THE SALTWATER-SOAKED DECK AND PLEADED, “IF THIS WILL NOT DO, THEN LORD HAVE MERCY ON US ALL.”

JOHN DIDN’T DESERVE MERCY, BUT HE RECEIVED IT. THE GREYHOUND AND HER CREW SURVIVED.

JOHN NEVER FORGOT GOD’S MERCY SHOWN ON THAT TEMPTESTUOUS DAY IN THE ROARING ATLANTIC. HE RETURNED TO ENDLAND WHERE HE BECAME A PROLIFIC COMPOSER, WRITING SONGS LIKE:

AMAZING GRACE HOW SWEET THESOUND,

THAT SAVED A WRETCH LIKE ME!

I ONCE WAS LOST BUT NOW AM FOUND

WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE

A YEAR OR TWO BEFORE HIS DEAATH, PEOPLE URGED HIM TO GIVE UP PREACHING BECAUSE OF HIS FAILING SIGHT. “WHAT!” HE EXPLAINED. “SHALL THE OLD AFRICAN BLASPHEMER STOP WHILE HE CAN YET SPEAK.”