{"id":3517,"date":"2024-03-27T09:06:51","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T13:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3517"},"modified":"2024-03-27T09:06:51","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T13:06:51","slug":"i-once-was-blind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/27\/i-once-was-blind\/","title":{"rendered":"I Once Was Blind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>

Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at the miracles of Jesus \u2013 his spectacular displays of supernatural power that are reported in the Gospels.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>

A near disaster at sea transformed one man\u2019s life.

And that ended up changing both music history and spiritual history.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0

On May 10, 1748, the wooden frigate\u00a0Greyhound\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 built to transport Africans to the New World, where they would live out the rest of their lives as slaves \u2013 was caught in a violent storm off the coast of Ireland.\u00a0 As wave after wave broke over the decks, its 23-year-old captain, John Newton, screamed into the wind, \u201cGod, have mercy!\u201d\u00a0

This was decidedly out of character for Newton, who freely acknowledged he had no serious spiritual convictions.

When the storm began to die down, Newton concluded his prayers had been heard.\u00a0 He decided to devote his life to God.\u00a0

Newton\u2019s conscience, unfortunately, remained untroubled by his human cargo for nearly seven years.\u00a0 As his faith moved from his head to his heart, however, he resolved to leave the trade.\u00a0 Years later he would write, \u201cI was once an active instrument in a business at which my heart now shudders.\u201d

At first he was rejected for ordination in the Anglican Church because of his disgraceful past.

In 1764 he was finally granted permission to enter the ministry, in which he served for 43 years.\u00a0 Newton became one of England\u2019s fiercest opponents of slavery and a mentor to William Wilberforce, the politician who spearheaded the British abolitionist movement.\u00a0 He died in 1807, the very year that the trading and transporting of slaves was formally abolished in the Empire.

Today Newton is chiefly remembered as a hymn writer.\u00a0 His most famous work was published in 1773, three years before the start of the American Revolution:

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.<\/em>
I once was lost but now I\u2019m found, was blind but now I see.<\/em>

Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved<\/em>
How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.<\/em>

Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come.<\/em>
Tis grace has kept me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.<\/em>

Newton\u2019s original hymn included at least nine other verses, most of which are unknown to modern congregations.\u00a0

It\u2019s estimated that\u00a0Amazing Grace\u00a0<\/em>has been recorded by more than a thousand artists, and is sung or performed at least 10 million times every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not everyone realizes that the last phrase of its famous first verse springs directly from the account of one of Jesus\u2019 miracles.  In John chapter nine, Jesus approaches a man who has been blind since birth.  Whereas other people in the Gospels find Jesus by any means possible \u2013 by calling out to him, begging at his feet, reaching out for his clothes, or being lowered to him through a roof \u2013 it seems that Jesus, in this case, is the initiator.  He does the finding. 

Having smeared mud on the man\u2019s eyes, he tells him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam, which remains today a public watering hole in Jerusalem (John 9:7). 

For the first time in his life, he can see.

The religious authorities are skeptical.  Then furious.  Then downright disrespectful.  Having committed themselves to the policy of discrediting Jesus, the alleged healing of a man born blind who is apparently well known in Israel\u2019s capital is definitely not helping their cause. 

They descend upon this poor fellow, demanding to know what kind of conspiracy or sleight of hand or pact with the devil has opened his eyes.  They refuse to entertain the possibility that Jesus might be acting as an agent of God\u2019s power.  \u201cWe know this man is a sinner,\u201d they declare.

The former blind man replies, \u201cWhether he is a sinner or not, I don\u2019t know.  One thing I do know.  I was blind but now I see!\u201d (John 9:25)

Before that day is out, Jesus will note that there\u2019s more than one kind of blindness.  Some people walk in physical darkness because of visual incapacity.  But walking in spiritual darkness because of an unwillingness to see the truth is far worse. 

John Newton once was lost, but then was found \u2013 just like the man who was found by Jesus.  He was blind, but then could see. 

Every follower of Jesus can tell a similar story.

It would no doubt have warmed Newton\u2019s heart to know that his simple hymn would ultimately become one of the most cherished expressions of the Good News in African-American<\/em> churches.

The epitaph on his London tombstone reads:

John Newton, clerk,<\/strong>
once an infidel and libertine,<\/strong>
a servant of slaves in Africa,<\/strong>
was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,<\/strong>
preserved, restored, pardoned,<\/strong>
and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of his life, in other words, was one of amazing grace.

Just like all of us who have had our own eyes opened, in one way or another, by Jesus\u2019 touch. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at the miracles of Jesus \u2013 his spectacular displays of supernatural power that are reported in the Gospels.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 A near disaster at sea transformed one man\u2019s life. And that ended up changing both music history and spiritual history.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 On May… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[704,705,449,11],"class_list":["post-3517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-amazing-grace","tag-blindness","tag-healing","tag-miracles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3517"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3519,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3517\/revisions\/3519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}