The Slow, Slow Work of God

Many people are aware that the hymn Amazing Grace was written by a man named John Newton who was engaged in the slave trade in the mid 18th century. As reported in the Writer’s Almanac on January 1, 2020, “In 1748, aboard the slave ship Greyhound, Newton called out to God to save him during a violent storm. It wasn't the first time he had found religion in times of crisis, but this was the first time it stuck. Even so, his conversion was gradual, and he stayed with the slave trade for several more years.” Newton ended up being ordained in 1764 and was a vicar in Olney, Buckinghamshire, England, when he wrote the verses to Amazing Grace.

What I find interesting about this story is that Newton didn’t immediately change his slave- trading ways after his terrifying experience in the storm; rather, his change of heart occurred gradually over a period of years. Although the conversion of St. Paul is depicted as being instantaneous, he too had to undergo a period of darkness before his eyes were opened and he was baptized. Conversion is not an event but a process, which should provide encouragement to us as we attempt to put on the mind of Christ. As Teilhard de Chardin counsels, “Above all, trust in the slow, slow work of God.” Eventually, that slow work led John Newton and St. Paul to write hymns and epistles that have provided comfort and inspiration to millions of people. Who knows where it might lead us?