Everyone should read the book "What's So Amazing About Grace" - at least once in their lifetime. Check out this vintage Yancey story....
"For twelve hours groups like Guns n’ Roses have blasted the crowd through banks of speakers, riling up fans already high on booze and dope. The crowd yells for more curtain calls, and the rock groups oblige. Meanwhile, Jessye Norman sits in her dressing room discussing “Amazing Grace” with Bill Moyers."
The hymn was written, of course, by John Newton, a coarse, cruel slave trader. He first called out to God in the midst of a storm that nearly threw him overboard. Newton came to see the light only gradually, continuing to ply his trade even after his conversion. He wrote the song “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds” while waiting in an African harbor for a shipment of slaves.
Later, though, he renounced his profession, became a minister and joined William Wilderforce in the fight against slavery. John Newton never lost sight of the depths from which he had been lifted. He never lost sight of grace. When he wrote “That saved a wretch like me,” he meant those words with all his heart.
Jessye Norman tells bill Moyers that Newton may have borrowed and old tune sung by the slaves themselves, redeeming the song, just as he had been redeemed.
Finally, the time comes for her to sing. A single circle of light follows Norman, a majestic African- American woman wearing a flowing African dashiki, as she strolls onstage. No backup band, no musical instruments, just Jessye. The crowd stirs, restless. Few recognize the opera diva. A voice yells for more Guns ‘n’ Roses. Others take up the cry. The scene is getting ugly. Alone, a capella, Jessye Norman begins to sing, very slowly:
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see”
A remarkable thing happened in Wembley Stadium that night. Seventy thousand fans fell silent before her aria of grace. By the time Norman reached the second verse,
“Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved”
Several thousand fans are singing along:
“When we’ve been there ten thou-sand years, bright shin-ing as the sun. We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’ve first begun”
Jessye Norman later confessed she had no idea what power descended on Wembley Stadium that night. I think I know.
Jessye Norman tells bill Moyers that Newton may have borrowed and old tune sung by the slaves themselves, redeeming the song, just as he had been redeemed.
Finally, the time comes for her to sing. A single circle of light follows Norman, a majestic African- American woman wearing a flowing African dashiki, as she strolls onstage. No backup band, no musical instruments, just Jessye. The crowd stirs, restless. Few recognize the opera diva. A voice yells for more Guns ‘n’ Roses. Others take up the cry. The scene is getting ugly. Alone, a capella, Jessye Norman begins to sing, very slowly:
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see”
A remarkable thing happened in Wembley Stadium that night. Seventy thousand fans fell silent before her aria of grace. By the time Norman reached the second verse,
“Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved”
Several thousand fans are singing along:
“When we’ve been there ten thou-sand years, bright shin-ing as the sun. We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’ve first begun”
Jessye Norman later confessed she had no idea what power descended on Wembley Stadium that night. I think I know.
The world thirsts for grace. When grace descends, the world falls silent."
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Fourteen million copies of Philip Yancey's book's have been sold worldwide.Click HERE for Yancey's website.
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