The Storm That Became a Doorway

On March 10, 1748, a violent storm nearly swallowed the slave trading ship Greyhound in the North Atlantic. John Newton, a twenty-two-year-old sailor who had mocked God for years, woke to freezing water flooding his cabin. For eleven hours, he and the crew pumped water and plugged holes while waves tore the vessel apart. At one desperate moment, Newton found himself lashed to the deck, certain the sea would claim him.…