Grace…

John Newton’s first title for Amazing Grace wasn’t, well, so amazing. Faith’s Review and Expectation, John’s first name for the song we know as Amazing Grace wasn’t exactly sticky. He wrote it way back in the day, 1773 to be exact. The song didn’t make him popular and didn’t achieve popularity until nearly 200 years later, in 1970, some British woman belted it out and the world took notice. Instantly, this old hymn was getting heard.

After 9/11 the hymn was literally heard around the world.

Over and over, as our nation grieved the losses at the Pentagon, World Trade Centers, and Pennsylvania, Amazing Grace was repeated. Today, there are more renditions of John’s hymn than nearly any other on Amazon. When I search for it on Spotify, the song just scrolls and scrolls and scrolls. I would say John Newton hit it big. His legacy lives on.

Today, keep Amazing Grace in your head. Hum it. Replay your favorite rendition and remember. Remember all of us are gonna leave someday. And, we’re gonna leave behind a legacy. We’re gonna transmit something to the next generation. STOP worrying about the size of your estate or the size of your signal. Your only job is to transmit.

Keep rinsing and repeating. Keep singing like a Lark, when you feel like it and when you certainly do not. Keep responding to God’s call. Keep turning toward instead of running away. Keep finding the blessings amongst the bummers. Keep transmitting more love than fear. And, like John, your transmission may not be received and appreciated for a long, long time. Transmit, anyway. Faith’s Review and Expectation. Amazing, huh.

Live hard. Love harder. Grace…