In the Book of Hosea in the Old Testament, the prophet Hosea once rebuked the Israelites for making a Golden Calf from gold and silver and worshipping it, saying that they sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind.
The thing most feared at sea was a storm. Before such overwhelming natural force, a novice sailor who had just boarded a ship and an experienced captain had the same odds of survival. Napoleon Bonaparte was luckier than Thomas-Alexandre Dumas: whether departing from Marseille for Egypt or sailing back from Egypt, he never encountered a shipwreck.
John Newton was born in London, Britain, the son of a Mediterranean trading ship captain. From the age of eleven, he sailed with his father near Venice. He often had a dream in which he paced back and forth across the deck before someone approached him and handed him a ring. The man especially instructed Newton to guard it carefully: as long as he kept the ring safe, he would gain happiness and success, but if he put it elsewhere, he would suffer trouble and pain.
Newton happily accepted the gift. He firmly believed he could keep it safe, delighted that happiness was in his own hands.
Later, another person approached him and contemptuously told Newton that he actually believed such deceptive nonsense, then advised him to throw the ring away.
At first, Newton was uncertain, but eventually he decided to slip the ring off his finger and toss it into the river.
The instant the ring touched the water, an astonishing blaze erupted from the snowy peaks of the Alps not far behind Venice. Newton knew he had caused trouble and wanted to save it, but it was already too late. The tempter told him that he had casually thrown away the ring containing all