His Song and Experience in a Coal Mine
“The greatest English poet of his age,” said Dr. James Moffatt when speaking of William Cowper. But this same writer gave us some of our most cherished hymns. They are greatly beloved in our American churches as well as in his native land. Among those richly cherished and frequently used in worship is the one which deals with Divine Providence:
“God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform.”
This hymn “has helped multitudes to bear up under the blows of apparently adverse fortune,” we are told by W. T. Stead. Referring to the verse which reads:
“Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head,”
we are told that “It has been much used in times of danger and distress.”
In confirmation of this statement, we have the experience of the Rev. Eric Kinworthy, Rotherham, England. This personal incident won first prize among six hundred hymn stories submitted to The Methodist Recorder, London, in a “Readers’ Christmastide Symposium,” December, 1946. We give the story in the words of Mr. Kinworthy, who indicated the effect it had on his life:
“As a boy in my ’teens my work was that of a pony-driver in the local coal-mine, and being a lover of horses, my work-mate and I were on good terms. Usually we were kept very busy, for two ponies and their drivers were needed to keep the colliers supplied with empty tubs, and to take away the full tubs from the coal-face.
“One afternoon, since but few of the men were at work, Captain, my pony, was well able to do the work by himself. The other pony was allowed to stay in the stables. As we went on our way to the end of the level with a full load, I was singing a hymn.
“Suddenly, there was an awful crash. We were jerked to a standstill. It was impossible to see anything until the dust cleared. In a little while, I found the roof had caved in, and resting on top of the first two tubs was a huge stone weighing about two hundredweights. Other big stones were lying around. I was badly frightened, but realized my life had been wonderfully spared from death or certain injury. If the pony had not increased his pace a moment or two before, nothing could have saved us. I had been singing a moment before—
“‘God moves in a mysterious way.
His wonders to perform.’
Immediately I knelt in the dust and dedicated my life to God. He had spared me for some high purpose. Today I am trying to fit in, in that great purpose, as a minister.”