Blind but Able to See

In the nineteenth century popular music meant both purchasing sheet music and finding a piano to test out one’s purchase. The sentiments in these songs spoke of a different era—love surfacing on “a bicycle built for two” or diminishing “after the ball is over.”  For this mostly-forgotten musical world, Fanny Jane Crosby composed almost 9000 hymns. Some of them are still beloved today.

Fanny Crosby always lived on the edge of poverty. Born in 1820 to a young mother who was soon widowed, Fanny developed a serious eye infection when she was six months old. Living before antibiotics, Fanny’s mom turned to a local “expert,” who suggested placing hot poultices on Fanny’s eyes “to draw the fever out.” The result? With eyes irreparably scarred by the heat, Fanny was blind for the rest of her life.

While she could have wallowed in self-pitying misery, Fanny took another path. Encouraged by her godly grandmother, Fanny developed her mind memorizing large sections of Scripture. She also learned to love nature, feeling her way through her world in response to Grandma Eunice’s explicit, image-rich commentary. From her earliest days, Fanny learned to trust and serve God.

By the time she was a teen, Fanny’s little country school could not handle her needs, talents, or broad curiosity. At that time, the United States had only two schools for blind students: one in Boston and the other in Fanny’s home state of New York. So, fifteen and fearful, Fanny traveled to NYC to begin her studies. With her move to the New York Institution for the Blind, Fanny found a home for the next seven years as a student and then for an additional fourteen years as a teacher. She excelled at grammar, stumbled through Braille—her guitar-calloused fingers failing to make subtle and important distinctions, and almost despaired because of math—particularly division. But what numbers could not do for Fanny, meter, rhyme, and image did: she loved to write poetry. 

After determining Fanny was a “real” poet, by the somewhat bizarre technique of forbidding her to write poetry until she became extremely depressed and sick, the NY Institution officials named her their official poet. This appointment meant Fanny wrote poems on demand—to welcome visitors (and potential donors) to the school, to celebrate holidays, and to commemorate milestones. Writing these poems was good training; for all her life, Fanny Crosby proved a one-woman poetry factory. 

After Fanny married fellow New York Institute teacher Alexander van Alstyne, she left her teaching position. The details about this marriage are limited. In many ways, Fanny was circumspect about her personal life, in spite of publishing several autobiographies. We know the van Alstynes had a child, who died in infancy. We also know that Alexander’s work as a professor and Fanny’s as a lyricist led the spouses to become so emotionally distant from each other that they eventually chose to live in separate places. Still Fanny always contended that she loved her husband, and, in her words, “honored him until his death.” 

       Combined with her excellent public speaking ability and relentless good cheer, Fanny Crosby became a phenomenon. She spoke before Congress about education for the blind; she worked for the best-known Christian music companies of her days; she appeared in Dwight L. Moody’s crusades. And she kept turning out hymns. Fanny was scrupulously honest, and since her contract required her to produce two hymns a week, she relentlessly wrote each night.

Many of Fanny’s poems were rushed, repetitive, and unremarkable. Still, she penned an incredible number of hymns that were life-changing and enduring, such as “All the Way My Savior Leads Me,” “Blessed Assurance,” and “Trust and Obey.” Fanny, who lived in the New York City’s Bowery section, also served in local rescue missions. All who knew her said she was forthright and caring, humble and encouraging. Fanny lived at a poverty-level and cared little for the trappings of her success. A loveable workaholic, she tirelessly served Christ’s Body.

Taken as a whole, Fanny Crosby’s hymns define the descriptor “gospel.” Their lyrics often explain the basics of the Christian life: 

·       How to come to Christ by faith (“Pass me Not, O Gentle Savior” and “Tell Me the Story of Jesus”)

·       What happened at the cross (“To God be the Glory” and “Praise Him, Praise Him” and

·       How to live as a follower of Christ (“Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross” and “I Am Thine, O Lord”).  

Many of Fanny’s hymns described her own Christian life, explaining her confident outlook and contending that a child of the King travels an unbroken path from earth to heaven. 

Although Fanny had completed her most famous hymns by 1885 (in other words, during her first fifteen years of hymn writing), her hymn “He Hideth my Soul” (1890) defies this pattern. Here, Fanny bases her words on Moses’ experience of seeing God’s glory as recorded in Ex. 33:18-23. Speaking as a representative for all true Christians,

·      Fanny identifies the Lord of the Old Testament as the Savior of the New.

·       In Him, we find shelter: just as God covered Moses, so He covers believers today. 

·      Rather than discovering “a dry, thirsty land,” believers experience divinely distributed “rivers of pleasure,” and

·      God delivers them from their burdens: He provides daily strength and promises a future, perfect salvation.

Fanny Crosby’s story is arresting: a poor, differently-abled, fatherless girl becomes one of the most famous people of her era. People loved Fanny, and they delighted in hearing her story. This four-foot ten musician often stated her belief that both her talents (being able to rhyme with ease) and her liabilities (her lack of sight) were trusts from her heavenly Father, gifts to be invested in the furthering of His Kingdom. No wonder Fanny Crosby’s songs still survive even when their gospel style seems largely outdated. The hymns are promises that “whoever honors God He will honor” (1 Samuel 2:30).