Blessed Assurance: Glory from Blindness

Frances Jane was born in Putnam County, New York on March 24, 1820. She was a beautiful baby girl, but at 6 weeks, a misguided doctor attempted to treat an eye infection with a mustard plaster poultice. It was a decision that would leave her blind for the next (nearly) 95 years.

Fanny Crosby at 25

When she was 9, young Fanny Crosby wrote:

"O what a happy soul am I,
Although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don't.
To weep and sigh because I'm blind,
I cannot, and I won't."

Incredibly gifted, she entered New York Institute for the Blind at the age of 15, and after graduating was invited to teach there. While she was in school, Braille hadn't even reached the US yet. She would never use it. Around the age of 20, she met a talented blind musician named Alexander Van Alstyne, who came to her school. They fell in love and were married in 1858.

In 1873, she was visiting her friend Mrs. Phoebe Knapp. By this time she was known to many as Aunt Fanny. During their visit, Mrs. Knapp sat down at her piano and played a new piece she had just written. Phoebe wondered, "What does this tune say?" After a few minutes of thought and prayer, Fanny said, "It says, 'Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!'"

She then began to dictate words to fit in Knapp's tune:

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels, descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

She took great joy in her salvation, her love, and the promise of glory. A blind woman had "visions of rapture...burst[ing] on [her] sight!" The first thing she saw after being blinded as a baby was the glory she sang about in life. Indeed, she once said, "If I had a choice, I would still choose to remain blind...for when I die, the first face I will ever see will be the face of my blessed Saviour."

From her autobiography
Fanny Crosby, Memories of Eighty Years
Published in 1906

Fanny Crosby wrote over 8000 Gospel songs and hymns, in addition to over 1000 non-religious songs. She also published four books of poetry and two autobiographies. She did not allow blindness to hold her back, and in fact, she used it as inspiration and saw it as a gift from God. She is still one of the greatest hymn writers in history. Nobody has come close to writing as many as hymns and Gospel songs as she did.

"It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me."

- Fanny J. Crosby

Fanny Crosby was influential in the lives of multiple US presidents, including Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, James Polk and Grover Cleveland. (In fact, she dictated some of her work to a 15-year-old Cleveland to write down!) She played at President Ulysses S. Grant's funeral and wrote a poetic eulogy for President William Henry Harrison. She also addressed Congress regarding education of the blind. She spent her later years serving the poor and needy, supporting herself with her writing. She could also recite the four Gospels and the first three books of the Old Testament, as well as Ruth, Proverbs and Song of Solomon.

As I blogged previously, I very nearly joined her among the blind. God miraculously healed my eyes, for which I am incredibly grateful. My life would have been very different had my eyes followed the natural progression of retinitis pigmentosa. But I know that even if it had, I would still glorify God. Fanny Crosby is a shining example of keeping in perspective what many would consider a weakness, instead turning it into a strength. We can all learn from her determination, strength, drive and optimism, both despite and because of her blindness.

February 12, 1915 was a glorious day for Fanny. She opened her eyes and saw for the first time since she was 6 weeks old. After nearly 95 years, "visions of rapture now burst on [her] sight," as the first thing she saw was the face of Jesus. In the words of another of her hymns, she was "Safe in the Arms of Jesus."

From her autobiography
Fanny Crosby,
Memories of Eighty Years
Published in 1906

https://www.staugustine.com/story/lifestyle/faith/2015/02/20/story-behind-song-blessed-assurance/16249006007/
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-blessed-assurance
https://wordwisehymns.com/2010/11/20/today-in-1850-fanny-crosby-converted/
https://www.nyise.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=428557&type=d&pREC_ID=936886
https://www.aph.org/fanny-j-crosby-embracing-the-gift/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fanny-Crosby

The Parents of the Savior

Today is Ash Wednesday, which begins the season of Lent. Many Christians take this time to give something up as they prepare for Holy Week and Easter. I don't always do that, but I respect people who do. I think it is important to consider what Christ went through for us. I wrote this poem October 4, 2004, as I reflected on these things, and in particular, how it may have been for Mary and Joseph. The poem was also inspired by the songs "Mary, Did You Know?" by Mark Lowry, "Child of the Manger, Child of the Cross" by Craig Courtney, and "One Quiet Moment" by Bob Kauflin. These songs got me thinking more about how events throughout the Bible were connected.

Image by R. Gino Santa Maria
Adobe Stock

In a humble stable,
A young mother held her newborn baby in her arms
Did the joyful coos make her think
Of the same mouth speaking the stars into place?
Did she realize that the same lips
Spoke to Moses on the mountain
And did she know that one day
They would beg the Father to forgive His enemies?

In a foreign land,
A young couple taught their child how to walk
Did the crawling, toddling legs
Make them think of the same legs
Walking with Adam and Eve in the paradise of the garden?
Did they remember that those legs crushed the Tower of Babel
And that one day those ankles would be pierced
With long, cruel nails?

In a small village,
A father taught his son the art of carpentry
Did those little hands make him think
Of the same hands writing on tablets of stone
And on the wall of a palace?
Did he remember that those hands
Sprinkled manna over a desert
And that one day those wrists would be impaled
With nails bigger than the ones He was hammering into the wood?

Did they know that the back that dazzled Moses
Would one day be ruthlessly beaten
And forced to bear a heavy and slivery cross?
Did they realize that the breath that breathed life into Adam
And blew the waters of the Red Sea apart
Would one day breathe, "It is finished!" and slowly, painfully cease?

***

On a skull-shaped hill,
A mother watched her son die on a cross
She heard Him entrust her to the care of a friend
Did she know what she and her son's friend
Would find three days later?
Did she know that burial spices would be useless
And that her son would refuse to stay dead?

As she agonized over the suffering of her beloved son,
Did she know that the face so mangled and torn
Would so soon be glowing with life?
Did she know that those hands, dripping with blood,
Would so soon be raised in victory?

Did she realize that the love that saved the children of Israel

    The love that gave Jonah another chance
    The love that fed five thousand
    And brought the dead back to life --
Did she realize that that love led Him to pour out His wrath on Himself
To save her very soul?

Did she know that His death would be the shortest-lived death
And that by it He conquered death and sin
Once and for all?

That magnificent head is lifted on high
Crowned with glory and honor and splendor!
All hail the omnipotent King
Who was willing to give up His life and so conquer death
That we may reign forever as His beloved children!