Sight Lines - Fanny Crosby

1820–1915

In the late 1800s, she was the poet laureate of American Christianity. Well into the 1900s, it was hard to find an evangelical church service that didn’t feature a Fanny Crosby song. She wrote about eight thousand song lyrics in her ninety-five years, and many of them found their way into church hymnals . . . and Christian hearts, including “To God Be the Glory,” “Blessed Assurance,” and “Near the Cross.”

As a baby, Frances Jane Crosby had an eye infection mistreated by a doctor, blinding her for life. Would she have been any more creative if she could see?

“It has always been my favorite theory that the blind can accomplish nearly everything that may be done by those who can see,” Fanny wrote. She accepted her blindness as one might accept being short or blonde or left-handed. You might expect some bitterness to seep through into her writing, but her songs and stories were consistently upbeat, expressing the deep satisfaction of knowing Jesus and her delight in serving him. And she did serve him—not only in her prolific songwriting, but also by helping out in New York City rescue missions.

As a teenager at the New York Institution for the Blind, Fanny had good teachers (she became one there) and made good connections for the future (she found a husband there). The school also encouraged her as a writer. It’s possible that her creativity developed there in ways that wouldn’t have happened elsewhere.

From ancient times there has been a mystique around the blind poet, the one who “sees” in a way that others don’t. That might be what we have here. Surely it was a hardship for Fanny Crosby to be blind, but it might also have been a gift. It enabled her to “see” things that others missed—a whole dimension of God’s goodness that many of us never realize.

Maybe you’re struggling with a hardship. You can’t get around like you used to. You’ve lost someone close to you. Or you’re single and you wish you weren’t. It doesn’t help to deny the pain, but for a moment, consider what gift God might be granting you—a slowdown, a refocus, a deeper love for Christ.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you.

Ephesians 1:18, NIV