By Rosie Moore

 

I have a piano and I love to play on it. When I was very young a friend of mine had a piano and I would love to sit there and pretend I could play songs. When in school I made very good marks in Music class and learned the notes of the scale, then I learned to adapt them to the notes in a song. I never took piano lessons but I wish I had so that I could play like a concert pianist. The only music book my friend had was a hymn book and that’s what I learned to play. I also learned to play contemporary music such as songs by Ray Charles or classical songs from movie themes, but hymns are the mainstay.

One time while I was playing, I noticed a lot of hymns were written by  Fanny Crosby. I googled her and was amazed at the facts pertaining to her life. A Methodist, American mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer, she wrote more than 8,000 hymns, despite being blind shortly after birth. She could not see with her eyes, but she could see with her heart.

Born in New York, she became ill within two months. Unfortunately, the family doctor was away, and another man–pretending to be a certified doctor–treated her by prescribing hot mustard poultices to be applied to her eyes. Her illness eventually relented, but the treatment left her blind. When the doctor was revealed to be a quack, he disappeared. A few months later, her father died, and her mother was forced to find work as a maid to support her family.

When noted evangelists, such as Dwight Moody, used her hymns in their crusades, they became more popular. Among them are, “Blessed Assurance,” “All the Way My Savior Leads Me,” “To God Be the Glory,” “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior,” “Safe In the Arms of Jesus,” “Rescue the Perishing” and “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross.”

When you sing these hymns, think of the woman who never could see. She is also known for her memorable quotes. “If I had to choose, I would still choose to remain blind….for when I die, the first face I will ever see, will be the face of my beloved Savior.” Also, she quoted: “It’s not enough to have a song on your lips. You must also have a song in your heart.” How many people today prepare for Heaven with these thoughts?

She continued to write poetry up until a month before her ninety-fifth birthday. “You will reach the river brink, some sweet day, “bye and bye”, was her last stanza.

Thought for the day: “This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, all the day long.” Fanny Crosby

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