Darkness. Isolation. Unknown. This is the definition of normalcy for the blind. The sense of sight is an unwrapped and forgotten gift to all who possess it and a despised curse to some who do not. For some say that happiness is a choice – a state accessible to any and all who desire it. Few who are persecuted by life’s injustices decide to rejoice regardless. But for one exceptional blind woman, darkness, isolation, and a world of unknowns was not an acceptable normalcy.
Born March 24, 1820, Francis Jane Crosby saw the world for six short weeks. When she developed a case of the common cold and the family doctor was away, a replacement was called. The man who claimed to be a skilled physician prescribed a poultice for Fanny’s eyes that took away her sight. At five years old, an optometrist told Fanny’s mother that her daughter would never see again.
Any individual in Fanny’s position would surely be given permission to embrace an attitude of bitterness toward the man who robbed her of all her potential happiness in life. But Fanny was a unique child. Even at the age of eight, she recognized the freedom her soul could find in the decision to be content with her lot in life. She took up writing and wrote these lines in a cheery poem: “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!”
It is true that Fanny saw and enjoyed much more than many seeing people do today. In her ninety-four years of life, she wrote over nine thousand hymns and more than one thousand poems. Songs such as To God Be the Glory, Pass Me Not, Redeemed, Rescue the Perishing, and Praise Him, Praise Him are just a few of her masterpieces.
At the age of fifteen, Mrs. Crosby sent Fanny to The New York Institution for the Blind, much to Fanny’s delight. She studied there for twelve years and then taught for eleven more, sharing hope with other blind young people. Her time was filled with outreaches to the poor and needy, speaking tours, and mission work throughout New England.
Fanny’s astonishing joy cannot be explained except by the clear perspective she possessed because of her blindness. She once said, "Mother, 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." Oh that such an ardent longing for Heaven could be bottled up and shared with the hopeless. The example Fanny Crosby set for her generation and countless after hers was one of smiling in the face of adversity, standing up against despair, and moving forward with confidence in God. If only the entire world could see as she did.
Stay tuned for future essays about history’s most inspiring women.
