The Remarkable Life of Fanny Crosby

Dear Pali Pres,

On this day in 1820 a remarkable woman was born in New York. Fanny Crosby was a mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. She is perhaps best known as a hymnist, a prolific hymnist. Crosby wrote more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs in her lifetime, with two of her best known hymns being “Blessed Assurance” and “To God Be the Glory” (which we will sing this Sunday in honor of Fanny’s birthday).

What makes Fanny Crosby’s life even more remarkable is the fact that when she was an infant, she lost her sight as a result of a doctor’s malpractice. Even so, she never let her disability distract her from the work God called her to do. A person of deep faith, Crosby worked tirelessly to answer God’s call, first as a teacher and later as a rescue mission worker in New York City. All throughout her adult life she continued to compose hymns, often commenting that her blindness was a gift which enabled her to focus on her music and writing. Incredibly, the story goes that Cosby would sometimes compose seven hymns a day, memorizing up to a dozen before dictating them to her secretary!

While she was alive, and long after she passed, Fanny Crosby served as an inspiration and example of faith to many. Her legacy lives on to this day in the hymns we sing, which enable us to focus our hearts on God’s goodness, provision, and love.

Happy Birthday, Fanny!

Pastor Matt

“One of the easiest resolves that I formed in my young and joyous heart was to leave all care to yesterday and to believe that the morning would bring forth its own peculiar joy.”

-Fanny Crosby