The Woman Who Thanked God for Her Blindness

Frances Jane Crosby lost her sight at six weeks old when a country doctor applied a mustard poultice to her inflamed eyes. The treatment destroyed her vision permanently. By every earthly measure, she had reason for bitterness.

Instead, Fanny Crosby spent ninety-four years making a joyful noise to the Lord.

From her small apartment in Manhattan's Bowery district, she composed over eight thousand hymns — more than any other writer in history. "Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine." "To God Be the Glory." "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior." Each one a doorway into the presence of the Almighty, written by a woman who had never seen a sunrise.

When someone once expressed sympathy for her condition, Crosby responded without hesitation: "If I had been given a choice at birth, I would have chosen to be blind — for when I get to heaven, the first face I will ever see will be the face of my Savior."