A Wonderful Saviour
– A Light out of Darkness
Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), America’s most prolific hymn writer, authored more than six thousand hymns, blessing millions worldwide. Embarrassed by the volume of credits to her name, she used over two hundred pseudonyms. Fanny Crosby did her composing in a dark room – total darkness – for she was blinded in infancy by a doctor’s mistake. Her father died when she was a year old, requiring her mother to hire herself out to a wealthy family. When her grandmother heard that the little child was incurably blind, she said, “Then I will be her eyes.” She took long walks with Fanny and graphically described the sunsets, clouds, trees, flowers, birds, and beauties of nature. Her grandmother’s word pictures were so vivid that Fanny even had a favourite flower – the violet.