She was so well known and abundantly productive that she
decided to become a more shadowy presence in one of her best works. What? It’s
reported that Frances Jane Crosby did in fact use a fictitious name when she
set about publishing “Sing On Ye Joyful Pilgrims” in the late 19th
Century; she passed herself off as Carrie M. Wilson, most likely because she
thought her song would have a wider audience if her real name was left out of
it. Perhaps she thought the song’s three verses and refrain possessed something
too valuable to risk being ignored because of her own notoriety. Did she try
out her tune on her friends and acquaintances first (including some at the
Cremorne Mission in Manhattan [shown here], one of the missions that she
supported at the time), discovering its message of hope and ecstasy had a rare
quality? Perhaps it summed up her own life to that point with a focus she wanted
to underscore and use to propel herself forward.
Fanny Crosby is such
a notable hymnist, it is hard to exaggerate her musical impact and her broader life’s
influence on Christian faith expression. What brought Fanny to the point where
she resided in 1886, and what carried her forward, is not a mystery. A
66-year-old who’d already written thousands of words in tunes and poems, both
secularly and in Christian circles, could have been content to stand in place.
Yet, that was not in Crosby’s character. She was, in her mid-60s, in the midst
of a re-dedication of herself to helping the poor in one of America’s worst
slums – New York’s Manhattan. And she didn’t just visit the area and then leave
it daily for more comfortable surroundings. She lived there, among those who
needed and probably were inspired by her example. So, it’s not difficult to
imagine, though the precise circumstances of “Sing On…” are not recorded, that
Fanny was communicating something she thought would resonate with her neighbors
and fellow believers. We’re all ‘pilgrims’, you can hear her saying in her
three verses, and not just struggling, muddling-through pilgrims, but ‘joyful ‘
ones because we can see that light at the opposite end of where we are. Imagine
being in a gray, dirty urban area, inhabited by long faces, disease, and
day-to-day scuffles just to stay alive. Poverty is a given, and handouts in the
various street missions in this pitiable New York borough are absolutely
necessary for many. Fanny not only probably helped provide some of the food these
people needed, she also gave those who shared her faith a sturdy place to make
their stand. It must have made a difference to those in the slum who knew her,
and from what perspective she wrote.
She may have been blind, but Fanny Crosby saw just what her
neighbors needed. Our neighborhoods are ugly, in multiple ways, and that hasn’t
changed in the 100+ years since Fanny wrote her words. She did her part to help
those imprisoned there, but not so much by cleaning up things. No, Fanny said
look through this garbage-strewn street, as if through a mental telescope, and
gaze in wonderment at the sight over there. Let its beauty and certainty for
you gird your being. This 66-year old had her own shortcomings, physically, so
for her to say ‘It’s gonna be incredible where I’m heading’ was a testimony
that spoke to others in the same boat. Which way are you looking?
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