Might this one be one of the most personal of her thousands of hymns? Someone might think so, if the story of why Fanny (Frances Jane, often called ‘Aunt Fanny’) Crosby wrote “Safe in the Arms of Jesus” could be presumed as true, straight from the sorrowing heart of this poetess/hymnwriter, who was living in New York (see its seal here) with her husband at the time. It was a loss that no parent should ever have to endure; and, Fanny was as human as anyone else, yet with a light inside her that would not allow her to be despondent. Had this 39-year old suffered through something that continued to gestate for another decade, finally to be ‘born’ as a three-verse empathetic expression that was just waiting for one of her collaborators to spark into existence? ‘Safe …’ was reportedly one of Fanny’s favorites. See if you agree with her, after hearing the story.
Among the qualities of Fanny Crosby that are most remembered are the physical challenges of blindness that somehow did not seem to hinder her life of poetry, hymn-writing, and urban missionary work in Manhattan. And yet, an incident that befell Fanny and her husband (Alexander van Alstyne), before Fanny really began writing the bulk of the thousands of hymns attributed to her, may have spurred what she felt deep within herself about the death of children. She and Alexander lost a daughter soon after birth in 1859, a loss about which neither parent spoke much. She talked of this time only decades later, in the last years of her life, and in an offhand way to tell others that she knew what it meant to be a parent, if only for a short time. Those friends closest to her suggested that Fanny’s quick recitation of a poem, when prompted by William Howard Doane in 1868, indicated that she had carried the pain of this child’s sudden demise all this time. It’s said that Doane popped in on Fanny in her Manhattan apartment with just 40 minutes to spare before catching a train, and asked if her ear could discern what words would match the tune he had to give her. True to her reputation, the words almost immediately emerged, apparently after she crouched on her bedroom floor in prayer for a short time. Fanny was reportedly heard at times comforting a grieving mother with the words of the hymn. And why not, for when the words she penned to offer some solace were spoken, who wouldn’t feel consoled? Fanny knew intrinsically that Jesus-God is, above all, compassionate. Most of her words are not ones of sadness, but of hope and succor. ‘Safe’, ‘gentle’, ‘sweetly’, ‘rest’ (v.1), are just some of the words that leapt from the soul of Fanny; bespeaking of the intimate reassurance she felt from His embrace. She did not ignore pain, however, with words like ‘corroding’, ‘temptations’, ‘sin’, ‘blight’, ‘sorrow’, ‘doubts’, ‘fears’ ‘trials, and ‘tears’ (v.2) on her mind; but, these were nevertheless all things that the departed child would need not experience here on earth. Her last thoughts of Jesus in verse 3 note His ‘refuge’ and the ‘trust’ one has in His presence.
What Fanny says hardly needs any other expressions or explanation. She knew what it meant to be a child of God, and must have felt at ease, even in the midst of a personal tragedy, when she pondered being as a child in His arms. I may grow old, but I’m still His child, awaiting His warmth and never-ending security. We’re never too old to find Him, as a child runs toward some outstretched arms. His home can be yours today. Do you feel safe yet?
See more information on the song story in these sources:
Then Sings My Soul, by Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003
This link, showing all three verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/s/a/f/e/safearms.htm
Also see this link for author’s biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Crosby
And here also: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/c/r/o/s/crosby_fj.htm
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