Does she even remember where she was or what made her think of these words? Certainly, she wasn’t thinking of a physical observation of God (such as with binoculars, like those used by the US Navy signalman in this photo), since she herself would have been incapable of such an act, given her blindness. Perhaps one of Fanny Crosby’s close musical acquaintances might have coaxed the background of “Will Jesus Find Us Watching?” from her memory when it was sung for the first time. Maybe some worshippers on a distant shore might have recalled that first time, because Fanny’s hymns were not confined to use in her native United States. Was there a bible story that Fanny was reading that helped spur the poetry she composed? We’ll have to quiz this hymnwriter in the Afterwhile about the song’s circumstances, because that is where she might be able to tell us, with a glorified body and mind – courtesy of God! Will the story even matter by that time, because what Fanny wrote about in a future sense will have been realized.
Frances Jane Crosby (later van Alstyne) wrote thousands of hymns between the mid-19th Century and the early 20th Century, so it would be virtually impossible for her to tell us exactly what compelled each one attributed to her. She would probably remember that she lived in one of the rough, rundown neighborhoods of New York City in 1876 (the year ‘Will Jesus Find…’ was first published) when she was in her mid-50s. That was her choice, so that she could do the personal mission work to the urban poor by living among them. She would also be able to tell us that Howard Doane had a hand in ‘Will Jesus Find Us Watching?’, as he did with some 1,500 of Crosby’s hymns, as the musical tune-maker. Maybe the well-known evangelist and Crosby friend Ira Sankey could recall how the song’s emergence transpired, or if it was first sung by a British crowd to whom he often preached the message. It is listed among sixty of Fanny’s hymns that are still the most popular in British Christendom, according to one source (hymnary.org). It seems to be a virtual certainty that Fanny was referencing a parable that Jesus taught (Matthew 25) about ten young women awaiting a bridegroom, including the wise ones who had ‘lamps…trimmed and bright’ (v.1). Fanny must have used many scores of well-known bible episodes to adorn her own poetry, and give her words more potency for the believers who would sing them. So, Fanny used some well-honed methods, and perhaps some that we don’t yet know, when she constructed ‘Will Jesus Find…’. Being God’s servant among the poor, having access to talented friends like William Doane and Ira Sankey, and reading her own bible to keep in touch with God communicating to her inner spirit daily – these were just a few of the key modes of operation that Fanny employed.
So, Fanny asks a question, one that she must have been first trying out on herself. Despite her physical encumbrance, Fanny found other ways of watching. One would imagine that Crosby must have had a bible in braille, so that by touch, she could sense what His word spoke to her every day. If she didn’t, one or more seeing friends could have helped her get a dose of bible inspiration, a transaction that would have been richer because she shared it with another person. Arguably, helping the poverty-stricken might have been Fanny’s most watchful moments. But whether she was reading a bible or helping minister to the poor, Fanny did not let those moments vanish into oblivion. Her poetry preserves them, and helps connect us to Him all these years later. Her watching makes one wonder, was she really blind, after all?
See here for the song’s verses/refrain: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/w/i/l/l/willjesu.htm
See some of author’s biography here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/c/r/o/s/crosby_fj.htm
And much more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Crosby
See also here a list of the author’s commonly used hymns in Britain: https://hymnary.org/person/Crosby_Fanny
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