Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home -- Fanny Crosby

She might have used a telephone like the one shown here (in this 1886 advertisement in the New York/New Jersey area), or at least seen one used. The telephone was one of the new wonders of the Industrial Age, this machine you could talk into and carry on conversations with people many miles away. If Fanny Crosby was in touch with her world – and, she was – she would have used various ways to make sure that a voice mail that related “Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home” reached its intended recipients.  Of course, she was very adept with the medium of music; in fact, since one of her five senses (sight) was not available to her, maybe the hearing upon which she relied so much was especially attuned musically to calling out to people who needed to hear the message. Is it just a coincidence that the Divine One also doesn’t want me relying on eyesight to believe in Him, but does want me to hear Him?

Frances Jane Crosby (Aunt Fanny, as she was often called) was one of the most well-known blind musical prodigies of her time, or any other time. Having only four of her basic senses in play, Fanny did not let that slow her down. Over, 8,000 hymns are attributed to her, and her work among many rescue missions in the New York area is just as noteworthy. All this was without the benefit of eyesight, including the mission works which were in large part during her years as a senior citizen. In 1883 when she wrote about Jesus’ call, Fanny was living in a Manhattan slum. While there, she reportedly worked with various missions, perhaps because it gave her easy access to those who most needed to hear the call of God. Any of the at least half-dozen missions that she frequented at the time may have inspired what she passed along to the destitute in “Jesus Is…Calling…”.  These would be the people who felt ‘weary’ or had a ‘burden’ (v. 2). Although she could not see their faces, Fanny must have heard their voices often enough to recognize the sense of rejection the poor in Manhattan experienced. Sure, they needed financial help, but maybe more than that, they needed to feel like somebody cared. Who better than a blind lady to let them know that God’s son was the ultimate source of compassion. His hand never slapped down anyone who was already wallowing in the gutter. ‘Tenderly calling’, that’s the phrase Fanny chose to communicate that His arms are wide open.

Water Street, Bowery, Howard, Cremore…these were some of the mission names familiar to Fanny, and by way of acquaintance, therefore, to God in 1883. Fanny must have heard and spoken many times the words of Him who talked about ‘the least of these’ (Matthew 25:40, 45). Does the message where I frequent instead seem to bounce off those who hear? Maybe identifying the gaps we all have that cannot be closed here is the strategy for sharing that would reach the ears, and hearts, of those at the other end of the line. Fanny found a way to reach them without one of her senses. She just kept forwarding the calls from Him.  

See more information on the song story in these sources:

The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006.   

See this site for all of the original verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/j/i/t/jitcyhom.htm

See a few brief details of the composer’s life here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/c/r/o/s/crosby_fj.htm

See this site also for a brief biography of the author: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Crosby

Kneel at the Cross -- Charles E. Moody

If you use your imagination, you can just about hear this song-writer plucking this song out on his guitar, or maybe one of the other instruments he played, perhaps a banjo or a ukulele. Maybe Charles Earnest Moody even tried out his song “Kneel at the Cross” with his fellow band members in the 1920s, when they were performing, especially in Georgia and the Gordon County area (see the map). The southern drawl of the voices would have told you the geographic origin of Charles’ tune, yet the words emphasize something from another era and area of the globe, far distant from where Charles and his friends or the church where he often worshipped and guided the singing could be found. Moody’s message was very focused, a basic Christian thread that was and is common throughout the American bible belt.

The 33-year Charles Moody who wrote about kneeling at Jesus’s execution symbol had been writing and singing for many years in various venues by the time he crafted this hymn in northern Georgia. Nevertheless, Moody’s reputation may have been just developing by the time the 1920s and “Kneel at the Cross” made its way into the musical lexicon of Georgia and the South, since a popular singing group in which Moody sang may have started after he actually wrote it. Perhaps we are getting a picture of a musician still traying to ‘make his mark’ in 1924, the year the song was published. In short, he wasn’t afraid to wear his faith on his musical sleeve. In his first 30-40 years, Moody studied music in Georgia and North Carolina while directing music at a local church in Georgia at Tunnel Hill, and then later sang with a popular string band named the Georgia Yellow Hammers. He also taught in public schools, and after the Yellow Hammers split up, Moody was again directing singing at a church in Calhoun. So, there were plenty of points which might have spurred Charles to pen the words for other songs he wrote subsequently. Though the precise circumstances of ‘Kneel …’are not known, he must have still been at the Tunnel Hill church, where we can imagine that being engaged in the music program spurred Moody’s imagination routinely. (March 2021 update: See comment thread below, which suggests that Sam Hair, an itinerant pastor and grandfather of a reader of this blog, inspired Moody to write the song ‘Kneel at the Cross’ while in Tunnel Hill – thanks for reading and sharing!). Indeed, we know he authored more than 100 hymns over his lifetime, probably all of which were sung at either the Tunnel Hill or Calhoun churches. The Yellow Hammers most likely sang a number of them also during the several years they were together. ‘Kneel…’ contains the basic Christian message, which we can presume Moody and his fellow musicians embraced. Honor and identify with the sacrifice that Jesus made, and He won’t leave you out of the great redemption plan that he offers.

Charles Moody probably wouldn’t have described himself as the brightest nor the dimmest musical light for the Christian faith in his time. With one hundred hymns to his credit and ministry at two churches in his home state for many years, Charles could say he did his part to keep the Christian faith alive and renewed through new songs. Other composers and writers crafted more, but Moody was also touching many lives through the churches where he ministered. In short, he helped foster a culture that kept the heart of the Christian message beating. “Kneel at the Cross” is still around today, a mark that Charles did indeed make upon his world, something that he might have been aiming to do in the 1920s as a young fellow 33 years old. It’s safe to say that Moody was really thinking of another 33-year old who once upon a time made a difference in His world. And, He still is.                       

Biography of the author can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_E._Moody

Also see here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/m/o/o/d/moody_ce.htm

See this site for the musical group of which the author was a part: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Yellow_Hammers