Back To Home Page To Archives - Spring of Life - H. Roger Bothwell Fanny Crosby When Frances Jane Crosby or Fanny Crosby as she is more widely known was six weeks old a doctor put a mustard poultice on her eyes. It blinded her for life. Before she died in 1915 she wrote over 9000 gospel hymns. Some of them have been Christian favorites that span denominations and are common to most hymn books no matter what church you attend. Several make subtle references to her blindness. “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior, Hear my humble cry, while on others Thou are calling, Do not pass me by” is the story of Jesus entering the city of Jericho and blind Bartemaeus, who is sitting by the road begging, cries out for Jesus not to pass by without helping him. No one is so blind as one who refuses to see. What we need to see is our impotence to be able to do anything about the passage of time and the toll it takes upon our physical strength and mental agility. While it is true good health habits do postpone the inevitable none-the-less a balanced diet of fruits and vegetables with lots of sunshine, clean water and exercise will not enable one to live forever. There is only one way to live forever. His name is Jesus. In John 11 He proclaimed Himself to be “The resurrection and the Life.” On a Sunday morning just a few months later He proved it to be so by coming forth from the tomb. The promise of Scripture is if we believe and accept we can share in His victory over death. We must not be so blind as to refuse to see this the most magnificent truth of all time. I'm Roger Bothwell and my address is hrb1@tiac.net or 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453. Thank you for your support of our faith ministry. Past devotionals can be accessed at Archives