The First Face

Fanny Crosby, a blind hymn writer, found purpose in teaching at a school for blind children and composing thousands of hymns.

The famous evangelist Dwight L. Moody once asked Fanny, “If you could have just one wish granted, what would it be?”

Fanny answered, “I’d wish that I might continue blind the rest of my life.”

When Moody asked, “How can you say that?” Fanny replied, “ “Because, after being blind for all these years, the first face I want to see now is the face of Jesus.”

Fanny Crosby's hymn "To God Be the Glory," gained early popularity in Great Britain due to Ira Sankey's introduction during Moody's evangelistic campaigns there.

However, it initially failed to gain widespread use in the United States and was included in just a handful of hymnals.

That changed in 1954 when Cliff Barrows, Billy Graham’s song leader, used the hymn in a London crusade. He appreciated it so much, he used it again in a Nashville crusade that same year and soon began to regularly incorporate it in all their evangelistic crusades.

With this exposure, "To God Be the Glory" swiftly became familiar to Christians worldwide, finding its place in most modern hymnals.