The Sunday Sermonette – Blind But One Day I’ll See.

Have you ever thought how challenging blindness is? Once, in playful mood, I donned a sleep mask that tightly covered my eyes. I also tried a scarf around my eyes. I was thrown into utter darkness. Slowly, I carefully moved around the kitchen, into the living room, down the hallway, into my study, then back into the kitchen. I opened a cabinet, took out a can of soup, and opened it. My little blind journey was not easy, though, and ended with one stubbed toe and spilled soup.

Still, I was thankful I only had to remove the mask and scarf to usher me back into the glorious light of day. Blindness is a complex disability, but imagine being born with sight, blessed with beauty and a magnificent singing voice, then marrying into a wealthy European family, only to go blind.

Such was the early life of Helen Lemmel, who was born in England in 1863. She and her parents immigrated to America when she was young. She loved music, and her parents insisted that she return to Europe to study music in Germany. There, she met a dashingly handsome young man who swept her off her feet. When blindness overtook her, though, he divorced her, which set into motion a lifetime of obstacles and heartaches.

However, Father God loves and cares for his children, never takes His eyes off them, and always has a plan. Helen’s life was not easy after she lost her sight. She faced financial difficulties, health issues, and the loss of loved ones. But through it all, she held on to her faith and composed hymns.

In 1918, when Helen was 55, a missionary friend gave her a Christian tract, which contained a statement that profoundly impacted her: “So then, turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face, and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.”

“I stood still,” Helen later recalled, “and singing in my soul was the chorus, with not one conscious moment of putting word to word to make rhyme or note to note to make melody.” Helen’s new hymn was a powerful testimony to the impact of faith and music. Published in 1918, it was included in a collection of sixty-seven of Helen’s other hymns titled “Glad Songs.” It has since been included in evangelical hymnals and translated into many languages, touching the hearts of countless people.

Those who knew Helen in her later years remember her consistent joy and enthusiasm. She lived on a meager welfare check in a sparse bedroom but never complained. When asked how she was doing, she happily replied, “I’m doing well in the things that count.” She spent her days composing hymns but could not write them down. Her friends were often called at all hours and asked to record her lyrics before she forgot them.

Near the end of her life, a friend came to visit Helen. She noticed Helen’s small plastic keyboard by her bed. In her little room, Helen would sing, compose, and sometimes cry. “One day, God is going to bless me with a great heavenly keyboard,” she’d say. I can hardly wait!” Helen’s anticipation of her heavenly reward is a powerful reminder of the hope and joy that await us in God’s presence.

Father God called Helen Home on November 1, 1961, just shy of her 98th birthday. Can you imagine her joy when the scales of blindness were ripped from her eyes, and she could sing to her Lord and Savior, one of her most popular hymns: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim. In the light of His glory and grace?”

Ponder this and go forth.