Jean Ellzey was born in October 1924. She was born blind. It was later discovered she also had a debilitating bone disease, severe curvature of the spine, and dwarfism. The doctors didn’t expect her to survive even a year. She passed away in 1993 at the age of 69.
My Aunt Jean had a great voice. She even taught piano and voice, and children’s choir, and sang in the adult choir at church. One of the songs I most remember her singing was “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.” I know a lot of people associated her with that song because she sang it so beautifully. I guess I always kind of thought of it as her favorite song. A few weeks ago I was reading her autobiography (again), and noticed she said her favorite song was “My God and I.”
My God and I go in the field together,
We walk and talk, as good friends should and do.
We clasp our hands, our voices ring with laughter,
My God and I walk through the meadow’s hue.
Pretty cool, huh? She was blind, crippled, never walked without holding on to something or someone. Because she could not walk or see with her eyes as a child, she spent a lot of time alone as the other children around her ran and played. She longed for a friend. She chose God for her best friend. She stuck with that choice her entire life. She couldn’t go for walks, but I know from personal observation that she spent a lot of time talking with her best Friend.
The second verse says:
He tells me of the years that went before me,
When heavenly plans were made for me to be,
When all was but a dream of dim conception,
To come to life, earth’s verdant glory see.
That’s an interesting verse for someone born blind. She “saw” only what she could touch with her hands. She never saw the glorious, green (verdant) grass and trees that surrounded her growing up in northwest Louisiana. Verdant can also mean “young, youthful.” The true glory of earth when it was very young was that God walked with man in the garden. This is how it was meant to be. This was Aunt Jean’s choice – to spiritually walk with God day by day as faithfully as she could. As a result, she saw more of the glory for which we are created than most of us ever will.
My God and I will go for aye together,
We’ll walk and talk and jest as good friends do;
This earth will pass and with it common trifles,
But God and I will go unendingly.
“Go for aye.” I always wondered what that meant, and why in the song it was pronounced with a long “a” sound rather than a long “i” (as in all in favor say, “aye”). I finally looked it up. The long “a” pronunciation is from Middle English according to the dictionary and is a poetic way of saying “ever, or always.” My God and I will always go together. Makes sense.
I tend to kind of stumble over the next line, too. I can visualize the walk and talk part, but the idea of jesting with God always has felt a little strange. I mean, I’m pretty sure God has a sense of humor. He created man and gave us a sense of humor and an ability to laugh. I have had a few occasions in prayer where talking with God I saw the humor in a situation. Still, “jesting with God” is not an easy concept to grasp. Before she died, Aunt Jean dreamed about dying and going to heaven. My mom asked her what she did when she got to heaven. Aunt Jean said, “I was running around seeing people.” I have to say, that still makes me chuckle. I love it that God gave blind, crippled Aunt Jean a dream where she was “running around, seeing people.” Mom even asked her about who she saw, and Aunt Jean gave a very accurate description of their grandfather, Papa Sibley. God does have a sense of humor.
I should maybe choose Him as my best friend, too. How about you? This earth will pass, and with it all the huge things we worry about from pimples to cancer, from gnats to presidential politics. When it does, wouldn’t it be great to spend eternity with your Best Friend?
Retweet this and send me your email address, and I’ll send you a digital copy of Jean Ellzey’s autobiography – “In Him There Is No Darkness.”
This earth will pass & with it everything we fret over from pimples to cancer, but God & I will go unendingly. Share on X
