Face to Face -- Carrie E. E. Breck

 

She was 43, and living in southern New Jersey (see the map) one day in 1898, a day probably not too much different from any number of other days that she spent as a housewife and mother. That Carrie Elizabeth Ellis Breck doesn’t share more of the specific circumstances of what she was thinking about regarding a “Face to Face” meeting with God perhaps says more than it might appear at first glance. Was she feeling ill, or maybe overwhelmed with her daily chores? Or, was it rather a few moments of inspired reflection and joy in her life, in that day and what she could expectantly envision in the future, that brought her verses forth? Carrie obviously had a deep well from which to draw when she frequently sat down (or walked around, busily engaged in her home life) to pen words. Did she in fact write so prolifically and frequently send off her compositions to a tune-writing friend because she lacked a musical ear? There’s a lot about Carrie Breck we can discern, though talking with her later in the afterwhile will be the only sufficient method to getting our answers.   

 

Carrie Breck might have been the first one to admit that her busy life and personal abilities were curious, even ironic, in how they meshed to make her poetry flow and evolve into hymns. By her own admission, Carrie was not gifted with a good singing ear or voice, so contributing to music-writing would not have seemed likely for her at first glance. Yet, her timing and writing ability made her prodigious when it came to poetry; she reportedly wrote more than 2,000 poems over her lifetime. Maybe it was the rhythms of her life -- housework and motherhood were prominent fixtures for her – that coalesced with her strong Christian faith to make her so productive. It also helped that she could collaborate with a musical friend; in the case of ‘Face to Face’, Grant Tullar was an eager composer with whom Carrie corresponded, and who had in fact already composed a tune that fit like a glove for Carrie’s words. While Carrie’s particular circumstances that day are hidden, we can see from what she wrote where her mind was focused. Some writers give us hints that something terrestrially contributes to their words, yet Carrie appears to have been almost completely engrossed in the above world as she pondered her existence. It’s only in her third verse that we get some clue that the world in which she was living that day drew her attention. She mentions ‘grief and pain’, ‘crooked ways’, and ‘dark things’ in juxtaposition to whom she longed to see in Eternity. She was apparently not always in the best health, so a few moments of unguarded angst from an ill person would not be a surprise. She casts off these moments quickly, however, as she marvels aloud about seeing Him. In Carrie’s world, chores and sickness were just speedbumps that could not divert her attention from a certain destination.  

 

Carrie Breck – mother, housewife, Christian wife (of Frank A. Breck), poetess. She had many roles, but amazingly among them was not musician. That did not seem to matter in the least. She did not live in what she could not do well, but hit a certain groove within the patterns of her life given to her by her Creator. In a sense, she was already facing Him, as she employed what she had to cast her thoughts on His visage. Do you think she was disappointed in what she ultimately found in her face-to-face with Him? Was her face shining, like Moses’ when he descended from a mountain (Ex. 34:29)? Just imagine it – that moment’s worth at least one exclamation mark!             

   

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; Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; 101 More Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1985; and Then Sings My Soul, by Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003.   

 

Also see this link, showing all four original verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/f/a/c/e/faceface.htm

 

Also see this link for author’s biography: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/b/r/e/c/breck_cee.htm

Shall I Crucify My Savior? -- Carrie Elizabeth Ellis Breck

How could a 41-year old housewife and mother be of a mind to kill another person? Someone might have had that question mark about Carrie Elizabeth Ellis Breck, upon reading the text of a poem she crafted and labeled “Shall I Crucify My Savior?” She was a devout Christian, a model of the Christian wife, in fact. Really, the only mildly offensive characteristic of Carrie Breck might have been the sound of her singing voice -- hardly a criminal offense.  Was there a hidden life, some furtive element that she wanted to confess as she penned the words of this hymn in 1896? And how might she commit such a felony, this woman whose frequent posture in a rocking chair with a child (like one seen here) was hardly menacing?

That Carrie Breck became the author of so many songs for Christian believers to learn is at once a startling, yet conceivable fact when her biography is opened. Her faith was nurtured initially by parents, and indeed the artistic derivative of these beliefs undoubtedly developed when she was young. She wrote poetry even as a youngster, much of which was published. Yet, her ‘voice’ would be limited to that heard through her pen, since the audible tones she could make were most often off-key. This irony—that a hymn-writer lacked the melodic gift, pleasing to the ear—evidently did not discourage Carrie, however. Her 2,000 poems indicate she was blessed with rhythm, if not the vocal musical expression of them to match. Her role as a wife and mother also reportedly restricted her artistry for a period after her 1884 marriage. But, she must have adjusted, for it’s said she generated some of her thoughts during this period while engaged in household tasks, or perhaps as she took a breather and sat with a child on her knee. “Shall I Crucify…?” was evidently so-conceived by this middle-aged New Jersey mom and homemaker. But, her mood at the time of the hymn remains invisible, except for what she reveals in her words. What was happening that made her so sensitive to her Savior’s welfare? Was it something she confronted often in her lyrical conscience?

Carrie Breck’s faith, if it was like others’, must have compelled some self-examination at times. She does not explicitly answer her own musical question, but we can presume she’d already inwardly responded by posing this troubling proposition. How did Carrie crucify Jesus, someone she professed to love and follow?  She implies she had dishonored his name (v.1), paid more attention to the world’s lures (v.2) , and with her human nature driven him to Golgotha (v.3). What’s a housewife’s life got to do with killing the Lord? It seems she felt that she hadn’t kept Him in His rightful place. When I flunk at this, as Carrie must have felt, I find the fallout is that I also fail--miserably—at human-to-human relations. Get it right with Him first, she might say. Think that might make my human links better, too? It’s worth the attempt.     

See these websites for brief biography: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/b/r/e/breck_cee.htm

http://www.hymnary.org/person/Breck_Carrie

 

Some biographic information on the composer was also obtained from the books  “Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990, Kregel Publications; and “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Nailed to the Cross -- Carrie E. E. Breck

She was probably doing two or three things at once that day in 1899. Perhaps they all fused in some way as Carrie Elizabeth Ellis Breck mulled over something and composed “Nailed to the Cross”. ‘Whistle while you work’ might have been her motto, except that she really didn’t have the gift of music, at least as most people might have understood it. Nevertheless, she did seem to have rhythm, that sense of timing that made her in step with what is crucial in hymn-writing. And, she also began with a foundation that allowed her to overcome a gap in music-making that otherwise might have discouraged her. If you can ‘carry a tune in a bucket’, also consider Breck’s methods and see if they improve your musicianship, and more importantly your worship. Try it out, as you do some of your duties around the house, like running the dishwasher (see picture).   

   

Carrie Breck’s characteristics might have been considered rather ordinary except that they fostered a prodigious exhibition over her lifetime. By the time the middle-aged Breck neared the end of the 19^th century, she was doing what most women of her age did at the time. She was a housewife raising children (she and husband Frank had five daughters), modeling the childhood she’d experienced with God-believing parents. And, although she lacked the gift of pitch, and therefore the voice to sing, she wrote poetry, even as a child. Was this poetic sense super-developed to compensate for her pitch deficiency? One might conclude this, as her ‘voice’ reportedly produced up to 2,000 poems by the time of her death in 1934. Her mode as an adult, evidently, was to ponder while engaged in household chores – doing the dishes, sweeping a room, holding and feeding a child. She also apparently had a bible handy to bide the time and occupy her mind, another habit she developed from childhood. She apparently felt this was her meter, her tempo for creativity. Housework, bible study, meditation…she had an innate sense of what worked for her, a combination that she had used even as a youngster to create prose for some publications.       

What would an observer of “Nailed to the Cross” think about 44-year old Carrie Breck? She must have been thinking what the great apostle Paul had written, probably to the Colossians (2:14) and the Romans (8:1), words that she echoes with her prose, both in the hymn’s refrain and in verse 2. Like any of us, Carrie must have felt her life came up short at times, some guilt or regret that hung over her. Don’t brood, she seems to respond, but seek out what He’s done for you, even as you engage in the tedium of daily responsibilities. You’re not condemned, even if you are pushing a broom or cleaning up a child’s mess! In fact, these tasks may be His way of reserving time to speak to you. Seek Him out, especially when you think you’re alone, doing some mundane chore. He has a way of remaking that moment, like He did for Carrie Breck, some 2,000 poems later.   

Some biographic information on the composer was obtained from the books  “Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990, Kregel Publications; and “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.   

See these sites for further biography: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/b/r/e/breck_cee.htm

http://www.hymnary.org/person/Breck_CE