Its theme is about communion. And, it was created in communion, or with what we would more commonly say was collaboration. The song “The Bread Has Been Broken” that Joe Beck and Wendy Willis co-wrote in 2005 is the subject. That Beck and Willis wrote this song is no secret, and its message and its melody are equally as open and engaging for the Christian worshipper. Do you feel like celebrating your adoption into His family? That’s what this Beck-Willis tune makes one sense – a festive dance (see the picture) like that at a wedding between a groom and his bride. Come, join in. Rejoice!
Though Beck and Willis must be well-known in the Nashville, Tennessee area (Beck and his wife and family live in the suburb of Brentwood, while Willis is in Nashville), their precise circumstances when they wrote “The Bread Has Been Broken” are not known. They are accomplished professionals in the Christian music industry there (see the websites below), and perhaps that says enough. Their lives have been turned toward God for some time, and they are endowed with musical gifts that position them to bless others with this song, one that perhaps had been in gestating for some time by 2005. Beck grew up in a missionary family, and has over 2,000 songs to his credit. Willis, beginning in Wisconsin, has likewise written for several years to produce songs, including the well-known “Glorious Impossible” that is sung from the Arctic Circle to South Africa. Knowing these details allows one to feel confident that God indeed has put in place those He can touch with His gift – He is the giver of all things, including great music.
Listen to “The Bread Has Been Broken” for just a few measures, and you might feel like swaying in time with the music. ‘It’s a waltz’, I remember saying to myself the first time I heard it. It’s reminiscent of a familiar tune, written over a century earlier (Fanny Crosby’s and William Doane's “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross”) that also seems celebratory, but in an unusual setting. My visceral reaction to Jesus’ last meal (communion) and his approaching death (crucifixion) is somber, usually. But, if I believe the Spirit moved Crosby and Doane, and Beck and Willis too, then there’s a part of God who wants me to experience delight, even as I ponder these forbidding episodes in Jesus’ life. He doesn’t want me grim all the time. Jesus endured, because He knew what was ahead, ultimately. And, He forgave even His executioners, so one might imagine He was already seeing the crack of light – even while in death’s grip. If He did that, maybe a little dance is OK, hmmm? Get out there and dance for a change!
See the following sites for some biographic information on the composers:
http://www.joebeckmusicgroup.com/index.html
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