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
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