FACE TO FACE....

The amazing story behind a beloved hymn.

At that last breath that separates “now” from eternity—what will we behold? Those of us who've had loved ones pass through that sacred curtain consider that question. My own family losses have made one particular hymn especially poignant: “Face to Face.” Its title references the apostle Paul's teaching at the end of his “love chapter” (1 Corinthians 13) about changes in eternity when we will know the full expression of God's love:

Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (v. 12)

The phrase “face to face” also deeply touched a homemaker and mother of five, Carrie Breck, who in her precious spare time in those days of labor-intensive homemaking (imagine life without your kitchen and laundry appliances!) managed to compose the lyrics to between 1,400 and 1,500 hymns! Oh yes, add in a giant move from her “roots” in New Jersey to Portland, Oregon. Did I mention when she lived? Her life spanned from 1855 to 1934—long before modern appliances that speed the chores of home and family.

Unknown to Mrs. Breck, some friends had invited a young music evangelist, Grant Tullar, to their home for a quick super of leftovers before he continued revival meetings at their church. The hosts knew Tullar loved jelly, so passed the jar to him. Smiling, he said, “So, this is all for me, is it?” Just like that, the idea for a hymn started coming. Going to his hosts' piano, on the spot Tullar composed the words and melody for a hymn that began “All for me the Savior suffered;/All for me He bled and died.” That night he reportedly sang that new hymn at the services he was leading.

Hang on...talk about timing. The next morning's mail brought him a packet of poems by a Mrs. Beck. One began, “Face to face with Christ my Savior;/Face to face what will it be?” As he read her poem, he realized its poetic cadence fit the same music score that he'd written (with words beginning “All for me”) the day before. At services that night, he sang her words to his hymn melody instead of his own. As they say, the rest is history.

This amazing story of timing, and of lyrics and poem matching—well, it had to be a God-thing. And I also think of how, someday, in what Mrs. Breck called “the by and by,” I too, will face Him in all His glory. Face to face! I can't even imagine it—yet.

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