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Come and Find the Quiet Center

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Come and find the quiet center in the crowded life we lead,
Find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:
Clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes, that we can see
All the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.

Silence is a friend who claims us, cools the heat and slows the pace,
God it is who speaks and names us, knows our being, touches base,
Making space within our thinking, lifting shades to show the sun,
Raising courage when we're shrinking, finding scope for faith begun.

In the Spirit let us travel, open to each other's pain,
Let our loves and fears unravel, celebrate the space we gain:
There's a place for deepest dreaming, there's a time for heart to care,
In the Spirit's lively scheming there is always room to spare.

Music: Beach Spring | Lyrics: Shirley Erena Murray

Arrangement, Vocals: Rich Coffey
Recorded at Mistura Productions

Lyrics:
Sometimes a special tune or lyric is so powerful it seems to just penetrate right through you. This old hymn tune has always been a favorite of mine - Oleta Adams recorded an absolutely killing version of this tune on her “Come Walk With Me” album singing a different set of lyrics: "Wash, O God, Our Sons & Daughters" But the poignant poetry and message of Shirley Erena Murray’s words in “Come and Find the Quiet Center” really stunned me. What a masterpiece to contemplate and calm the spirit amid the violence and chaos of life today!

About the Music
I choose a very simple pseudo folk song setting based around the acoustic guitar. A few add2 chords here and there give it a lusher harmonic background and the Andes flute keeps it plain and “earthy”. [Yeah the vocals are a little low in the mix but its nice to hear the acoustic guitar up front for a change...]

An early American hymn tune, BEACH SPRING first appeared in print in the 1844 edition of "The Sacred Harp". The Sacred Harp cataloged a distinctive Early American style of music that originated in New England. The singers sit in a hollow square formation with one voice part on each side, all facing inwards so we can see and hear each other. Called shape note singing, shape-note music notes are printed in special shapes that help the reader identify them on the musical scale.

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