The Making of A Thought of Peace

In my last blog I shared one of my favorite quotations from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, ‘When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. (Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 29)  I love this quotation because it is relevant to so many aspects of life. On the one hand, it talks about war and peace, obviously a huge social issue. On the other hand, it is very personal and individual, guiding us to overcome feelings of hatred by replacing such negative thoughts with the positive energy of love. In fact, it seems that this principle can be applied to almost any aspect of life: wherever there is darkness or negativity, the way to improve the situation is not by responding at the same level, but rather by flooding the darkness with light and replacing the negative with the positive. What does it mean to you?
A few years ago, when I set it to music, I wasn’t sure what I envisioned but I knew that I wanted there to be a contrast in the music between the emotions of love and hate, peace and war.  I wanted the song to express tension and to feel a struggle between these opposite states of being and that is exactly what Jarome Matthew, was able to accomplish through the arrangement and production of the song.  Until now I have not incorporated the electric guitar in any of my songs and it was definitely pushing me out of my comfort zone musically initially.  I really wasn’t sure how I felt about the sound of the electric guitar and whether it would blend in the song.  We decided to ask Eric Harper, my friend and talented guitar player to try it out and see what he could come up with and I was so delighted with his composition.  It felt so current and I love the notes he chose to play.
You can hear the song below and click here for purchase.