World Premiere: Garrick V. Morgan and Valerie V. Gay answer a prayer

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    (December 16, 2021) Hope seemed so close yet so far away for Maurine McFarlane, as well as for the world in 2020. McFarland, like all of us, was sheltering in place last year due to the pandemic, where she had time to witness what seemed to be a world coming apart. The news coming into her internet feed, television and newspaper was bleak and filled with stories of a raging pandemic, social unrest, economic catastrophe, environmental and climate destruction and an election in which democracy itself hung on the outcome.

     

    (December 16, 2021) Hope seemed so close yet so far away for Maurine McFarlane, as well as for the world in 2020. McFarland, like all of us, was sheltering in place last year due to the pandemic, where she had time to witness what seemed to be a world coming apart. The news coming into her internet feed, television and newspaper was bleak and filled with stories of a raging pandemic, social unrest, economic catastrophe, environmental and climate destruction and an election in which democracy itself hung on the outcome.

    All she could do was pray. God sent his answer to McFarlane’s prayers in the form of the song “There Is A Time,” a spirit filled ballad that takes its inspirations from the third chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes. The year 2020 was a time for prayer and for action, and with vocalists Garrick Morgan and Valerie Gay combining to bring power to the lyrics, “There Is A Time” serves as a reminder that God calls for people to both pray and move.

    McFarlane said that the song came to her during daily walks where she exercised her body and communed with God. McFarlane grieved and feared for the fate of her nation as the crucial election approached. The words for the song “There Is A Time” came to her during those walks, and she quickly recorded them into her phone, rushed home and read Ecclesiastes, Chapter three and realized that the song was a divine way to conveying hope and conquering fear.

    She reached out to Valerie Gay, who wrote the Spanish lyrics heard on the song. Gay connected McFarlane with vocalist Morgan. The two vocalists stand out during their individual performances on the song and their voices sync perfectly when they sing in harmony. Sadly, the challenges that the world faced in 2020 have stubbornly remained with us in 2021, which means McFarlane’s inspirational and powerful message remains relevant and necessary. Check out “There Is A Time,” here.

    By Howard Dukes

    World Premiere
    Garrick Morgan and Valerie Gay
    “There Is A Time”