Handful of Days

Nancy Ward (words by Chief Sitting Bull, Tatanka Iyotake)

Nancy Ward

Nancy Ward

Nancy Ward

Nancy Ward

Nancy Ward (for Jessica)

Nancy Ward (for Daniel)

Nancy Ward (for Simon)

Nancy Ward (Chad & Jeremy; vocals Miriam Johnson)

Nancy Ward (for my parents)

Nancy Ward

Nancy Ward (from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá)

Nancy Ward

Nancy Ward

Nancy Ward (from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Soon will our handful of days, our vanishing life, be gone, and we shall pass, empty-handed, into the hollow that is dug for those who speak no more; wherefore must we bind our hearts to the manifest Beauty, and cling to the lifeline that faileth never.)

Nancy Ward (from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, for a grandmother to whisper into the ears of her newborn grandchild)

Nancy Ward: music, guitar, voice (from Baha’u’llah, Gleanings CLIII) guitar, voice. O My servants! Could ye apprehend with what [wonders of My] munificence and bounty I have willed to entrust your souls, ye would, of a truth, rid yourselves of attachment to all created things, and would gain a true knowledge of your own selves—a knowledge which is the same as the comprehension of Mine own Being. [Ye would find yourselves independent of all else but Me, and would perceive, with your inner and outer eye, and as manifest as the revelation of My effulgent Name, the seas of My loving-kindness and bounty moving within you. Suffer not your idle fancies, your evil passions, your insincerity and blindness of heart to dim the luster, or stain the sanctity, of so lofty a station.] Ye are even as the bird which soareth, with [the full force of its mighty wings and with] complete and joyous confidence, through the immensity of the heavens, until, impelled to satisfy its hunger, it turneth longingly to the water and clay of the earth below it, and, having been entrapped in the mesh of its desire, findeth itself impotent to resume its flight to the realms whence it came. Powerless to shake off the burden weighing on its sullied wings, that bird, hitherto an inmate of the heavens, is now forced to seek a dwelling-place upon the dust. Wherefore, O My servants, defile not your wings with the clay of waywardness and vain desires, and suffer them not to be stained with the dust of envy and hate, that ye may not be hindered from soaring in the heavens of My divine knowledge. (Square brackets denote text not used.)

Nancy Ward: music, guitar, voice (from Baha’u’llah, Gleanings CLI) Hear Me, ye mortal birds! In the Rose Garden of changeless splendor a Flower hath begun to bloom, compared to which every other flower is but a thorn, and before the brightness of Whose glory the very essence of beauty must pale and wither. Arise, therefore, and, with the whole enthusiasm of your hearts, with all the eagerness of your souls, [the full fervor of your will, and the concentrated efforts of your entire being,] strive to attain the paradise of His presence, and endeavor to inhale the fragrance of the incorruptible Flower, to breathe the sweet savors of holiness, [and to obtain a portion of this perfume of celestial glory.] Whoso followeth this counsel will break his chains asunder, [will taste the abandonment of enraptured love,] will attain unto his heart’s desire, [and will surrender his soul into the hands of his Beloved. Bursting through his cage, he will, even as the bird of the spirit, wing his flight to his holy and everlasting nest.] (Square brackets denote text not used.)

Nancy Ward: guitar, voice; children's song recorded 2019

Nancy Ward: for Jessica. Recorded October 26, 2019.

Nancy Ward: This was written to commemorate the execution of ten Baha’i women in Shiraz, Iran in 1983, in solidarity with women in Iran today, notably Mahsa Amini who is specifically mentioned. The song is written from the perspective of those women and what they might say to our world today.