I wrote this poem to honor my father for everything he did in our childhood to help us have fun and enriching experiences. This is, in essence, a heartfelt poetic thank you to my Dad. :)

Disclaimer: it may appear from this poem that I grew up in a wealthy family, but this was not so. Rather, “rich” is used to describe experiences of high quality. The poem’s grandiose expressions and hyperbolic descriptions—at times even borderline braggadocious—stem from the perspective of the child that experienced it—as things often seem more grand and wonderful through the eyes of children. :)

Dss Fldb

Endless Practical Minutia of a Dad's Love

Recording of a beautiful and powerful prayer composed by Baha'u'llah, the Founder of the Baha'i Faith (www.bahai.org). Many have found it beneficial to recite during times of fasting.   All words are by Baha'u'llah and can be read in their entirety at: http://www.bahaiprayers.org/fast1.htm  (Melody written by Jeremy Lambshead (c) 2009)

Holding to the Most Holy

I have always loved this marriage prayer which Abdu'l-Baha gave to the world. On the occasion of a friend's marriage, I set selected phrases of it to music. Here is the full prayer from which the lyrics are drawn: 

He is God!
O peerless Lord! In Thine almighty wisdom Thou hast enjoined marriage upon the peoples, that the generations of men may succeed one another in this contingent world, and that ever, so long as the world shall last, they may busy themselves at the Threshold of Thy oneness with servitude and worship, with salutation, adoration and praise. “I have not created spirits and men, but that they should worship me.” Wherefore, wed Thou in the heaven of Thy mercy these two birds of the nest of Thy love, and make them the means of attracting perpetual grace; that from the union of these two seas of love a wave of tenderness may surge and cast the pearls of pure and goodly issue on the shore of life. “He hath let loose the two seas, that they meet each other: Between them is a barrier which they overpass not. Which then of the bounties of your Lord will ye deny? From each He bringeth up greater and lesser pearls.” 
O Thou kind Lord! Make Thou this marriage to bring forth coral and pearls. Thou art verily the All-Powerful, the Most Great, the Ever-Forgiving.
~ Abdu'l-Baha

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/c/BP/bp-87.html

Coral and Pearls

Similar to "Coral and Pearls", this song was also composed for the wedding of a beloved friend, using selected parts of another one of my favorite marriage prayers. This one was also written by Abdu'l-Baha and is reproduced here in full: 

O my Lord, O my Lord! These two bright orbs are wedded in Thy love, conjoined in servitude to Thy Holy Threshold, united in ministering to Thy Cause. Make Thou this marriage to be as threading lights of Thine abounding grace, O my Lord, the All-Merciful, and luminous rays of Thy bestowals, O Thou the Beneficent, the Ever-Giving, that there may branch out from this great tree boughs that will grow green and flourishing through the gifts that rain down from Thy clouds of grace.
Verily Thou art the Generous, verily Thou art the Almighty, verily Thou art the Compassionate, the All-Merciful.
~Abdu'l-Baha

Wedded in Thy Love

Its unscripted, unedited, unrehearsed, uncensored, unplanned, uncouth, unexpected... just about un-everything. Its improvised, spontaneous, gritty, and soulful. Its long. Its laughable, and yet its serious. Its a song sung on the spot as a spontaneous expression (both lyrics and music) of a man's battle against a very real and rather challenging condition called adrenal fatigue. 

(c) 2012 Jeremy Lambshead

Adrenal Fatigue Blues

This song, sung at the end of a long, active, fulfilling day, was collectively composed by the participants of a week-long regional youth institute campaign in Chicago in 2012. These youth and young adults from the Great Lakes region (and beyond) are dedicated to learning about and enhancing their capacities for personal growth, community-building and social transformation. 

The song lyrics are taken from a quotation from the Baha'i sacred writings:

"Make thou an effort that thou mayest take thy place under the sun and receive an abundant share of its dazzling light."

The larger passage which contains this sentence provides a sense of what is meant by the "sun": http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/SAB/sab-28.html

Make Thou An Effort (regional youth initiative 2012 - version 1)

Resisting Fear (April 5, 2020)

This tune popped into my head today, and I couldn't remember the name of the song or artist, so I figured out the how to the play the melody in my head. Can anyone name the song and artist? Please do! :) Then I'll look it up and see if I got it right or if any notes are off... Thanks! :)

What song is this? :)

In 2020, the resilience of the human spirit has impressed me. I thought of loved ones endangered by wildfires caused by conditions known to stem from preventable, human-caused climate change; of other loved ones whose opportunities, livelihoods, and basic safeties are curtailed, denied, and jeopardized by a centuries-old system that wasn't designed for them, solely because of their skin color, physical features, or the sound of their names and ways of speaking; of beloved essential workers putting themselves in harm's way every day to provide vital services, often forced to choose between their own health concerns and the need to provide for themselves and their families.

2020 has spared no effort in revealing to the as-yet unconvinced the problems and vulnerabilities of many of our systems and social ills, and the callousness of some people in the face of them—showing some individuals and collective entities as sentinels of dark forces, and other people and groups as marshals of the forces of light. While easy to fall into despair over all the suffering and acutely obvious wrongs in the world, I reflected tonight on the way humans can adapt, grow, and respond resiliently in the face of crises and injustices, often while also working to build a society free from these ills and characterized by wholly different attributes.

In 2020, so many humans have arisen heroically to serve and persist in epic ways. Tonight this piano music poured out of me, seeking to express the ultimately inexpressible epic resilience of the human spirit. It's pretty different and more repetitive than my usual playing—as the concept I sought to express felt simple, primal, and powerful. It's not polished at all, but sharing as a tribute to these heroes in 2020, and in case it's of service to anyone wanting some inspiration to be resilient, rise up, and carry on. To keep moving, to fight on, to persist in the dynamic struggle to survive and create a new society for the generations to come.

2020's Epic Heroes

My friend Asa Hunt once said songs aren't written, they're discovered. Tonight, I reconnected with my old nylon-stringed classical guitar, and these two chords came out, then improvised melodies to dress them with. Felt like a cloud of light rain approaching, so I hit record on my phone to capture it.