MY EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION

Back in the early 1980's, a Persian friend, Ali Akbar Furutan, whose place in history is yet to be recognized and a person I hold in very high regard, asked me to record those events and circumstances that brought me to that point in life where and when I first heard of the Faith of Baha'u'llah and to include what it was that animated me to investigate this Faith. I'll explain who Mr. Furutan is and where we met as this introduction proceeds. Despite the fact that he gave me indisputably good reason for asking me to put this down on paper, I still managed to stoke my tenacious procrastination into a bonfire, causing me to mentally materialize a list of excuses a mile long which kept me from addressing the business of writing this document until now.

I knew that my writing hurdle had to be overcome. My first thing which prompted me to finally get started was that I would frequently remembered my deep loyalty to and respect for my requester. Secondly I have had an ongoing program to study the multiplicity of material and subject matter addressed in the Baha'u'llah's writings. The biggest enemy to my procrastination was my scrupulous and unfailing memory of that meeting when Mr. Furutan asked me to record my thoughts on this matter.

Needless to say these things, when added together, churned my motivation and caused each excuse I could muster up to tumble, one by one. Finally the time came when I had no choice or remaining excuses, so only then was I able to take pen in hand and get to the business of putting this story on paper. Cutting to the chase, I guess this is my verbose way of saying: "Sorry for the delay in getting to the business of fulfill the request."

It has become more and more apparent to me, as time has passed by, that what I encountered some twenty years before that meeting when my cohort asked me to write this account, is the most positive Force anywhere in creation. The force I speak of is contained in the Writings of Baha'u'llah, the Prophet and Founder of the Baha'i Faith! In His lifetime, Baha'u'llah, wrote over a hundred volumes touching on almost every subject imaginable. This was no easy task. For many of the same reasons the Jewish clergy goaded the Romans into arresting and crucifying Jesus, the Christ, the Moslem clergy goaded the officials throughout the Ottoman Empire to suppress Baha'u'llah by imprisoning Him and sending Him into exile for the better part of His life. Exposure to the writings of Baha'u'llah generates within me an ever growing understanding and appreciation for all created things while bringing me closer to my Creator, than I have ever been before.

I hope the reader can even remotely understand my position. When I accepted Baha'u'llah as the Divinely Appointed and inspired Messenger of God for this day and age, that although I left Christianity to become a Baha'i, I now have a much deeper love for, a stronger devotion to and higher respect for Jesus than I ever did when I was a Christian! I also now know the important parts Krishna, Buddha, Moses, Muhammad, Zoroaster, Jesus the Christ and Others played in God's never ending story.

Before I get into my story, I just want to mention that my "Crystal Ball" broke some time ago, so I have no way of knowing who might read this journal chronicling what I consider the most important and vital part of my life. There will probably be many more people read this that don't know me or anything about me than do, so to help the reader understand or appreciate those things which I feel may have shaped or guided my life to the point where, though unaware, I was receptive to the Baha'i Faith, I'm going to take the liberty to tell you about my Mom, Dad and early interests in life.

I have always believed that there are four inseparable, but definable, aspects to everyone's makeup: social, physical, mental and spiritual. Each aspect must be developed evenly in this plane of existence or you end up an unbalanced person. I'll try to cover all four as I start with Mom and Dad. After all that's where I began. I'll try to give you a thumbnail sketch about their religious and occupational orientation and the cultural things from their lives that impacted mine.

I will, also, take the liberty to explain events, institutions and other things I feel might not be familiar to those unacquainted with the Baha'i Faith. I ask those who are familiar to bear with me. If I haven't covered a particular subject matter with respect to the Baha'i Faith to your satisfaction, I don't know of any Baha'i who wouldn't gladly provide you with additional information about the Faith if you'd just take the time to ask.

The Baha'i Faith teaches that about every thousand years (give or take five hundred), God has sent humankind a special Teacher, a Messenger, a Messiah, a Prophet, or whatever you choose to call Him, Who refreshes or restates the never changing spiritual truths we have been given and strayed away from and gives us sociological teachings or guidelines to meet the needs for His period of time in this ever advancing and changing civilization.

Some of These Holy Men are known to many of you: Krishna, Buddha, Moses, Muhammad, Zoroaster, Jesus the Christ, and most recently, the Bab and now Baha'u'llah. Baha'is believe that what these divinely inspired Persons taught can be compared to the same light, but from different Lamps.

Like most other major religions, the Baha'i Faith has it's own calendar. It was given to the Bab'is in the previous dispensation by the Bab, and retained by Baha'u'llah for the Baha'is. It is a solar calendar with 19 months to the year and each month has 19 days. There are 4 (5 in leap-year) inter-calendar days of gift giving prior to the 19th month. Each day begins and ends at sunset. The year begins with the Vernal Equinox (March 21st .) The title "Bab" means Gate or Doorway.

Several years ago, I was invited by a fellow member of the Baha'i community where I lived to his father's Burbank, California home to celebrate a Baha'i Holy Day. Zia is the eldest of four sons. I'm not sure of the spelling, but I believe the last name is Ghots-Jurabchi. I've been told the last name in English means "Sock-maker." The occasion was to celebrate the first of nine Holy Days in the Baha'i calendar: Naw-Ruz or New Years.

Zia's entire family came to the United States to escape the relentless persecution by the Iranian government toward members of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, to which his family professed. The persecution which I speak of has included, but has not been limited to torture, maiming, beatings, imprisonment, confiscation and/or burning of property and just about any other hideous deed imaginable by the Iranian government toward members of the Baha'i Faith\ solely because of their religious beliefs. It is, therefore, not hard to understand why Holy days take on a special meaning when they can be commemorated in a country that is based on freedom, especially the freedom of religion.

In the Baha'i Faith, the leadership was passed by written decree from Baha'u'llah to his son Abdu'l-Baha and in Abdu'l-Baha's Will and Testament to his Grandson, Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian. In Their lifetimes, Baha'u'llah, Abdu'l-Baha and the Guardian appointed certain persons to an institution known as "Hands of the Cause of God." One such person is Hand of the Cause of God Ali Akbar Furutan.

Additionally, some believers were given titles of honor by the Guardian for achieving certain goals for the Faith. One such title is that of "Knight of Baha'u'llah" and one such person, who played a major role in my life and had earned this title was Knight of Baha'u'llah Cynthia Olsen.

As a point of clarification, authority within the Baha'i Faith rests on two levels:

First and foremost within the writings of Baha'u'llah, Prophet-Founder and God's Messenger for this day and age, then as explained by His son, Abdu'l-Baha, the Exemplar and then as implemented by His grandson, Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Faith.

The completion of the second level came shortly after the passing of the Guardian, in 1957. The administration, or leadership of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, now rests within Institutions specifically spelled out in the writings of Baha'u'llah. These divinely ordained institutions are the Universal House of Justice down through regional, national and local governing bodies, each consisting of nine elected persons from within their particular jurisdiction. Baha'is, in this day and age, answer only to these divinely ordained institutions and to no individual human being!

I could write volumes about my understanding of these divinely ordained institutions, how they are elected in the absence of politics, campaigning, or through nominations, but that is not my purpose here. Many have tried to explain this subject matter, but it is my sincerest recommendation to everyone, familiar or not, to take time to investigate these unique institutions and their exigencies by going to the Source.

It was on a Naw-Ruz day at Zia's father's home in Burbank, CA that Hand of the Cause of God Ali Akbar Furutan spoke to me privately for nearly two hours about many different things. The most memorable of which was when he asked me to put in writing a description of my lifestyle, cultural background and anything else that might have contributed to and would have shaped my thinking, along with those circumstances that surrounded and through which I heard about the Baha'i Faith leading me to make my declaration to embrace the Faith of Baha'u'llah. He said that this assignment is very important to the on-going history of the Faith. He concluded by directing me to submit copies to the archives of the various levels of administration within the Baha'i Faith, when I felt it was completed.

He also asked me to share the importance of doing this assignment with other Baha'is who were first in their lineage to accept Baha'u'llah. He said that all who would should write down, or get someone to write down on their behalf, a similar narrative of their experiences which lead them to find the Baha'i Faith. "The documentation of each persons' personal history, with respect to finding the Faith, is exceedingly vital to the over all history of the Faith," I believe he said.

Mr. Furutan, here, after much procrastination, is my story.

iii

MY EDUCATION FROM A LADY KNIGHT

HOW I FOUND MY PURPOSE IN LIFE

CHAPTER ONE

How It All Started

To help understand how I arrived at that point in my life, at 26 years of age, on November 12, 1964, when I would make, what I consider, the most important decision of my life, it is important to set the stage by sharing with you some of the circumstances leading to it and some background about my life where I was and what I was doing, as it all played an important part in the process.

I was born, Lawrence Bailey Bloomfield in Los Angeles, California on October 15, 1938, the youngest of four children to John Edwin (Senior) and Olivia Celestine (Lawrence) Bloomfield. My dad was born in Mexico, in the State of Chihuahua, on November 7, 1891, to Sylvia Melissa (Bailey, not yet 16 years old) and to John Parley William Bloomfield ( a young rancher) while they were there on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormon).

DAD

My Dad's mother did not live to see her sixteenth birthday. She died from complications resulting in the birth of my Dad. Medical help was not the most available anywhere in the 1890's. My Father was raised by his maternal grandmother and Aunt Barbara, who was 8 years his senior. He came to this country for the first time when he was 14 years old. He served honorably in the United States Army Air Corps during World War I, but never left the United States, attaining the rank of Sergeant First Class.

Dad called himself a "Jack Mormon." My understanding of a "Jack Mormon" is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormon) who professed membership but didn't abide by the rules. Despite this self assessment, he was a very spiritual man in his own way. He had very noble and fair values. He is one of the few people who actually practiced what he believed with little preaching. I remember him attending Mass with the entire family twice a year Easter and Christmas. He converted to Catholicism in the last year or so of his life. I'm not so sure he did so because of any great spiritual revelation, but more for his deep abiding love for my mother. It's hard to be objective and unbiased, but I can't remember anyone who didn't truly like and respect my dad.

Dad worked as a special effects man for the motion picture studios. Although he never got on screen credits for his efforts, he did get very good pay. I recall him speaking of, what would become, some of the most famous titles in the annals of motion picture history. He'd bring home souvenirs from some of the shows. I have a rubber "Flying Monkey" from the Wizard of Oz and one of the plastic stars from the celestial sequences from the musical "Carousel" along with other memorabilia.

Many times when I'd get out of school, while attending St. Augustine's, I'd sneak onto the studio lots, in and around Culver City, to find Dad. It was usually farther to the studio lot than to home, but then I'd get to ride home with him and that was very special to me. Many times he'd have to work overtime which was all the better for me.

I remember once, while waiting, sitting next to Joseph Cotton on a staircase leading to the lighting loft in one of the RKO studios while Dad was busy with the "break-away" ice on a set of the "Farmer's Daughter."

The public will never fully realize how "make believe" the motion picture industry can be. Dad helped build a full sized Mississippi River paddle-wheeler on the "pond" in the back lot of MGM for the movie "Show Boat." Except for the long shots of the Mississippi River, almost the entire movie was shot in Culver City. I was there when Dad helped make the artificial fog for one of the shots. Although Dad and I were separated by many years, as his health permitted he did for me and with me and with me what he could. I love and miss him.

MOM

My Mother was the first of seven children. She was born to Olivia (O'Donald) and Frederick Lawrence (a pharmacist) in Flushing, Long Island, New York, on July 7, 1900.

My mother was probably the most truly religious woman I have ever known. She came from a family of strong, practicing Roman Catholics. Two of Mom's brothers were ordained Roman Catholic priests and a third passed away while in the seminary. They visited us every year or so. Uncle (Father) Andrew lived his last years in a retirement home in Los Angeles for Catholic clergymen, where I visited him from time to time. One Saturday afternoon, while on a long break from Channel 2, I was visiting Uncle Andrew. I didn't hear the door to his room open. He motioned for me to stand. I asked what he wanted, but as I did, turned and saw Timothy Cardinal Manning, Arch-Bishop of Los Angeles entering on his weekly visit to Uncle Andrew and the other informed clergy at St. John of God's.

Back to Mom. She was one who lived her religion by example. I can remember when we lived in the mountains near Lake Arrowhead, California, the many cold, snowy, winter, Sunday mornings when Mom would get up, get dressed, bundle me up, get into our car and drive the fifteen miles to Mass, while sliding all over the road. I know my mother has a special place in the next life. Irish children often speak of their Saintly Mother. Now I know why my Mother truly was.

As a young girl in Long Island, New York, Mom received training as a nurse. I remember her working through the West Los Angeles nurses register. She did private duty nursing in some rather notable homes. Charles Mackey, retired Chairman of the Board of Santa Fe Rail Road, Freeman Gosdon of the team Gosdon and Coral of Amos and Andy fame, and the actress, Arlene Dahl, just to name a few. I was truly fortunate to be raised in the land of make believe and be taught how to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground.

MY PARENTS

My parents were both usual and unusual. Dad, at his late age, when it was that I knew him, was an avid deer hunter. He never took any game we didn't eat. He also enjoyed fishing. I spent many hours with him on a creek, lake or stream with my line dangling down waiting for some, unsuspecting, hungry trout to take the bate. I can't remember Mom going to the fishing site, but she always have something ready to eat when we got back, with or without our quarry. We always took a can of sardines, tuna or salmon. When asked Dad would simply reply: "So we don't come home empty handed."

I can remember many times when Dad would get laid off from one studio or another, when a picture finished "shooting" he'd come home and say to my Mom, let's pack up and go fishing or hunting or what ever depending on the time of year and the hunting or fishing season. If a hunting or fishing season weren't open, we do something productive. We always had camping equipment which included a tent, cots, gas cooking stoves, stainless steel cooking, eating utensils etc. Even in their fifties and sixties, Mom and Dad had no qualms with "camping out." Today, a week in Disney World's best hotel with a "black and white" TV set would be considered as "roughing it."

I remember one year we packed up and headed for Banning, California to pick cherries. I don't remember the ratio, but the picker could take a percentage of what he or she picked. We always had a cold, dry, dark spot in our garage shelved off for the things Mom "canned." My Mom canned everything from fruit to some of the uneaten venison. My Mom was also a avid baker. If you've never had Minced Meat Pie made from venison, you've not had what I consider the finest of Minced Meat Pies. For those poor souls who don't know what Minced Meat Pie is, it is a highly spiced pie made from some type of meat, rains, and other preserved fruit that was usually served next to the traditional Pumpkin Pie at Thanksgiving and Christmas. My mouth is watering just thinking of the memories.

It would not due justice to Mom's baking if I didn't remember and mention the holiday fruit cakes she made. Ground coffee was once packaged in one pound cans that were about 5 to 6 inches in diameter and about 3 or 4 inches high. Since we drank coffee in our home, we had these can which were never disposed of. Mom would use them to bake the fruit cakes in. They also made excellent shipping containers, as I was to find out when I was in the navy.

These were some the "usual" things my parents did.

***

Many have quarreled about religion that never practiced it.

-- Benjamin Franklin

All religion must be tolerated, for every man must get to heaven in his own way.

-- Frederick the Great

Science without religion is lame religion with science is blind.

-- Albert Einstein

It's not dying for faith that's so hard, it's living up to it.

-- William Makepeace Thackeray

CHAPTER TWO

MY YEARS BEFORE THE NAVY

Permit me to share with you a few examples of the kind of things my parents did that made them something unusual, but great. I'm really trying to be objective, but in any case these things will give you a good insight with respect to the type of people they were and the environment in which I was raised.

We moved into our West Los Angeles home on December 7, 1941. It Truly was "A day that will live in infamy." The particular area where the house was located had not, at that time, been annexed into the City of Los Angeles and was still part of the county. The lot was sort of a trapezoid shape with the widest part in the back.

I have come to realize that the purpose of war is to kill and break things. Besides these two predominant features, one of the many other distinguished benefits that go along with Wars is the rationing of food, gas and material in general that usually is in short supply. I still have one or two ration stamps and a token or two.

You can raise and grow things in the county that are generally not permitted in the city. We had fruit trees of just about every kind that would grow in our climate. But fruit wasn't rationed and meat was. so, Dad screened off a small part of the back yard, as far away from the house as he could, and built rabbit hutches and a chicken coop. We always had fresh eggs and Mom's chicken was around, and a lot better, long before the Colonel found any of his eleven herbs and spices. We even had a couple of ducks and two geese. This was very helpful as you will see when I give you the next example.

My brother Jack was in the Coast Guard along with my cousin Paul. My oldest sister Olivia's husband, James Leonard Garrison, Jr. was a Radio Technician in the Navy. our part of the family called him Len so as not to confuse him with this father. I'll be mentioning him again later on. Since California had a proliferation of military bases during World War II, we had relatives and the sons of relatives and friends from all over the United States come visit us and they'd bring their homesick buddies with them. Mom and Dad made everyone of them feel at home. In fact it was our household policy that any one who'd been to our home more than three times was no longer a guest, but part of the household.

It was a nightly ritual in our home. Mom and Dad would sit in their favorite chairs and listen to the 9 o'clock news. There were two things that I'll never forget. The radio was in a huge wooden cabinet, that made a good hiding place and it had one of those green eyes that showed you when the station was tuned in properly. And secondly, no one had better speak while the news was on.

When we didn't have relatives or the sons of my Mom and Dad's many friends staying with us, Dad would say: "Lets go up to the Hollywood USO and see if any of the "boys" up there want a home cooked meal before they ship out." About an hour later, Dad and either my sister Ann or Mom would return with a car full of servicemen. Believed me they came in all shapes, sizes, colors and creeds. Many mornings I'd wake up and have to step over bodies or dodge sleeping cots on my way to the dining room for breakfast.

Someone gave us an autograph book my sister Ann says we got about half way through the War. Any serviceman who either spent the night or had a meal could make an entry or sign it. I remember counting the signatures of 400 different boys.

With all the servicemen that stayed in our home, there was a lot of order to what, on the surface, looked like chaos. There was one rule of the house in particular I'll never forget. Since my dad, and many of the folks who visited our home, smoked cigarettes, there were an ample number of ash trays placed in strategic locations through out the house. As a former smoker, I can attest to the fact that most smokers like to finish off a good meal with a cigarette. Well let me tell you, woo-be-tide anyone who'd put a cigarette out in one of the dishes. First timer in our home or not, they'd be asked to do the dishes.

I had mentioned earlier that Mom was an avid baker. Those fruit cakes I spoke of were baked year round and shipped to many of those servicemen who had stayed in our home. It was not uncommon to have a 25 pound turkey baking to serve the crowd that gathered in our home.

Two houses south of our home was the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Golddean. I don't remember their first names, but Mr. was a magician and would thrill me with his many feats of magic. Mrs. Golddean's father was Rabbi Fine. In addition to being my baby sitter between the time when I got out of school and either Mom or Dad would get home from work, he would kosher the chicken and rabbits so that our Jewish guests would feel at home too. He played a very formative roll in my early education.

My parents saw to it that I received a good education and was exposed to the arts. When I was about 5 years old, Mom enrolled me for violin lessons. After several weeks, Dad bought an up right piano in answer to my prayers and to end to his torture. My second piano teacher, Sylvia Clark Rabbi had two Baldwin Accrosonic pianos in her studio-loft in the Culver City, Community Post 46, American Legion Hall. The building still stands. It's a fine tribute to early California architecture. She was also the organist at Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church.

Saint Augustine is located across the street from MGM Studios. The management knew many of their top performers were member of that Faith. They wanted to do something to acknowledge the church's presence. They donated a fine, 2 manual Wurlitzer Theater Pipe Organ with all the drums, traps, bells, whistles and what is called a "toy counter."

After my piano lesson at the American Legion Hall on Wednesday evenings we'd walk the several blocks to the church. My music lesson would continue on the "King of Musical Instruments." I always thought it was a waste to have a theater pipe organ in a church. Out of respect for the location, I would rarely use the full effects. On those rare occasions when I did try some of the "toys," I'd really catch a glimpse of what eternal damnation was all about from the Mother Superior, who spent most of her time in the church instead of the convent where I thought she belonged. She'd come up to the organ loft, ranting and raving. Mother Viator was an accomplished pianist and organist herself and knew that organ well.

Mom and Dad truly liked my playing, especially as I grew older and got better. Mom often said my playing reminded her of her father who also played the piano. The sad part of my folks lives, especially in their later years, was that neither Mom nor Dad had good health. Mom's Diabetes got worse and she had to take insulin injections twice a day. We thought Dad had asthma, but his cigarette smoking caught up with him in the form of emphysema. He ended up having to take medicated oxygen treatments several times a day. When they weren't feeling too good, they'd ask me to play for them as they said it made them feel better.

I believe there were two major factors which served to shape the direction in which I chose to seek my life's work. First, as mentioned earlier, Dad worked in the movie industry. Needless to say, I wanted to work in the entertainment industry, but I was not handy with wood, like my Dad. This is where the second major factor figured in. I have always had a deep respect for my oldest sister's husband Len who I always looked up to as an electronic genius. Besides being an engineer for Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co., he hand made all his armature radio equipment. I remember the night channel 7, in Los Angeles, signed on the air. Mom, Dad and I watched it on a television set Len had made from parts from parts he'd salvaged from some electronics test equipment. He also made the wooden cabinet. I will always credit Len as being the sole inspiration for my entering the electronics field and Dad will get the credit for the area of entertainment (television).

As a child, my toys were wooden boxes with knobs and dials on them attached with string to wooden microphones. My dad helped me build a full scale model television camera which did absolutely nothing, but I sure had fun making believe. I always dreamed that one day I'd design, build and run a radio and/or TV station and I did, briefly -- KBET, 1220 KHz, Canyon Country, CA but then that's another story.

Sometime, just after the end of World War II, the doctors told my Dad he had lung problems. This was about the time Los Angeles really started experiencing their smog problems. To get away from the smog, at least on the weekends, my folks bought property in the San Bernardino National Forest near the resort community of Lake Arrowhead. With Dad as the boss and doing most of the work, our family built a beautiful cabin in the mountains. The air at 5,000 foot elevation was much cleaner for him.

Kindergarten was at the local public school: Palms Elementary. First and Second grade was at Saint Augustine's Elementary. The third grade started at Notre Dame Academy in Westwood, but when my Dad's health got worse, I went to Lake Arrowhead Elementary for a short time, then finished off at Teddy Roosevelt Elementary in Venice, CA, while living with my sister Ann, her husband, Fred, my nephew "Fritz" and niece, Kathy. As I remember, I didn't fit in too well at Lake Arrowhead Elementary. I'd don't believe it was because it was a public school, because I did well at Teddy Roosevelt Elementary. My Dad's health was getting worse and I think it may have been I was afraid I'd loose him.

I was, by no means, an angel or model child. I guess I had my moments, as do all children. As Dad's maladies seem to lessen, my parents moved back to West Los Angeles were I rejoined them and went back at Saint Augustine's for my fourth and fifth grades. I started the sixth grade there, but managed to get into a "little trouble." As I remember it, my sixth grade class and all the students from the fifth grade up were to go on a field trip to one of the local movie theaters. Field trips were a rarity at that parochial school. The movie was about an Eastern European Cardinal and his sufferings at the hands of by the Communist government in his country. This was in the middle of the "Communist under every bed and around every corner" period in our country's history. I was really looking forward to seeing the move.

A that age or at least in that schools' environment and at that age, the boys and girls had their little "spats." "Sister, sister, Johnny pulled my hear." Or: "Sister, Mary's chewing gum again." You know, no really earth shattering crises. Well the day of the movie, I managed to get sufficient demerits to keep me from joining my class and other students in going to the movie. I was able to deal with that in rather aloof manor until I was told I could not have the price of the admission back. To me that was manifest injustice and I was either going to go or I was going to get my money back. WRONG!

The nuns at St. Augustine's were mainly imports from either Ireland or England with a few from the mainland of Europe in and around Germany. Their concept of discipline was much more conservative (strict) than that of their American counterparts. I was escorted to one of the lower grades that were not permitted, for whatever reason, to go see the "all important" movie. I had been dealt, what I perceived as, a major financial injustice as well as a significant blow to my pride. I wanted no part of this exile, the teacher (nun) who's care I was left in or her class. The nun had other ideas! I was going to participate in her class activities, no matter what. It seemed that she had something to prove to her class.

Now we all know that two wrongs don't make a right and I was about to find out how it was to be WRONG twice in the day. When this "lady of the cloth" had decided that my "mute indignation" had gone on long enough, she decided, with out any encouragement from me, to assist me in singing along with her class by putting her fingers in my mouth, thinking, I guess, that I'd join in on the refrain. Was she ever wrong! The only sound that could be heard for miles around was the one from her when I demonstrated just how sharp my teeth were. I didn't feel she had any business putting her hand in my mouth. I don't believe I drew blood. I did spend the remainder of the day on the steps leading to upstairs part of the convent until both my Mom and Dad came to rescue me.

I was surprised at the language used in the meeting between my parents and the sisters. At that tender age, I learned of, in one night, all the different places were a young lad could be sent who had fallen from favor. I believe, if the nuns had had their way, a new chapter in the Spanish Inquisition would have been written right then and there. It's not hard to understand why I finished off the sixth grade else were. The next day my Mom enrolled me at Notre Dame Academy, a private school in Westwood, where I got along fine and did well all the way through the eight grade. I do believe that the Sisters of Notre Dame, who were my teachers, were some of the finest available and helped me develop many spiritual qualities I could never have nurtured at St. Augustine's.

My first two years of high school were at Chaminade, when it was located in the Cheviot Hills, near Westwood-West Los Angeles. Since I lived only a few blocks from Chaminade, I attended Mass everyday before school. It was while I was at Chaminade that I applied for entrance into the seminary. I thought I had a "calling." When Dad's health got bad again, we moved to Lake Arrowhead, which ended that idea. I was in the first graduating class of Rim of the World in June, 1957. After a nice weekend, I immediately went to work for Pacific Telephone and Telegraph ( P T & T ) in San Bernardino and enrolled at San Bernardino Valley college in broadcasting.

As I got out of high school and went into the work force, it became increasingly more important to me to have a more personal relationship with my Creator. I felt that because my beliefs were based on what others had told me and not through any effort of my own, they had little or no substance for me. I either wanted to validate what I had been taught all those years in Catholic schooling or find my own path to God.

At the tender age of 19, I looked into most every thing from several avant-garde religious philosophies to fraternal organizations. On the surface they were appealing, but after investigation they just weren't logical or asked me to believe things that I didn't think my Creator would want me to subscribe to. The fraternal organizations had agendas other than what I needed to find God. So despite my searching, both socially and religiously, I was not satisfied. I even joined the Knights of Columbus and advanced to the 4th degree.

I met a fellow who became a good friend, Jerry Devlin when we went through the initiation ceremonies for the Knights of Columbus. Jerry lived in and worked for a company in Colton, California that manufactured ceramic bathroom products. During one several layoffs, he got fed up and joined the Navy. Jerry and I had a mutual friend, Dick Crouter. Dick's folks owned both an electrical contracting company and a frozen pizza factory. Dick worked at several San Bernardino radio stations where I worked as an intern. It was about this time that Dick experienced a serious car accident which put him out of work. When he recovered to find he didn't have a job, he joined the Navy's Aviation Cadet program.

When I was hired by Pacific Telephone, they were in the process of a major up grade as part of the nation wide move to direct distance dialing. They had hired a large work force to complete this project. It didn't take a college education to figure out that when the transition to the new equipment was completed, they wouldn't need all those people. Since compulsory military training was the law and I figured I'd probably get the ax anyway, I volunteered for the draft.

Several of my co-workers at the phone company had just gotten out of the Navy. When they found out that I had sent in my paperwork for the draft, they did a good job of convincing me that fox holes and "K" rations wasn't for me. To add to my co-workers naval propaganda, both Jerry and Dick came home on leave. Needless to say they were singing the praises of Uncle Sam's canoe club. I figured that if I joined the Navy, I wouldn't have to worry about the draft. I figured that three meals a day and a dry place to sleep was better for me then fox holes and "K" rations. When the Navy recruiter promised me Electronics Technician school in San Francisco, the rest is history.

PETE & MAE

Before I depart that part of my civilian life for the military, it is important, in the scope of things, to mention two people who had a significant impact on my life. They had moved into an apartment over a two car garage across the street and down an alley from our West Los Angeles home. This happened about the time prior to my return from living with my sister Ann and family in Venice, CA. "Pete" Petersen and his wife Mae were childless. Pete was a deputy with the Los Angeles county Marshals office and Mae was a bookkeeper with an accounting firm in Beverly Hills, CA. The important part of this relationship was that prior to being a Deputy Marshall, Pete had been a professional piano player, had his own band and had other musical experiences too numerous to mention here.

Pete's work, as a Marshall, had him out very early in the morning serving legal papers. He'd get home very early in the afternoon and would spend time on his piano. Pete could play almost everything George Gershwin wrote from memory. He had a very unique style. He respected my abilities on the keyboards, but I knew I didn't hold a candle to his talent. He would try to teach me different techniques. I remember some, but most were forgotten as I didn't practice as I should have, besides I'd rather hear him play. I remember him telling me he was the first piano player in the state of Nebraska to be able to play Rhapsody in Blue from memory. I can believe it. It's hard to ask to sit on the bench and plunk out some off the wall thing my piano teacher had given me when I could hear American in Paris, Rhapsody in Blue, Someone to Watch Over Me or almost anything Gershwin wrote and in the same style that Gershwin would have played it in. Pete had been Gershwin's understudy for a time.

I'll close this chapter by saying: "Mae made the best Applesauce Brownies I have ever eaten." She was a wonderful cook. I was the son they never had. I loved them dearly. I missed Pete very much when I move to Lake Arrowhead. When I did get into Los Angeles, he was a must on the trip.

CHAPTER THREE

THE NAVY - MY FIRST SIX YEARS

On May 20th, 1958, I held up my hand for the first time. Within 24 hours I was in San Diego and some guy was yelling orders at me. My relationship with the Navy had begun. My first enlistment of four years was fairly simple: Boot Camp in San Diego, Electronics School in San Francisco (interrupted by a 6 month stay in the Naval Hospital for major surgery on my tail bone), a year and a half in the Philippines, followed by six months in USS Mauna Kea. Some how this adds up to three years.

The last year of my first four enlistment was spent on humanitarian shore duty in San Bernardino as a station keeper at the Naval Reserves Training Center. As I had said earlier, Dad's emphysema had gotten worse. He needed oxygen treatments several times a day. By this time Mom and Dad's financial reserves had been exhausted on medical bills. They needed help. There was never any question in my mind as to where they'd get it from. It was the least I could do for them.

When I was able to demonstrate to the navy that I provided over half the supported for my parents, they were declared to be my dependents with all the ID card privileges and medical care that went with that status. Because Mom needed help with the oxygen bottles for Dad and they were my dependents, I was granted humanitarian shore duty so I could help them. I'm glad I got the humanitarian shore duty if for no other reason than I was there during the last year Dad was alive. Dad passed away at the Veteran's hospital in San Fernando, California on October 6, 1962.

Before Dad passed away he advised me to stay in the Navy until I decided what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. I reenlisted for the first time for six years. I got orders to the United States Naval Research and Development Satellite Communications Group, which was to operate in the USNS Kingsport (T-AG 164). Kingsport was being outfitted for its satellite communications gear at the Philadelphia Naval Ship Yard. When Project Advent, the joint military geosynchronous satellite program got scuttled, Hughes Aircraft came up with Project Syncom.

In late summer - early fall of 1963, as a First Class Electronics Technician in the U. S. Navy, I participated in the successful launch and positioning of the worlds first successful geosynchronous satellite, Syncom II, from our shipboard terminal, USNS Kingsport, in Lagos, Nigeria. This was the second time we'd been in Lagos. The first time was for the launch of Syncom I which exploded shortly after launch. After some preliminary testing, Kingsport departed Africa going North in early October, 1963, for the Mediterranean and additional tests. We visited Rota, Spain, Lavarno, Italy, and Beirut, Lebanon after which we returned to Rota, Spain for a few days before heading home to the US. Thank God we didn't have to use our uniforms in any of these ports.

We were in Italy only three days. Fortunately for me I was off the first two. Larry, the big tourist, had to see Rome the first day. The trip through the Italian country side was like reliving a movie. It was beautiful. My memories of my one day in Rome still very vivid. I headed for St. Peter's and the Vatican passing by the Coliseum on my way. Everything was big! So big in fact that one tends to loose the prospective of just how big it really is. The walk down the length of the Basilica, which was lined with the chairs for the Bishops attending Vatican II (council), to the main alter under the beautiful dome, left an indelible impression on me. I was standing in the very heart of what I had been taught was the center of Christianity and from where all authority emanated. I felt somewhat guilty that I was more impressed with the opulence then the spiritual experience I had anticipated.

I saw, what appeared to be, a group of tourists descending some stairs and decided to follow. I'm glad I did as they lead to the catacombs below the main alter of the church. I saw what was said to be the tomb of St. Peter, himself and that of Pius XII. Again, I felt guilty, but even more so. Where was this spiritual experience I had expecting?

I could not leave the Vatican with out getting my mother something. I saw a group of clergymen standing at the opposite end of the piazza from St. Peters near a plethora of religious goods stores. I asked the youngest of the group, and the one I though was the lowest in rank, to assist me in finding a statue of Saint Lawrence. I thought he might be a Monsignor at best. So this is what I called him. There was a distinct language barrier, but, was able to get my thought across in my somewhat limited Spanish. I though, of all places, we'd find a statue of St. Lawrence here because he was the patron saint of Rome. Lawrence was also my Mother's maiden name and of course, it is my first name. No such luck. The cleric did find and bargain for me a beautiful silver filigree rosary. I know my mother would love it and she did. When I said good by to my friend, I saw a wring on his hand. I said, in my broken Spanish very much surprised: "You're a Bishop?" To which he responded in beautiful Spanish: "Yes. An Arch-Bishop." Come to find out he was the leader of the group I had addressed. His courtesy to me and assistance will never be forgotten.

I wanted to end my visit to Rome with a true Italian meal. Not speaking a word of Italian, when I saw a sign that said "Restaurante." I could only assume I "had arrived." I saw nothing on the menu I recognized. When I saw "pasta," I pointed and said "Se." As I was finishing the noodles with a white cream sauce studded with an occasional green pea, the management had rounded up someone from the neighborhood who spoke about as much English as I did all other languages put together. Well as they say: "When in Rome ....." I was informed by the neighborhood good will ambassador that I had done what most Roman like to do and that was to dine out at a Brazilian restaurant.

I had got back to the ship late that night from Rome. While attempting to sleep in, four of my shipmates taunted me until I got up and went with them to what they described as "the cultural capital" of Italy, Florence. It was while in Florence, Italy, on October 10, 1963 that I met my future wife, Carollee Verassi, for the first time. I'm glad, now, I did. Carollee was there with three other New York secretaries as part of their European tour and vacation. Although Florence dripped with culture and beauty at every turn, nothing could compare with the lovely ladies we had met. That evening the "satellite sailors" sat with the "New York secretaries" at one of those sidewalk cafe tables with the umbrella, sipping cappuccino, sharing our experiences and commenting on some of the very unusual customs we had all encountered. Unless you have traveled in countries where people who speak your language are few and far between, can you even begin to appreciate what it's like to stumble across someone who speaks your language. I believe it can be compared to an oasis in a desert.

The next day, just prior to our departure from Lavarno, I was summoned to the quarter deck, where visitors are usually greeted. There they were! The "New York secretaries." After a tour of the world's first satellite communications ship and joining my shipmates, who had been in Florence with me the day before, and I, for lunch, the girls resumed their vacation to the south of Italy, but not before promising all of us a genuine, 100% authentic "Italian" dinner (not Brazilian) when we got back to the United States if we should ever look them up. I knew I'd be back home for Thanksgiving, visiting my Aunt Marie in New York, so there was never any question in my mind about taking one of them up on their offer, especially Carollee. As the girls drove off, we set sail for Beirut.

Our week in Beirut proved to be another chapter in my education. The fine brocade, the excellence of the fruit in the bazaar and the bazaar itself were fascinating. I have never seen dates as big or tasted as sweet as those I had in Beirut. Who ever said that Beirut was the Paris of the middle east probably wasn't very far off, but then I've never been to Paris, so I don't know. The women were beautiful, but I couldn't get my mind off Carollee.

In an effort to shut me up about "the love of my life," my boss, Master Chief Petty Officer Charles (Chuck) Preston Tamplin and two other of my shipmates, decided to take me sightseeing. We hired a cab for the day and took off across the country side to Balbek. It was known to the Greeks as Herpolis. This, I was to find out, is a very historic place. It's located over the Lebanese mountains (5000 ft in elevation) in a long valley, known biblically as the land of milk and honey or the valley of Sharon.

Never having seen any of the remains of the Greco-roman era, I was truly impress with the ruins of the temples to Jupiter, Bacchus and Venus. The columns were all in excess of three feet across and had been brought in over the mountains, just mentioned form quarries near Aswan in Egypt. I stood there and saw history unfold before my very eyes. The foundation had been built by the Phoenicians for a temple. The Roman's built their temples on these foundations. A Christian church had been built, at one time on part of the ruins of the Roman and Phoenician temples only to have been destroyed by Moslems who remains of a Mosque were still apparent. All the toil, effort and possible bloodshed to raise these edifices in the name of GOD.

When we departed Beirut, we stopping briefly at Rota, Spain and then sailed on to our home port, Norfolk, VA. I don't remember if it was the navigator, for what ever reason, or an operational commitment that took us across the equator, but there is a navy tradition or rite of passage which all sailor "must" go through regardless of rank when crossing the equator for first time. King Neptune holds court to see if the "Polliwog" is worthy of becoming a "Shell back." It was a mess, but all in fun. It took several days to get the ship cleaned up of all the concoctions which were used in the ceremonies.

When a navy ship returns after several months away from home, there are many things that must be done to "unwind" from all the various things that were done during that time at sea. Thanksgiving weekend was approaching. Everyone wanted to get their "stand down" jobs done so we could take the long weekend off. One of my jobs was to return all the 16 mm film we'd received from the navy' branch Motion Picture Exchange in Spain to their counter part in Norfolk. This was so that other sailors could see their favorite stars and starlets on the "mighty silver screen." I recall entering the Exchange and everyone was gathered around the radio with looks of disbelief on their faces. We had returned the day of the untimely assassination of President Kennedy. On my way to Aunt Marie's for Thanksgiving, I joined the many thousands who filed by the coffin in the rotund of the Capitol building to pay my last respects to my Commander and Chief.

Aunt Marie, my Mother's sister, lived in Rosedale, on Long Island, in New York, with her husband Phil, a retired New York Fireman. She was the retired Chief of Industrial Nursing for Macy's department stores. As a retired executive she still had a lot of clout. We had excellent seats for the world know Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and all their giant size charter balloons. When the parade was over we went to upper Manhattan to pay respects to one of Uncle Phil's relatives. I had no idea where Staten Island was, but that was all to change. I called Staten Island from the Bronx to take Carollee up on her offer of an Italian meal. Before the year was out, I had "popped the question."

After Thanksgiving, the Christmas Holidays in California with my Mother and a brief period of ship maintenance, we departed Norfolk for Honolulu, via Puerto Rico, the Panama Canal and San Diego. I have fond memories of San Juan's El Moro and the shipwreck in San Juan harbor. I have some not so fond memories also of my own making. Puerto Rico was to be one of the last occasions on which I'd consume copious amounts of "Adult beverages." Even moderates amounts of alcohol when consumed in Conditioned establishments will have a dire effect when one would reenters the unfamiliar heat and humidity in a tropical climate. I had not been so moderate. Let's just say "I was a baaaaaaad boy." Thank God I was restrained by some of my shipmates before I could hurt anyone. I truly don't remember, but the accounts were truly scary.

The Panama Cannel and it's locks were an experience. It was truly a feet of engineering achievement. San Diego afforded my family the only occasion to see the world's first satellite communication ship. Mom, my sister Ann and her family, made the one hundred fifty mile trip to see the white ship with the big white ball on it. Our ultimate goal was Guam, Mariana Islands where we would assist in the launch and positioning of Syncom III.

We arrived in the spring of 1964 at pier 39 in Honolulu, Hawaii. After a brief period of maintenance and personnel training, I took leave flew back to the Mainland to get married on June 4, 1964, a Thursday, in Culver City, California. Carollee and I were married in Saint Augustine's church, across the street from MGM studios, in the first evening nuptial Mass in the Archdioceses of Los Angeles. Monsignor McLaughlin, a cherub looking priest, with an Irish brogue you could cut with a knife, performed the ceremony. There was a brief dinner reception in a fine restaurant, called "Pieces of Eight," in the yacht harbor in Marina Del Rey. Because it was a "week-night," we had the big all day and late into the evening reception on the following Saturday, June 6th.

Mom showed her gratitude for my efforts in supporting her by letting us use her apartment as home base during our honeymoon. She stayed with my sisters. I know this has nothing to do with the Baha'i Faith, but I wanted to show how even though I was not all that deep into Catholicism, it was all I had and I tried to live by it including having the bands of matrimony published in church. After the honeymoon and since the Navy doesn't permit wives or family members to live with their husbands aboard ship, I returned to Hawaii and the ship. My new bride returned to New York City, where she lived with her family and returned to work.

There are certain advantages to being on a satellite communications ship, let alone the worlds' first. As can be surmised, we had daily operations through the new satellite. The base stations back in the good old U.S. of A would work their "shifts," running one test or another from either the east coast, west coast or some other "fixed" location and they had to have someone to operate with. You guessed it, KINGSPORT! There were times, it seemed, we'd worked around the clock and when we did get breaks they were brief. It was not uncommon for our various crew members to make telephone calls to our loved ones back home. They only part we had to pay for was from the base station to home. The 22,300 mile up and down links was on Uncle Sam.

We had accumulated a great deal of professional audio equipment which, for the most part, could have outfitted a radio station. We put it into service as a ships' entertainment system and called it KSAT. We had our own "radio" personalities. When we didn't originate our own programming at sea, we rebroadcast the Armed Forces Radio Service or Voice of America short wave. Reception was usually so bad that didn't happen very often. One afternoon I decided to put together a tape showing what we did on KSAT. At the end of one of our test period, it got broadcast over Syncom II being the first radio show via geosynchronous satellite.

CHAPTER FOUR

JOHN, GRACE, BOB, OLIE AND CYNTHIA

I'm not sure if it was just before or just after I had gotten married that, for the first time, I encountered the Baha'i Faith. but. It did center around this time, however. I don't remember why, but, one day, while on some personal mission, I had taken a public bus in Honolulu and saw an inside poster. I'm sure you've seen those advertisements along the top curved area above the windows along the inside of a bus. Like everyone else, I was scanning the advertisements while passing the time on the bus. Well there was a black and white poster that depicted four or five people of different races. I remember one of the people in the poster was a fellow in a Navy enlisted man's uniform. I guess, being in the Navy myself, I identified with him.

I don't remember the rest of the posters on that bus, but that one really made an impression on me. It said something about "all the races are one" and that "all the religions agreed." That really astounded me. I thought: "What a great idea! Too bad it can't be." I do remember seeing the words "Baha'i Faith" but, couldn't seem to connect it in my mind to what I thought was something to do with B'nai B'rith, a Jewish women's organization, so I put it in the back of my mind and continued my bus ride. Shortly thereafter, we set sail for Guam, Mariana Islands.

Guam is an island approximately 32 miles north to south, shaped like an hour glass ranging from 4 to 8 miles across. It is part of the Mariana Islands. Perhaps the other names in the Marianas might ring a bell to historians of World War II or those familiar with the life and times of Amelia Earhart, like Rota, Tinian or Sipan. To get to Guam from the main land U. S., go west past Hawaii, keep your eyes open so as not to blink as you pass Midway Island for an additional three or four thousand miles and you might find it. If you turn right at Guam for another thousand or so miles you either end up in the Philippines or Japan. The principal city is Agana, with other unusual names as Baragada, Anderson Air Force Base, and Tumuning, to the north or Inarajan, Naval Station and Telafofo to the south.

My primary duty with the U. S. Naval R & D "Sat. Comm. Gru." for the Syncom project, was to measure the distance to the spacecraft and the rate at which the distance changed. This was called Range and Range Rate. Range and Range Rate is vitally important to a geosynchronous satellite, but it only took a few minutes a day to perform these duties. The Navy can't stand to see anyone sit around, no matter what. On our way to Guam, someone found out that I had an easy job and couldn't live with the burden of that knowledge, so I was put in-charge of and made responsible for the maintenance of all the Ship-to-Shore communications equipment. I really didn't mind because I had the experience and liked working on the various transmitters, receivers and other equipment anyway. I spent a lot of time in the communications offices anyhow because I had been trained and was responsible for the ships' Cryptographic equipment too.

Part of the responsibilities of running the maintenance shop for the Ship-to-Shore communications equipment is to insure that you had certain Bureau of Ships manuals on hand. If you didn't and ever got inspected, I guess they'd take away your birthday so something like that.

You guessed it. I didn't have all the documentation I was supposed to have and we got word we were scheduled for an inspection. I figured that as long as the books were there, it didn't make any difference who they belonged to. If I could borrow them from someone, I could use them for the inspection, get the stock numbers off them, order them through channels before returning them, we'd save face and nobody be the wiser.

While in Guam, we were tied up at the Naval Station at the southern end of the island. All Navy Communication types know that there's a major communications station on Guam, but it was at the other end of the island. Getting around Guam wasn't easy. I had heard, however that there was a small communications office there at the Naval Station so this is where I started my search.

The one and only technician at the Naval Station was a young lanky Seaman by the name of John Lansdowne. John struck me as being unusually personable. We hit it off both professionally and socially, from the start. This was usually because of the significant difference in rank. Seaman and Petty Officers, specially First Class Petty Officers, just don't associate with each other.

Before I became a Baha'i, I had been know to "hold my own," on occasion, when it came to consuming "Adult beverages." Please remember that under the social mores of my pre-Baha'i life, drinking was acceptable and the Navy never did anything to discourage it. The fact of the matter is that most all Naval bases had at least three servicemen' clubs: Enlisted, Chief Petty Officers and Officers. Some even had a fourth for senior Petty Officers. Every night each club would usually show a movie, have "live" entertainment (if you could call it that) and the patrons could buy something that resembled "food," but most went for the inexpensive alcoholic beverages. Most of these clubs, despite the inexpensive "booze," were self-supporting.

Being stationed on Guam, John was allowed to have a car. We lovingly called it the "Guam Bomb." I remember accusing John of having trained the springs in the front, and only seat, to act as a deterrent to theft. It wasn't easy to sit in his car without encountering at least one of the springs\ especially when you least expected it. Oh well, I guess they just wanted us to know they were there.

John and I both were known to do a bit of drinking. In exchange for loaning me the publications, I felt it my duty to show my appreciation in the form of "adult beverages." In one of these rare instances when one of the on-base service clubs couldn't support itself, it was usually opened to the next pay-grade lower and their guests.

This was the case of the Chief's Club at that time at the Naval Station, Guam. The Naval Station Guam Chief's Club was very convenient to me as it was located across the dock from where my ship was tied-up so I invited John to join me there one evening.

As I mentioned earlier, John is an unusually engaging person whose personality often made the most conservative military person forget rank and station. John had made friends with a Bob and Grace Riker long before I ever came to Guam. Bob was a Gunners mate First Class stationed at the adjoining Naval Magazine. It was through John that I met them one evening at the Chief's Club. Bob, John and I (The Trio) saw the sign that said: "Drink Canada Dry" and boy-o-boy did we tried to. I won't say that the Chief's Club was an every night event but we did meet there several times a week.

As for Grace, well she belonged to some "crazy religious cult." I don't know if Grace heard about and became a Baha'i on Guam or just prior to coming there, but I don't believe she'd been a Baha'i very long when I first met her. I do remember that this "Thing" she belonged to didn't permit her to drink alcoholic beverages, so one of us (The Trio), would slipped some Vodka into her soft drinks to help her "enjoy" herself. I really don't think Grace realized what we were doing until it was too late. During subsequent evenings Grace would ask us not to mess with her drinks, but sooner or later one of us would do the devilish deed. I hope and am sure she's forgiven us for what we did.

One night when John came to Kingsport to see if I'd be going with him to partake in our nightly ritual, I had to beg off. I had "the duty" and couldn't leave the ship. I did, however, suggested we get together the following evening. It was then John's turn to beg off as he'd promised Grace he'd go to one of her religion's introductory meetings to find out what "it" was all about. He said they called it a Fireside.

John was raised an Episcopalian. We had exchanged our perspectives on life on many occasions and they were very comparable. Out of deep concern for John and what I considered a fate worse than death, I expressed great disappointment and told John: "Don't get involved in some cult that will totally change your life." He assured me that wouldn't happen\ especially if I went with him. That was the farthest thing from my mind. I reeled at the thought.

Because we thought so much alike, John really knew how to "dupe" me. He reminded me of my years in Catholic schools with the considerable religious training and our similar view points on life. He suggested that between the two of us we could stay aloof, not getting involved. The clincher was when John said that after the meeting, we'd go out and "hoist a few" his treat.

The "Fireside" was to be held not in a church, but in the home of the General Manager of the local radio and TV stations, Edgar A. Olsen and his wife Cynthia. I was told that their home was located in the Government of Micronesia compound near the Naval Air Station in Agana.

I felt if I didn't want to argue religion, I could easily change the subject and talk about my favorite subject, radio & TV. So, I reluctantly agreed. I assured John, however that there was no way I'd let "them" get any money out of me. John said that Grace had told him only members of the Faith were permitted to contribute. "That's hard to believe," I said.

I later found out that John was actually inviting me to either his second or third Fireside. I think he was getting in over his head and needed reinforcement for his points of view and uncertainty.

The French are not the only lovers of snails as a food stuff. During the World War II occupation of Guam by the Japanese, they upset the ecology of the island when they imported the critters. God knows there was enough vegetation to support a large population. The only time I ever noticed their presence was when it rained. I believe rain was a signal for the snails in the north of Guam to go south and those in the south to go north. I guess those in the center part of the island directed traffic and not too well either.

Since Guam is composed of coral, the black top used to make the roads had coral instead of gravel mixed with it. The only problem was that when it rained, coral got very slippery. Add the migration of snails during the rain and you had a very hazardous set of driving conditions.

CHAPTER FIVE

THE FIRESIDE

1964 was no different. It was a typical, rainy October day. That meant that the snails were out in droves. John and I pulled up in his "Guam Bomb" to what sounded like someone driving over the world supply of crispy potato chips. The house looked like something out of a jungle movie. It was on stilts about 3 to 4 feet off the ground and the screened windows, which rapped around the house as far as I could see, had their typhoon shutters propped up with boards.

As we stepped gingerly from the "Bomb" down the cement walk way to the house, careful not to step on any more snails than necessary, I remember saying to John: "If they hit me with that icky sticky goo -- Oh brother! Welcome to the fold crap, I'm out of here!"

We were greeted by Cynthia, who introduced herself, followed by her husband Olie. Cynthia was a very thin middle aged lady with grayish-white hair who could stereo-typically be cast as the local schoolmarm in any western. Olie was a portly, balding gentleman in his late 50's who could easily play the role of the town doctor in an Andy Hardy movie.

As we entered the living room we were also greeted by two black gentlemen, John Love and Ellis Atkins and a Micronesian from Palau, Jolly Morris. John Love and Ellis Atkins were Baha'is. Jolly was there for the same reasons we were.

After the normal exchange of courtesies, John and I were invited to sit down. The rattan furnishing served to remind us of where we were: the tropics. There were several couches and pillow laden chairs configured around a rattan coffee table that had pamphlets neatly arranged on it. The literature on the coffee table was the only thing that would give any indication as to what the gathering might be about. Since the outside walls were all screened, open windows, the only wall decorations were on the room dividers. Theses were mostly from the Trust Territory (Micronesia).

All joined in the get-acquainted type patter that goes on between new acquaintances. Ellis Atkins and John Love spoke of their civil service jobs on the military bases and Jolly shared information about his home island. Cultural shock to Jolly really caught my interest. Things most of us take as common place were new to him. He got quite a kick out of going to the two story Guam Memorial Hospital riding up and down on the only elevator within thousands of miles. John Lansdowne and I spoke of what we could about Naval communications.

Cynthia told us of her work placing Micronesian students, going to the College (now University) of Guam, in the homes of service families around the island. Olie and I spoke of the logistics of getting television programs from the U.S. to air locally and how a geosynchronous satellite would solve most of these problems. During this introductory conversation, which lasted about 45 minutes, no mention of religion ever made.

Finally, I was the one who broke the ice. Thinking we had not addressed the subject matter that was the reason for being there, at an opportune moment, I said to Olie: "O.K. Give me your spiel. What's this religion all about?"

This is all Olie needed to share with us a brief, but comprehensive introduction to the history, basic principals, administrative order and some of the philosophy, from his understanding, of the Baha'i Faith. I was particularly impressed with the fact that there are no priests, ministers or clergy within the Baha'i Faith, however my knee jerk reaction was that this was all a put on. I told Olie that he frightened me, if this were real.

At first I thought this was an elaborate gag. I looked at John Lansdowne and asked him why he had wasted my time. I told him that all Olie had done was present my basic philosophies in live to me, mixed in with a bit of Sharazade and her 1000 and one nights with a bit of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves mixed in for good measure. I was assured that it was no put-on. But these folks were for real! Trying to save face, I said that, except for the Sharazade/Ali Baba stuff, they had said nothing I could disagree with and basically the principals were a restate of my approach to life.

On the way to the Fireside, I had promised John that I'd find the "flaw" or "illogical" parts of this religion and show it to him. Remembering this and considering the growing late hour and desire to get to one of the local watering holes before they closed, I said: "For me to do justice to my promise, I'd needed some printed material for additional study."

I was given some of the material from the coffee table and a book. John and I exchanged parting pleasantries with our hosts and the others present, then departed. We made a brief stop at a local bar for a bit of libation, but I had more on my mind and we didn't stay long, so John returned me to the ship.

***

The way of the world is, to praise dead saints, and persecute living ones.

-- Nathaniel Howe

It is the cause and not merely the death that makes the martyr.

-- Napoleon Bonaparte

If a man cannot be a Christian in the place where he is,

he cannot be a Christian anywhere.

-- Henry Ward Beecher

Christianity has not been tried and found wanting

it has been found difficult and not tried.

-- Gilbert K. Chesterton

The bible may be the truth,

but is it not the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

-- Samuel Butler

CHAPTER SIX

MEAN WHILE, BACK AT THE SHIP

When I got back to the ship, it was still early and my head was spinning and it wasn't from any booze I had consumed. I had promised a friend that I'd find the "flaw" and show up this "cult" for what it was. I guess I kind of identified with Houdini, the magician who, after his mother's death, tried, unsuccessfully, to communicate with the "next life" only to encounter one fraud after another. He successfully unmask one bit of chicanery after another as various "medium" said they could put him in touch with those who had "passed on." There was one big difference though. Unwilling to admit it at this point in time, I suspected, as I departed Ollie's home that first night, that what I had heard might possibly be the truth.

While working for the telephone company in 1957-58, I had attended several introductory meetings of various organizations which said they had "The Truth." I didn't, however, want to experience another disappointment and yet I didn't want to make any concessions that I'd later regret. I wasn't sure who I could turn to for guidance, so for the first time in a while, I prayed for guidance and the wisdom to recognize it, if and when I got it. Many things went through my mind that night.

I had developed some special skills I could safely rely on. I lived in an environment of state of the art, hi-tech electronic communications and I was involved in setting the pace for future world wide communications. As such, I had established standards in my life for evaluating nearly everything. I had established test procedures which could be used to size up almost anything new or untried. I don't believe my frame of mind could have been better prepared to look into anything I was to encounter, no mater the subject. I was prepared and wanted to give the Baha'i Faith the most objective analysis I could or would ever be capable of. In retrospect, my training was geared for the hi-tech environment I worked in. Deeper thought on this subject, however, causes me to wonder if, perhaps, the training was really to equipped me for the task of looking into the claim this Man Baha'u'llah had made some 100 years earlier.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear, I settled in my mind the issue with respect to belief in God early on in life. I concluded that mathematically the percentages were so great in favor of there being a Higher Power, God, or Unknowable Essence that it was not an issue with me. My dilemma was I didn't know what He wanted of me or what or who to believe about Him. So my consternation was not with the existence of God, but what His purpose for me in life was and how He was to let me know. The mental astuteness my occupation had conditioned me for caused me to develop an attitude and approach which I would use to investigate these claims. This attitude can best be summed up as:

"If it is "True," I had three choices:

1. Embrace it and make it a part of my life,

2. Ignore it and may be it will go away and then try to live with my hypocrisy, and

3. Deny it and try to live with the mental anguish of a lie.

If it is "False," I would then have only one choice: "Ignore or deny it and get on with my life."

I know this seems a bit over simplified, but why complicate things?

To more fully appreciate where I starting from, allow me to share a few positions I developed and still hold true. To me, creation implied purpose. My question had never been answered satisfactorily until the time of that first Fireside: "What is the purpose of Creation? And, more specifically, how do I fit in or what is my purpose in it?"

I remembered the translation, as shared with me by Rabbi Fine, to the opening verse of the Bible: "In the beginning, God began to create the heavens and the earths." Logic, therefore, proves that God is an ever creating God. An implication of this concept of an "ever creating God" is that He does not destroy (as we understand it). Olie had mentioned that Baha'u'llah said our purpose was: "To carry on an ever advancing civilization." To me an ever advancing civilization implies an ever creating God and that made sense to me! After all, creation is the highest form of love.

I had set several standards. Allow me to share a few now and more as we go along. First, if all created things came from God and I was given the gift of reason, providing I had not clouded it with too much self, I should be able to rely on my "God-given" gift for guidance.

Secondly, if all created things came from God, then science too came from God. I should, therefore, be able to use science to help me. These two things from a common source, God, should not be in conflict and would be able to help me answer my questions and guide me in my quest. I believed it safe to assume that anything that didn't conform to science and/or reason was most likely superstition and has no place in religion.

Thirdly, if God was to give us guidance from time to time, like from Jesus or Moses, that this guidance had to run true through out and not be contradictory.

Allow me to amplify on this just briefly. I believed Jesus and Moses gave us two kinds of guidelines\ spiritual and temporal. The spiritual things pointed out the particulars with respect to our relationship with our Creator and is, so to speak, carved in stone. The temporal guidance had to meet the needs of the day and age in which they are given. These needs change as technology develops and therefore must be different from age to age.

At first glance, I could find no contradictions between what Baha'u'llah said spiritually and what I could find in the Bible, which is what Moses and Jesus said. The temporal things in the days of Jesus or Moses are vastly different than they are today and therefore, must be different.

Perhaps it was the result of this philosophy I had acquired through that point in my life and my working environment as an engineer that caused me to back off from the religions I had encountered. I was convinced that the founders of the worlds "great" Religions, that I was aware of at this point in my life, would not recognize even a glimmer of what they had brought to humankind were they to look at them today.

I had been taught as a Roman Catholic that I could only find God through Jesus Christ within the circle of "mother church," living by her laws and partaking of her sacraments. With this in mind, providing it is correct, it's easy to understand how one could easily be lead to believe that those outside "mother church" had no chance of finding God. Yet I recall, when I was in my youth, being told about a priest who was excommunicated because he said that non-Catholics could not find salvation or God except with in the Catholic Church. I've never been able to accept the concept that our Creator made all these people and just because they weren't one religion or another didn't have access to God or couldn't "find" Him. All that aside, I have always had a problem with the expression "finding God." It implies that He's lost. I don't think so! There were a number of things that I had been trouble with that tend to be part of the main stream of doctrine in many of the modern day churches. What if? That was always the question and I knew there had to be an answer. I was treading on familiar, yet unfamiliar ground. I was emotionally and socially afraid. Mom, the devout Catholic, my uncles, the Catholic Priests, these all were playing games in my head.

All these things influenced my thinking and the approach I would take. I could not let "it" go. I had to investigate "it." I prayed and I prayed and then began to read the material I brought back to the ship then prayed and read some more. Between reading, praying and performing my normal duties on the world's first satellite communications ship as a communications engineer, I got little or no sleep those first few days. The strange part was that I wasn't the least bit tired. My senses seemed to be the keenest I can ever remember them being.

I had no trouble when I read the principals as enumerated in the pamphlets I had been given and as I could remember them from the fireside. These were either concepts I had already professed or found myself sympathetic to as I reacquainted myself with them from Ollie's talk. Simply put they seemed very reasonable and perfectly logical. I could not bring myself to find fault with them even when I tried to come up with arguments against them.

***

Satan the envious said with a sigh: "Christians know more about their hell than I."

-- Alfred Kreymborg

An atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support.

-- Fulton J. Sheen

Passover affirms the great truth that liberty is

the inalienable right of every human being.

-- Morris Joseph

The Bible is a window in this prison of hope, through which we look into eternity.

-- John Sullivan Dwight

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE PRINCIPALS

1. The oneness of mankind. It has always been inconceivable for me to consider anything but the brotherhood of humankind. The constitution of the United States sums it up: "All men are created equal........" As a member of the Armed Forces of that country, I had sworn an oath to defend that document and all that it stood for. This is a principal fundamental to my very way of life and should be fundamental to all Americans, much less the whole of humankind.

2. Independent investigation of truth. A problem I have had since I can remember is my ability to follow someone's directions or orders when I didn't fully understand their rhyme or reason. I really get upset when someone asks or tells me to do something and if or when asked about the request or order, they say: "Because I said so!" It's very difficult for me to take someone's word for anything. Although I'm a native of Californian, I react as a stereotypical person from Missouri, so to speak. It has to be proved to me. I'm not a "doubting Thomas" but simply put, I believe I have the right to know "why" and always want to understand things for myself\\ not with or through the mind of someone else. This can be particularly aggravating to both me and the other person when they can't or don't express themselves well. I climb the walls! My family and those who know me well will attest to this. This is so ingrained in me and so a part of my personality, I do not believe I could be any different and be true to myself. As my wife says: "That's just you." I'm sorry if I tend to be smug about it, but then Baha'u'llah says that's the way it is!

3. The essential harmony of science and religion. Since I have spoken about this already, I believe my views have been well established. Both come from the same Source so neither can be in opposition to the other. They must be in harmony. This is simple logic. I could never understand how there could ever be disputes between the two disciplines . I had always believed that if there was a disagreement, it was either a miscalculation in the world of science or a misunderstanding in the particular area of theology, or maybe a little of both.

4. Equality of men and women. Since humankind is one, to make any distinction based on sex where opportunity, pay, consideration or education or anything else is concerned is not just or fair. I'd be the first one to say there are differences and I'm grateful too. My right hand is different than my left, but both are equally necessary for me to function. In the Baha'i writings humanity is compared to a bird\\ man is one wing and woman is the other. Both are equally necessary for the bird to fly. When I read this it rang more true then what I had always said about my right hand - left hand. As I was to discover, everything I read about with respect to these principals as spelled out in the Baha'i literature I had brought back to the ship were things I had thought about and believed in, but were presented there for the first time more sensibly than I had ever been able to do myself.

5. Elimination of prejudice of all kinds. Most of us think about race when the topic of prejudice is brought up, but there are many kinds. I went to a private, all boys high school for my Freshman and Sophomore years. It was located, at the time, in the Cheviot Hills on the border of Beverly Hills and Westwood in a fairly affluent part of West Los Angeles. Chaminade High School is now located in Chatsworth, in the San Fernando Valley. After all these years it still has the reputation of being a very high class school for the wealthy. There were many of my fellow students who were from very rich families. Most of the guys were fairly sociable, but there were a few who thought "who the hell they were." Prejudice, whether racial, social, religious or political have no place in our lives or society. I shutter when I think of how many wars humankind has entered into in the name of religion. If religion comes from God and we come from God, then how can we, for any reason kill off our equals in "His" name? When God made this planet He did not make boarders. It took politicians to do that. There is nothing wrong with knowing were we came from or supporting the country we live in, but when it is at the expense of anyone else, it becomes wrong. I was truly impressed when I read: "The earth is but one country and all mankind its' citizens." We must grow up to this and soon.

6. Universal peace upheld by a world government. It is or should be apparent to the most casual observer that if we are to have world peace, we must have the means to achieve it. Until we have an organization recognized by all the nations of the world where they can bring their issues, not just differences, for fair arbitration we will never have world peace. Cities have their police departments, states have their national guards and nations have their various military and naval forces. A world government must be established along with its peace keeping agencies for world peace to happen. I have yet to see any other way. Perhaps the common markets are a more viable step in this direction than either the League of Nations or the United Nations. There is a need for a common currency, like is about to happen in Europe. It's only a matter of time when we will have a world currency. For anyone who has traveled, it easier to see how much more convenient and less costly this would be. Money changers have taken their share for centuries. Baha'u'llah points out that these changes are necessary. It's just taking the governments a while to get around to it. In any case it's going to happen, one way or another as is apparent to the most casual observer.

7. Universal compulsory education. When I was a Catholic and went to church regularly, I can remember at the end of Mass, before the priest left the alter, how he would lead the congregation in "prayers for the conversion of Russia." It's not hard to understand why. We were told that Russia was once Christian and that they had become a "God-less, communist, enslaved" people who's government tortured their people, especially those who believed in God. My response to this was that: "No one can enslave an educated people." Prejudice is born of ignorance. Education is essential if one wishes to have a meaningful search for truth. Until a person is educated, they can do nothing but see through the eyes of others or understand only with another's brain, not with their own.

8. A universal auxiliary language. Anyone who has traveled the world, as I have, can see the need for a common means of communication. The "Information Highway" of the future demands we have a common language in which to communicate. Think of how this will get rid of the misunderstandings which tend to be the consequences of linguistic differences. We may even be able to understand lawyers, someday!

9. A spiritual solution to the economic problems. I believe this is a material issue. The concept of unity and moderation in all things is a touchy subject in our society. I have never been of the opinion that a person who does well should be penalized for making lots of money. I don't remember who said: "God must have loved the poor because he made so many of them." I tend to get upset when I hear people speak the misquote: "Money is the root of all evil." The correct quote is: "The love of money is the root of all evil." In the society of the future that these principals will bring about, when a person has wealth they will be as keenly aware of it as they are of those who do not have it. They will use their wealth to help provide the means for others to better their lot in live. I have always believed, as Baha'u'llah teaches, that the rich should share their bounties in an effort to ease the pain of those who are without, but it has to come from within\\ not though legislation. When and if this happens in the heart of a person with means, "the eye of the needle" will be come more than big enough for them to attain the "kingdom of God." We're told that it is better to give than to receive. Those who have given will attest to the good feelings they have when they do. I have seen people who have had wealth loose it When they get it back their priorities are very much different\\ they seem to care more for their fellow man. I hope it isn't necessary of all people of means to have to go through that scenario to learn the lesson. Baha'u'llah said: "O SON OF MAN! Should prosperity befall thee, rejoice not, and should abasement come upon thee, grieve not, for both shall pass away and be no more." "O MY SERVANT! The best of men are they that earn a livelihood by their calling and spend upon themselves and upon their kindred for the love of God, the Lord of all worlds."

10. The common foundation of all religions. I have never believed that anyone has "a corner on God." I have been to many places around the world and have seen many devote people practicing what they believed to be the "TRUTH" while following their path to eternal happiness within the teachings of their religion. As I said earlier, I could find no contradictions between what Baha'u'llah said spiritually and what I could find in the Bible, which is what Moses and Jesus said. I could find little or no difference in what Muhammad or what Olie called " The Manifestations of God" had said spiritually. They seemed to present their Teaching about every thousand years, plus or minus a few hundred. As I pointed out earlier, the temporal needs in respective days of these Great Men were vastly different. Those needs compared with today's' are even more different. As I said earlier, I've never been able to accept the concept that our Creator made all these people and just because they weren't one religion or another couldn't have access to God, let alone believe that a person could only get to their Creator or God only through the confines of "mother church."

Could it be that Baha'u'llah, Jesus, Moses, Muhammad, Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, the Bab and Others were, as Olie had explained, God's Teachers, taking mankind through one grade in His school to another, with Baha'u'llah being His latest Teacher?

As I read and prayed, it became more and more apparent to me that although these principals are distinct and can be presented individually, standing alone, but they are interlocking, inseparable and all necessary if we are to achieve any measure of success or longevity as a people on this planet, especially with the technology we now have. Were I to try to sum up these principles, I could only repeat what I have read in the Baha'i writings: "UNITY." That says it all and I couldn't find anything wrong with that! But what about the Bab and Baha'u'llah? Who were They and how did They fit into God's plan?

CHAPTER EIGHT

WHO IS THE "BAB"

I think we tend take up the easier chores in life first saving the hard work to later. The point I'm trying to make here is that it didn't take me long to realize that I wasn't going to find the discontinuity I had told my friend, John, I'd find because I agreed with the principals of the Baha'i Faith 100%. I remember making the very vane, self-centered, but passing comment that: ".... this (the Baha'i principals) was the best summation and presentation of "my" principals I had run across so far." I figured that if I were to find the "flaw" in Baha'i, I'd have to look elsewhere. Perhaps I'd find it in the lack of fulfillment with respect to the prophesies given in the Faiths of old. May be the early history and the lives of the Central Figures would give me the "error" I was convinced must be there. To help appreciate my thinking and what lead me my conclusions, I feel I should share something of the lives of these Central Figures. In writing this, I tried to recall what I had read from the material I had been given at the Olsen's and then verified the rough draft to insure my memory was somewhat close to being accurate. Surprisingly, I had to make only spelling corrections.

The story of the Bab, whose name Olie said meant "The Gate," fascinated me very much. The Bab, which is a title, was born Siyyid Ali Muhammad on October 20, 1819 in Shariz, Persia. He was raised by his maternal uncle, Haji Mirza Siyyid. Very early in life, He demonstrated nothing but the highest level of character and conduct. When He was taken to school, He would explained complex, deep, difficult and generally hard to understand subject matter to his teachers and fellow students, effortlessly. It didn't take long for his teachers to send Him home to his maternal uncle saying words to the effect that: "We can teach him nothing. He knows better than we, his teachers. He teaches us." As He grew older and went into the business world, it didn't take long for Him to developed a reputation of being the most honest and reputable of businessmen to do business with. Now all this all made for a nice story, but, not having been there or knowing anyone who had, I had no way to verify any of these scenario. The part of the Bab's life, however, that fascinated me most was how it ended. He was executed twice in the same day before over 20,000 witnesses. That could be verified, but then I'm getting ahead of my self.

I was aware there had been a great religious fervor relating to the return of Christ that materialize in the mid 1840's through out a good part of Christianity. Many people had sold all their worldly possessions awaiting the "time of the end." Folks with deep devotion and insight formed groups who's purpose were to study the various Holy books in anticipation of discovering a deeper understanding into the "when and where" of the return of Jesus the Christ. Some of these groups, however ended up calling 1844 as the "Year of Disappointment" when Jesus didn't return when, where and/or how they had thought He should or would.

Christianity didn't have a corner on this "return" fervor. I was to learn, and independently confirm, that it was alive, active and well within other major Faiths and religious movements. My focus here is within the world of Islam as that's where the Bab's story took place, although the Bab did fulfill Christian and other religious prophesies as well. There were many factors and many long involved stories (written by others elsewhere) which describe how many devout seekers set out on in search for the "return." As I said though, my focus here, for purposes of addressing the issue of the Bab is limited to the world of Islam. This "Return" within Islam was described as the "Promised One of all ages." At that point of time in my investigation, I was reasonably sure these were, one-in-the-same, return as Christians believed would be that of the "Christ."

It was this ardent search for this key Personage promised throughout the annals of religious history that brought a group of devout Moslems into the City of Shariz one late afternoon in May, 1884 in their search. One of these "seekers" in this group was known by the name of Mullah Hussein. Mullah Hussein expressed the desire to leave the group briefly, saying that he'd rejoin them later that same evening for evening prayers at the Mosque. As he made his way though the streets of Shariz, Mullah Hussein encountered a young man who's beguiling demeanor was unsurpassed in his memory. The young man greeted Mullah Hussein as though he were visiting royalty. The young man's resituate of conduct was such that it put Mullah Hussein completely at ease and when invited, accepted the invitation to refresh himself and take afternoon tea with his Host.

It was my understanding that there had been certain passages or chapters in the Koran that were difficult to understand or whose meaning alluded Mullah Hussein and others of the Moslem Faith. In addition to the generally accepted criteria that would be used to prove a Messenger or Prophet of God, Mullah Hussein had set his own standards which had to be met and had contrived certain events which had to be accomplished. If and when he were to encounter someone who either laid claim to, or that he suspected might be who he was looking for, it was his intention to exercise these standards, one of which was that the Promised One would explain, without being asked, this particular part of the Koran just referred to.

Shortly he arrived at the home of his Host, Siyyid Ali Muhammad. After he had refreshed himself and had taken tea, his Host took up pen and began to chant and write. In addition to these passages Mullah Hussein had wanted explained, unasked, his Host reviled many other things pertaining to Mullah Hussein's quest. At one point Mullah Hussein wanted to go get his traveling companions, but his Host cautioned him, advising that in his state of exuberance and happiness, they might think him to be deranged, so Mullah Hussein remained and continued to receive his lessons from his newly recognized Teacher. Siyyid Ali Muhammad, who's title was to become the Bab, told Mullah Hussein that no less than eighteen would have to find Him as did Mullah Hussein, with out being told.

The life and times of the Bab are well documented else where and it is not my intent to share them in this account except those parts which had the greatest impact on my decision. In addition to this meeting, the last day or two of the life of the Bab really made an initial impression on me.

As with the Christ, the Bab was not well received by the clergy and local politicals of His day. There are many parallels between the lives of Jesus, the Christ and that of Siyyid Ali Muhammad, the Bab. The Bab had been kept in one prison after another in His latter days simply because of His teachings of love and religious reform. Finally on the evening of July 8, 1850, he was brought to the city of Tabriz, Persia. On his way to the prison, a young man, a member of the crowds that that gathered, spotted him and cried out that he recognized him as the one he had been dreaming about and was, indeed, the Promised One. The authorities grabbed him and took him along with the Bab to the prison. That night the Bab told the young man that he would be with Him both in this life and the next, inseparable. This took on a new meaning when the Moslem Clergy had succeeded in getting the execution order for the Bab during the night.

When the appointed hour of the execution was approaching, the warden of the prison went to the cell where the Bab and this young man had been kept during the night. The Bab was in the midst of passing on some last minute instructions to his aid. When the warden interrupted this dictation, the Bab told him that there was no power on this earth that could stop Him until He had done all those things He had set out to do. (I did not show this as a quote as I wrote it as I remembered it during my investigation.) This comment did not stop the warden. He took the Bab and his cell mate out to a post in the barracks square where the Bab was suspended with his hands over his head with the young man placed with Him, his head resting on the chest of the Bab. There were 20,000 witnesses to this event.

Moslem prophesy said that the Promised One would be killed by members of their own Faith. To insure this would not be the case, the authorities selected a Christian regiment lead by Sam Kahn to perform the execution. Kahn really didn't want any part of this. He told the Bab so, to which the Bab responded that he should carry out his orders and if his heart was in the right place, God would relieve him of his perplexity. Sam Kahn followed the Bab's instructions. There were 3 ranks of 250 each, prone kneeling and standing. When the smoke cleared from the 750 muskets, all that could be seen was the young man standing with the ropes dangling from his arms, unhurt and a dazed look on his face.

An immediate search was begun to look for the Bab. He was finally found back in his cell, finishing his dictation which had been interrupted. When the warden remembered the words of the Bab from earlier, he abandoned his office and departed. Sam Kahn also remembered what the Bab had told him and did the same thing along with his troupes. It didn't take the clergy long to get a replacement firing squad. A cadre of the Shahs' personal bodyguard (all Moslem) happened to be in Tabriz at that time and were pressed into service.

Once more, before 20,000 witnesses, the Bab and his young follower were brought to the same post in the barracks square, where 750 muskets of the Shahs' personal body guard, at 12 noon on July 9, 1850, discharged their rounds at the "Promised One of all Ages" and His young follower. When the smoke again cleared, clouds covered the sun and the day became like night. What could be seen was that there wasn't a scratch on the face of either the Bab or his youthful follower their bodies, however fulfilled the Bab's promise of the night before and were so intertwined, they were inseparable.

As I have said, this account is carried in more detail elsewhere. I challenge the reader to peruse those sources for more detailed descriptions and accounts. I have only relayed here those few facts among the many which impressed me and had their greatest impact during my early investigation.

CHAPTER NINE

WHO IS "BAHA'U'LLAH?"

This is a question which, along with much of the subject matter I have and will touched on could and has filled many volumes. Although I may, at times seem to get wordy, I am not inclined nor willing to even remotely attempt to do anything of that sort. There are many well written books which fill this purpose. It has been and still is my purpose in writing this document, to first discuss what shaped my life and thinking up to that point when I first encountered Baha'u'llah and the Baha'i Faith, secondly to attempt to share what I went through during my investigation, thirdly my thinking which lead to my acceptance of Baha'u'llah for Who He said He was and forth some of the confirmations I have received as part of the aftermath of that decision. Forgive me for repeating myself, but I do feel it my responsibility and that it is necessary to assist the reader who may be encountering this subject matter for the first time, to share a little background so as to wet their appetite so they will pursue their own independent investigation well beyond this document. I humbly beg of you not to accept anything I have said or shared with you herein about the Baha'i Faith on my word alone. I Compare this document to a chemical reaction. It should be used as nothing more than my account and my experiences my personal history and perhaps as your catalyst to look further into the subject matter, but please nothing more. Go out and prove or disprove it for yourself. That's my challenge

Baha'u'llah was born Mirza Husayn Ali on November 12, 1917, in Teheran, the capitol city of Iran. He was the oldest son of Mirza Abbas, a Vazir or Minister of the Iranian government. His family was very wealthy. Many of His relatives had distinguished themselves by holding important posts within the government serving both in the civil and military services of that country. Baha'u'llah never attended school or college. What little education He did receive was given at home. Despite this seeming handicap, like the Bab, He showed great wisdom and knowledge. When He was in his early teens, He became renowned for His learning. He could speak on any subject and solve any problem presented to Him. It is said that in large gatherings He would discuss matters with the leading clergy and would explain intricate religious questions. He was listened to with the greatest of interest and respect. At twenty-two, His father passed away, leaving Him the responsibility for the care of His younger brothers and sisters and the management of the extensive family estates. The government wished Him to succeed to His father's position in the Ministry, as was customary in Iran, but He did not accept the offer. The Prime Minister or Grand Vazir is reported to have said: "Leave him to himself. Such a position is unworthy of him. He has some higher aim in view. I cannot understand him, but I am convinced that he is destined for some lofty career. His thoughts are not like ours. Let him Alone."

As Jesus was a Jew, the Bab was a Moslem. Baha'u'llah came from the same background: Moslem, then Bab' i. A follower of the Bab is called a Bab' i. When the Bab declared His mission in 1844, Baha'u'llah boldly espoused the Cause of this new Faith. Because of His recognized wisdom and ability to express Himself, it didn't take long for Him to become recognized as one of the most powerful and fearless exponents of the Bab' i Faith. Due to the passion and, in many cases, fanaticism of the Moslem clergy, it wasn't long before Baha'u'llah was imprisoned for one reason or other.

At the risk of getting ahead of myself, I'd like to interject a little note here. Baha'u'llah had several children. His eldest son, whom I'll be devoting a chapter to later, was born Abbas Effendi and took the title, Abdu'l-Baha which means the Servant of Baha (or Glory). He was born on May 22, 1844, the same night the Bab' i and Mulla Husayn had their first meeting in Shiraz. I mention it here so that you will be aware of the fact that Abdu'l-Baha along with Baha'u'llah and the other member of his immediate family, as was the custom in that country, shared the same fate as did Baha'u'llah.

It was during Baha'u'llah's third imprisonment, along with his family and other Bab'is, in a place which Baha'u'llah, Himself describes in Epistle to the Son of the Wolf (in my words) as the most horrible place on earth, that He had a spiritual experience much like Jesus, the Christ had when the dove said: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." In essence, Baha'u'llah was told that through His Pen He'd be victorious. Please forgive me for my summation, but for the proper quotes I direct you to the Original sources. I believe that Baha'u'llah would probably have met with the same fate as did the Bab were it not for the secular esteem and influence which His family had once had.

Everyday of the four months in this hell-hole of a prison, one or more of those who shared with Baha'u'llah His fate, simply for their belief in the Bab, were either tortured and/or put to death. Many of the imprisoned Bab'is gladly welcomed the executioner when their name was called. The time had taken it's toll on Baha'u'llah's health. It was thought that He was so ill that He might die. Politicians know only too well the art of expediency. "Out out of sight. Out of mind." Many times in history it seems that when execution is not a "comfortable" option, exile is the next viable alternative. I believe the powers-at-be didn't think Baha'u'llah could stand up to the stress and hardships of a long, arduous, winter journey, afoot, to Iraq-i-Arab, in Mesopotamia (Baghdad), so that's where they sent Him, His family and a number of other believers.

When they did arrive, as one account describes it, they were: "... in a state of almost utter destitution." This was in 1853, or nine years after the Bab's Declaration. When Baha'u'llah's health was restored, He took up the cause of teaching. Only Baha'u'llah and his son, Abdu'l-Baha, knew of Baha'u'llah's Divinely appointed Mission. After being in Baghdad a year, like Jesus, who spent forty days and nights in the wilderness prior to, and in preparation for, His public Ministry, Baha'u'llah spent two years in the wilderness preparing Himself. When Baha'u'llah returned from his retreat, His fame became greater than ever. Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians as well as Mohammedans demonstrated even greater interest as they traveled from near and far to Baghdad to see the Massager and hear His Message. Like in the times with Jesus, this didn't set well with the rank-and-file Mullas or clergy of Islam.

As Baha'u'llah's notoriety spread, so did the hate and deceit of the clergy for Him. The Mayor of Baghdad even sought Baha'u'llah's council. Those with a pure and inquiring heart and mind found the answers to their questions in Baha'u'llah's teachings. It was during this time that Baha'u'llah would take long walks along the banks of the Tigris river. When he returned smiling and looking very happy, as one account puts it, He'd write down those lyric gems of wise counsel I have spoken of earlier, know as the Hidden Words. Ten years after His arrival in Baghdad, the clergy had exercised so much influence on both the Iranian and Turkish governments, that an order was issued by the Turkish Government summoning Baha'u'llah to Constantinople.

In preparation for their departure from Baghdad, and because the home of Baha'u'llah was besieged by His followers, Baha'u'llah and His family encamped in the Garden of Najib Pasha outside the city of Baghdad for a period of twelve days while the caravan was being prepared for the long journey. The time was spring, April 21, 1863. While Baha'u'llah was encamped in what was to be come known by Baha'is as the "Garden of Ridvan," that Baha'u'llah announced to several of His followers the glad tidings that He was the one whose coming had been foretold by the Bab - the Chosen of God, the Promised One of all prophets. Baha'u'llah, with twelve members of His family and seventy-two disciples departed on May 3, 1863 for Constantinople. This period of April 21st through May 3rd is celebrated annually by Baha'is as the holiest of all holy days in their calendar.

The journey lasted over three months. The band traveled from mountain to mountain and from sea to sea. When they arrived in Constantinople, they again found themselves prisoners, over-crowded in a very little house. Later they were moved to slightly better accommodation, but after four months they were moved again on to Adrianople. One account says that although the journey from Constantinople to Adrianople lasted only a few days: "... it was the most terrible they had yet undertaken." It seems they didn't have the proper clothing and it snowed the whole time of the trip. Because they were destitute this and lack of food made life for all miserable, to say the least. During the four and a half years of cramped, inadequate, vermin infested quarters, Baha'u'llah continued to teach and give counsel. In an attempt to disquiet Baha'u'llah's efforts, the Turkish government further banished Baha'u'llah and some of His followers to Akka, the prison city in the Holy land (modern day Israel). They arrived on August 31, 1868 and it was in and around the area of Akka, that Baha'u'llah lived out His life a prisoner and exile. It was said of Akka, that were a bird to fly over it, the bird would drop dead from the stench. The fortified walls of the city still show the damage from the canon fire from Napoleon's attempt to capture this citadel on the bay of Haifa.

Toward the end of Baha'u'llah's life He, He was permitted to live just out side of Akka in a place know to Baha'is as Bahji. It was during these days on the Bay of Haifa that Baha'u'llah wrote to the kings and rulers of the world proclaiming His Divine Mission. Napoleon III was the only monarch to receive two letters. Queen Victoria was praised for her freeing the slaves through out the British Empire. Baha'u'llah told her that her reign would be long and prosperous and that her name would be long remembered. Today Queen Victoria is the only non-reigning monarch of the British Empire who's birthday is celebrated as a national holiday and there are countless places named after her. To me that was impressing.

Now I have a purpose for sharing all this with you. By no stretch of the imagination did Baha'u'llah make these trips or submit to the incarnations because He wanted to. Here was a Man born into opulence and comfort brought down to material nothingness simply for His beliefs. If you are familiar with prophesy, it's not hard to recognize that He was fulfilling one prophesy after another. There is a fine book by William Sears entitled Thief in the Night which explores these prophesies and their fulfillment. I sure wished I'd have had it on the ship. It would have made my investigation much easier, but that was not to be and I'm glad I did it myself!

The only westerner to meet Baha'u'llah in person was Professor Edward G. Browne of Cambridge in England Browne had four interviews with Baha'u'llah while Baha'u'llah was at Bahji in 1890, just out side Haifa. Each interview ranged from twenty to thirty minutes each. Browne's account of his first meeting can be found in Baha'u'llah and the New Era by J. E. Esselmont. Most of these books are available from the Baha'i Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Ill.

Of Baha'u'llah's teachings, Queen Victoria wrote: "If He is of God, it will endure. If not it, can do no harm." As I read studied and researched, prayed and meditated, making it back to Ollie's home about every other night to ask more questions and get more information, I was coming to view Baha'u'llah's teachings in much the same ways as Queen Victoria' quote. I found myself at the Naval Station library when I couldn't find the answers to questions I had in the small library aboard my ship, the USNS Kingsport. I also realized that, between the investigation, performing my duties as a satellite communications engineer, and going to Ollie's, I was getting little or no sleep and yet I was not tired. Although I thought this strange, I didn't seemed to dwell on it only in retrospect.

I had always felt uncomfortable when I had read any of the things by such people as L. Ron Hubbard, Mary Baker Eddie, Joseph Smith and a plethora of other writers of religious reform. What they wrote didn't seem to apply to me and seemed so much "Physo-babble." I got the impression from these religious reformers that it was all well and good, but I couldn't understand why did we needed a new "wrinkle" in the same old religion. But this was not the case with any of the material I read about the Baha'i Faith. Baha'u'llah wrote with authority, style and what seemed to be an intuitive understanding of what humankind needed. Baha'u'llah didn't come across like a new "wrinkle" in the same old religion. He came across to me like He had fresh approach with respect to my relationship with my Creator. It was like a restatement of what the Christ and Moses had said spiritually, but a totally new and very appropriate way of living for this day and age. Religious teachings can be divided into two areas: 1. Our relationship with our Creator and 2. Our relationship with each other.

As any attorney will tell you, a covenant is a contract or agreement made by one party with another. I have always been of the opinion that we should have been calling the "old and new Testaments" of the Bible the "old and new Covenants." I understand the Covenants or Testaments, in addition to being of historic value, as being a statement of God's promises of what He'll do for us if we live the way He wants us to live. I say history because history is important in religion. Lineage is a key to One's claim to Prophethood. This is why in the Bible we have all the "Begetting and Begatting." All the Prophets or Messengers in the Bible and Koran must be able to trace their lineage to Abraham. Abraham had three wives Sarah, Hager and Katura. Jesus and Moses are descended from Sarah Mohammed and the Bab from Hager and Baha'u'llah from Katura. The reference material is available if you'd care to take the time to trace it yourself.

When I said Baha'u'llah wrote with authority, I direct you to one of his works in particular: "The Hidden Words" by Baha'u'llah. Having read this very short little publication, I will go on record as saying I have never found anything that has better defined humankinds relationship, or Covenant with our Creator. It is not my purpose to do a lot of quoting here. I highly recommend that if you haven't read this, do so. I will, however, quote the opening statement only just to give you an idea of How Baha'u'llah writes:

"This is that which hath descended from the realm of glory, uttered by the tongue of power and might, and revealed unto the Prophets of old. We have taken the inner essence thereof and clothed it in the garment of brevity, as a token of grace unto the righteous, that they may stand faithful unto the Covenant of God, may fulfill in their lives His trust, and in the realm of spirit obtain the gem of Divine virtue."

When I say what Jesus, Moses, or Mohammed had to say spiritually is the same, I don't mean to detract from its importance as their Message was and still is very eminent, but for sake of comparison, the spiritual teachings are very much the same, and as they should be. Sociologically, they differed. The needs of their times differed. It was refreshing to see that Baha'u'llah, simply put, was giving humankind "The Hidden Words" as an encapsulated statement of our "spiritual" covenant with our Creator.

On the sociological side, one of the things I read in "Baha'u'llah and the New Era," by J. H. Esslemont that really stood out in my memory was that: "A mechanism of world intercommunication will be devised, embracing the whole planet, freed from national hindrance and restrictions, and function with marvelous swiftness and perfect regularity." This impressed me, on the sociological side, like nothing else. Here I was bringing into existence what a Man, over one hundred years ago, had said would happen. Each of the satellites we were putting up could see about forty percent of the earth's surface. Three of these geosynchronous satellites would cover the entire earth at 22,300 miles. I was in Guam to assist with the launch of Syncom III. As we departed Hawaii for Guam, Cable Ship Long Lines, the American Telephone and Telegraph cable laying ship was completing the first transpacific cable. We were one of the first users of this new cable. True, transoceanic cables were proven things in communications and satellites weren't, we knew that we were making this new cable obsolete.

I have addressed the Central Figures of the Baha'i Faith in chronological order to assist the reader in knowing what I'm talking about. My investigation was more like sampling from a religious smorgasbord a little here, a little there. What amazed me was that the more I tried to find flaws, the more it was standing up under my test of prophesy, proving itself to be true. I was using every taught, acquired and natural talent I had to arrive at the truth and what probably scared me most as I went on was I had found the truth. I'll not forget one caveat that Olie shared with me: "Empty your cup and fill it with what your are investigating. If it is true, it will taste good, if not spit it out and move on."

I was beginning to wonder: "If it is true, how will my family and my new bride take my acceptance of this new Faith?" How many times I've experienced the attitude from others hearing about the Baha'i Faith for the first time that it couldn't be true as they had never heard of it before. I concluded that my relationship with God is just that - MINE. If I screw up, I have to take the blame. If I do the right thing, I must, by the same token, I'm still responsible. I was not duped. I was arriving at my conclusions using all my own faculties.

There are many accounts of Baha'u'llah's life and Ministry. That's why this is just a thumb nail sketch. Baha'u'llah had a family that were with him through the trials, tribulations and exiles. He had two sons and a daughter. The younger son died at a very early age. His daughter is called the Greatest Holy Leaf by Baha'is and she is entombed in her shrine on Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land. His eldest son, Abdu'l Baha has a unique position in the annals of religion. We have had Messengers of God, Prophets Etc., but there has never been anyone who has held the station which Abdu'l Baha holds. The Messengers of God, although physically human as we are, are Spiritually so removed from us that for us to try to understand them is like the painting trying to comprehend the paint brush. How much greater for us to try as the painting to try to comprehend the painter. According to this analogy, we could never hope to be compared to the paint brush. Abdu'l Baha is considered by Baha'is as the perfect human being the perfect painting. We can emulate him. I'll be addressing Abdu'l Baha next, describing his impact on me during my investigation of the Baha'i Faith, Baha'u'llah and this "new religion." Stay tuned!

CHAPTER TEN

Servant of the Glory

(The Perfect Man)

Born on the same day and within the same hour that the Bab declared His mission to Mulla Husayn, the evening of May 22, 1844, Abbas Effendi, better known as Abdu'l Baha lived his life with his Father through thick and thin through exile and imprisonment. When Abdu'l Baha was only eight years old, his Father was put into the dungeon in Tehran. It was during this time that a mob broke into Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l Baha's family home, stripped it of all its' possessions, leaving Their family destitute. During the first year of exile in Baghdad, at the age of nine, it is said that through Abdu'l Baha's keen insight that, he knew his Father was the Promised One. This was a full ten years before his Father's public declaration in the Garden of Ridvan.

As one becomes familiar with Abdu'l Baha, his life and his writings, it's not difficult to understand why Baha'u'llah, at different times, called him "The Mystery of God," "The Center of My Covenant," "The Most Great Branch," "The Branch from the Ancient Root" or many times, simply, "The Master." It was very hard on Abdu'l Baha when his Father went into the wilderness for two years. He spent most of this time in meditation and study of the Holy Script. Abdu'l Baha did not have the opportunity to attend any schools or college. His only teacher was his Father. As one becomes familiar with Baha'u'llah, it's not difficult to understand why Abdu'l Baha didn't need anyone or anything else he had the Best!

When he could, Abdu'l Baha served as a buffer between the myriad of visitors who wanted access to his Father, weeding out the insincere. It was not uncommon for Baha'u'llah to ask Abdu'l Baha to address, either verbally or in writing, some of the questions proposed to Him. Abdu'l Baha was a very good horseman. During the long journeys leading to the exiles, he guarded his Father by riding next to his wagon and watching near His tent. Baha'u'llah brought the Message and designated His son, in writing, as His sole interpreter. I know of no other Father - son relationship to equal this one in all recorded history. As he did in the other places of exile, when they arrived in Akka, Abdu'l Baha did what he could to help his Father by teaching, ministering to the needy, poor and infirmed, taking care of family affairs and giving comfort to the bereaved.

Telling of the imprisonment and exiles of Abdu'l Baha would simply be a repeat of what I have said about the imprisonment and exiles of Baha'u'llah. Baha'u'llah made it vary clear in many places, including His Last Will and Testament, who it was that would lead the Faithful after He was gone.

Through to the end, Baha'u'llah and his family were prisoners and exiles. In Baha'u'llah's' latter years, though still under the heal of the Ottoman Empire, some of the harsher restrictions of earlier years had been eased. As mentioned earlier, Baha'u'llah and family were permitted to live in a home just outside Akka known as Bahji. Shortly after Baha'u'llah's death on May 29, 1892 at the age of seventy-five, Abdu'l Baha, himself at forty-eight years of age, continued to perform his ministries, but the government and others just couldn't leave well enough alone. The restrictions were, once again imposed and Abdu'l Baha was made to live within the prison of Akka until the Young Turks revolt when all political and religious prisoners in the Ottoman Empire were set free.

In September, 1908 Abdu'l Baha was released ending over fifty years of imprisonment. The only change was that Abdu'l Baha move to a home in Haifa where he ministered to the needs of all which included a short trip to Alexandria, Egypt. Weather in prison or free, Abdu'l Baha had not only spiritual insight and vision but sociological as well. He built up food stores which were vitally needed to feed the local people, shortly thereafter, in their times of need. No one was overlooked. He helped those who needed help because they needed help and it made no difference to Abdu'l Baha what race, creed, color or social standing a person was or had.

During 1911, Abdu'l Baha visited London, England and Paris, France, returning to Egypt in December of that year. Addresses and notes of conversations while in London have been published under the title Abdu'l Baha in London by the Baha'i Publishing Trust of England. There were many who took notes during the many talks given by Abdu'l Baha in these various locations.

The following year, Abdu'l Baha set sail on the S.S. Cedric for the United States arriving in New York on April 11, 1912. He gave talks to groups of people of every conceivable makeup imaginable, in almost every conceivable environment, from cost to coast. His first talk was given on April 14th to the congregation of the Church of the Ascension in New York City. His talks in the United States were taken down and have been published under the title of Promulgation of Universal Peace, published by the Baha'i Publishing Trust of the United States. One report says that during Abdu'l Bahas' talks, when the translator made a mistake, Abdu'l Baha would lovingly correct the translation. Abdu'l Baha spoke in many cities on the east coast from Philadelphia to Boston and other parts of New England. I'm sure there are other cities, but at this writing I don't recall them. I do know that he spoke in Buffalo, New York, saw Niagara Falls and spoke several places in Canada On his way out west he laid the corner stone for the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Ill.

As a native of Los Angeles, California, I took particular interest in Abdu'l Baha's visit to my fair state. I can not go on without mentioning a few details of that part of his visit to the U.S. He arrived in San Francisco about midnight on October 1, 1912. The next day Dr. David Starr Jordan, President of Stanford University asked Abdu'l Baha to speak at his University. Dr. Jordan said of Abdu'l Baha: "Abdu'l Baha will surely unite the East and the West: for He treads the mystic way with practical feet." Abdu'l Baha gave many talks in and around the bay area. He wanted to visit Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington, but the trip was, in those days, too far for this health to endure. On October 18th, Abdu'l Baha went to Los Angeles for the specific purpose of visiting the grave of Thornton Chase, the first Baha'i of the Christian West, returning to San Francisco on October 21st. In Abdu'l Baha's departing remarks from San Francisco, CA on October 26th, Abdu'l Baha said: "May the first flag of International Peace be upraised in this State....." Thirty-three years later, the Charter of the United Nations was drawn up and proclaimed in San Francisco, CA His work in America was accomplished he said, and now he would begin his journey back to the Holy Land, and as Balyuzi said: "... to the precincts of the Shrine of His Father." After a brief stay in New York, giving a few talks, he departed for England on December 5, 1912.

Abdu'l Baha lectured in England, with a side trip to Scotland. After about six weeks he went to Paris. One of my favorite books, Paris Talks, is an account of the talks given while in that city. After two months in Paris, Abdu'l Baha traveled to Germany, Hungary, and Austria, lecturing in each venue. He return to Egypt in December, 1913. From early in 1914, as World War I broke out, until the British liberated Haifa on September 23, 1918, Abdu'l Baha was, again a prisoner, but this time due to the war, not the clergy or government.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Guardian Of The Cause Of God

One of the things that crossed my mind as I was giving my best at evaluating the claims of Baha'u'llah and his Faith were that if it were true, my Dad had actually lived at the same time as a Messenger of God. Dad was born on November 7, 1891 and Baha'u'llah passed on just a little over six months later. What's more, Dad was a little over four years old when Shoghi Effendi was born. I don't know how this impresses anyone else, but it sure was beginning to impressing me, considering it all might possibility be true.

I don't know if there isn't a boy alive who, at one time or another, hasn't dreamt or thought of how great it would have been to have lived in one period of history or another and to help knights, kings and other historically impressive figures fight their battles or to champion their cause. We'd dress up with capes, wielding our wooden swords as we pitted our mock battles. Those of us who attended church, parochial or other religiously affiliated institutions of learning almost of a certainty included in those dreams of having lived in the times of Jesus, Moses or other great religious figures. Some of the dreams I recall, and don't laugh, were those of being the busboy at the Last Supper or handing David the rock that killed Goliath or helping Noah load the animals aboard the arc. On the other hand I would shutter at the thought that I could have also been one of those who had shouted and jeered at Jesus on his way to be crucified. That would truly scare me. I remember when I did consider these not so pleasant possibilities of what could have been reality, I would then, after clearing the lump in my throat, thank God that I wasn't or didn't. I'm just trying to be honest and no I don't think I was a strange kid.

To think that my Dad, to a lesser degree Mom and even a lesser degree, myself have lived in a time that could be equated to the time of the Apostles and early members of Christianity, assuming, of course, this were all true and from God was, to me, mind boggling! After permitting myself a brief moment of fanaticizing, I'd get back to my more "scientific" approaches of proof I spoke of earlier.

Shoghi Effendi Rabbani was born on March 3, 1896, just a little over four years after my Dad was born. He was the eldest son of Abdu'l Bahas' eldest daughter, Ziaiyyh Khanum. Interestingly enough, Shoghi Effendi was also related to the Bab through his father, Mirza Hadi. As mentioned earlier, Abdu'l Baha had left a will and testament. As I began to show interest in the Baha'i teachings, Olie gave me a copy and said I should familiarize myself with it. I remember one part of Abdu'l Bahas' will that said that the Guardian was to: "... lived in detachment from all worldly things, be the essence of purity and show in they self the fear of God, knowledge, wisdom and learning." I don't think anyone could ask more of a person and from what I have read and know of his life, Shoghi Effendi lived up to it all. After reading Abdu'l Bahas' will and testament, there was no question in my mind, Baha'i or not, that after the death of Abdu'l Baha, all Baha'is should turn to Shoghi Effendi for leadership and guidance.

In November of 1921, at the time of his Grandfather's death, Shoghi Effendi was twenty-five and a student at Balliol College, Oxford, England. He, of course, returned immediately to Haifa. From his fathers plan, Abdu'l Baha had left specific elements in the administrative plan to be accomplish: Establishment of the Guardianship, formation of the Institution of the Hands of the Cause of God and the establishment of the various Houses of Justice.

I have to confess that during my investigation into the Baha'i Faith, I concentrated mostly on the Bab, Baha'u'llah, Abdu'l Baha and prophesy. I was impressed with the accomplishments of the Guardian. I was convinced he had to be the one who instituted the "Cab Do" spirit the navy so often spoke of. Although I had read several things during my investigation written by Shoghi Effendi, I couldn't find a lot written about him. I remember thinking: "This guy was some kind of superman. How much more so must his Grandpa and Great Grandpa must have been?" Don't be upset with how I put it that's how I thought. Simply put, I know what he was given to do and then what he gotten done then considered where it all came from.

The Guardian, from the very start, had a multiplicity of very involved tasks, any one of which would be impossible for just any one man to accomplish in one lifetime. In addition to forming and filling the Institution of the Hands of the Cause of God, he also had the responsibilities for launching an administrative order, as spelled out in the teaching and writings of Baha'u'llah, the ink to which was hardly a half century dry.

Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l Baha designated certain followers as "Hands of the Cause of God." During Baha'u'llah appointed a few tried and trusted friends as Hands of the Cause of God in His lifetime. Although Abdu'l Bahas' appointment some too, they were all made after these dear souls had passed on to the next life. In Abdu'l Bahas' will and testament, however, he directed the Guardian to appoint Hands of the Cause of God from whose number nine would be elected "... that shall at all times be occupied in the important services of the work of the Guardian of the Cause of God."

Please keep in mind that this administrative order is the blue print and basis for replacing the current world order and running humankinds' affairs for the next one thousand years or so. He was also responsible for translating much of the of copious amounts of written material authored by the central figures: The Bab, Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l Baha. Not enough? He designed and directed the building of the Baha'i holy shrines, which included the Shrine of the Bab on Mount Carmel and developing the gardens around it and those at near by Bahji. Still not enough? He also had to deal with the day to day cares, direction and needs of the very rapidly grown International Baha'i community while managing to find the time to author, in addition to many letters to various persons, his books such as The World Order of Baha'u'llah, The Promised Day is Come and God Passes By. The latter, God Passes By is a history of religion from 1844 to 1944.

In addition to the Hands of the Cause of God there were many workmen and other dedicated souls who laid brick, painted, planted trees, bushes and etc. who also assisted the Guardian. I am of the opinion that none of these things would have been accomplished were it not for the person of Shoghi Effendi.

Some years after I had completed my investigation, I was given a picture of the Guardian buy Olie and Cynthia. Any attempt on my part to describe Shoghi Effendi, I sure, will be taken wrong by someone, somewhere. Although pictures can be deceiving, he does not appear to have been large in stature. That would be a physical quality. From what I know of him now, that wasn't important. His talents, abilities, attributes and qualities lay in other areas. One person, whom I believe was a Baha'i, said after meeting the Guardian: "... I have never looked into such eyes in all my life. To obey him is to obey God and to turn away from him is to turn away from God." He has been described by others as an artist and a genius. I'm not even going to try. My only comment is that we all owe him a great deal and I'll never be able express my deepest appreciation for what he has done for me, my family, humankind and the Faith of Baha'u'llah.

In 1953, in accordance with the spirit and Tablets of the Divine Plan, the Guardian implemented the "Ten Year Plan" wherein the Faith was to be carried into all remaining independent states and principal dependencies of the world where the Faith had not as yet been taken. It was those dear souls who gave up their homes, businesses, friends, families, to leave their native lands to opened up new territory that were given the title: "Knight of Baha'u'llah." They went there without assistance, on their own. They taught the Faith by example: Living the life, telling people about Baha'u'llah and the Faith only when asked. Cynthia Olsen, the first Baha'i to move to the island of Guam to live, arrived in 1962 to be joined by her husband after he had closed down their business and sold their home in Dover, Delaware. Olie didn't get things taken care of fast enough and arrived after "Ten Year Plan" was over. Don't know why, but I always felt Olie should have been a Knight of Baha'u'llah too.

While on a visit to London, England in November, 1957, as the midway of the "Ten Year Plan" approached, the Guardian of the Cause of God, exhausted by thirty-six years of tireless efforts, went on to the next life. He had established Local and National Houses of Justice, called today Local and National Spiritual Assemblies through out the world.

The work of the Faith, after the Guardian's death was coordinated and directed by the twenty-seven Hands of the Cause until the finish of the "Ten Year Plan" which concluded with a global gather in London known as the First World Congress. It was on that occasion the Faith celebrated the Centenary of the Declaration of Baha'u'llah. The event ended with a very historical event the election of the first Universal House of Justice. You know "the where" and "the when" and can surmise "the why." For the "the how" -- Stay tuned.

CHAPTER TWELVE

The Houses Of Justice

A facet of the Baha'i Faith that is totally new to religion is the absence of any clergy. This, at first glance, would lead one to believe that there is no organization or cohesion to the Faith. Not so! Baha'u'llah, in His infinite wisdom, left an administrative order equal to none in the history of humankind.

There are, at this time, several levels of Baha'i Administration. In any geographically definable area where there are nine or more Baha'is, twenty-one years of age or older, a Local House of Justice can and is usually formed. This is the first or grassroots level. For the time being these institutions are called, Local Spiritual Assemblies. They are normally formed once a year on the evening of April 20th or the first day of the twelve day Ridvan commemoration. If you will recall, Ridvan was the garden where Baha'u'llah and His followers awaited the twelve days prior to their departure from Baghdad. It was where He made known, for the first time to His followers, His Divine mission. The first, ninth and twelfth days of Ridvan are considered holy days on which Baha'is usually do not work.

This Assembly or institution consists of nine Baha'is. If there are only nine Baha'is living in the area, the Assembly is formed by joint declaration. If there are more then nine, it is formed by secret ballot with the nine receiving most votes being elected for a one year term. The only reason for someone not serving would be because of health or mental capacity. If there are ties and one of the two are of a minority background, they get the seat, otherwise there would be a run-off vote for that seat. There are never any nominations, NO electioneering and NO campaigning. In fact, if someone tries to get votes, the others are forbidden to vote for them.

Those elected are not responsible to those who elected them only to God. Normally those elected select within themselves a chairman, secretary and treasurer to serve those specific functions. Should a person have a problem, they may submit it to the Assembly for consideration. The person does not have to be a Baha'i to use the services of an Assembly. If there is a dispute between Baha'is, the matter would be submitted to the Local Spiritually Assembly for arbitration before seeking any other remedy. The Local Spiritual Assembly is not infallible. Both men and women may be elected to serve on it. The Local Spiritual Assembly is often referred to as the LSA. Ballots are mailed out and if a Baha'i can not attend the annual meeting on the evening of April 20th, their absentee ballot is counted.

The next level of the Administrative order is the National Spiritual Assembly. (The NSA) It is elected in much the same way the LSA is elected except that an area convention is held, usually in the fall of the year. The area convention covers an area of several LSAs, according to Baha'i population. A delegate is elected, using the same principals described for the LSA without nominations, electioneering and campaigning. The delegate normally goes, during Ridvan, to the seat of the National Assembly (in the United States of America that would be Wilmette, Illinois.) where they elect for one year from all the Baha'is, 21 years of age or older, within the jurisdiction of the National Assembly, those nine people who will serve the interest of the National area and the persons elected are the ones who get the most votes In all cases the voting is by secret ballot and again without nominations, electioneering and campaigning.

The final highest level of Baha'i Administration is the Universal House of Justice. This institution is elected once every five years by all existing NSA through the world. The institutions of the Local Spiritual Assembly, National Spiritual Assembly and the Universal House of Justice and only the institutions, not the individuals member serving on these Divinely ordained institutions, have authority over their respective Baha'i communities. If a Baha'i is not satisfied with a decision of his or her LSA, they may take to the matter to their NSA. If the Baha'i is still not satisfied, they may take the matter to the Universal House of Justice. The decision of the Universal House of Justice is final.

The Local and National Spiritual Assemblies and the Universal House of Justice regulate matters that are not covered specifically in the writing of Baha'u'llah. They may not change anything Baha'u'llah wrote. Individual members of these Institutions have no authority over anyone. Only the institutions when in session have authority.

The LSAs, NSA & Universal House of Justice meet in private. Their decisions are arrived at only after through consultation on the matter, a carefully consideration of the matter which respect to what Baha'u'llah may have said in His writings and prayer. The results of these institutions efforts is announced as "the Assembly decided" or "the Universal House of Justice decided." Only the net result of the various institutions actions are announced in a voice of unity and never as a 1 to 8, 2 to 7, 3 to 6 or a 4 to 5 vote. The method or matters of consideration are not discussed outside the institutions.

Needless to say I was amazed. There could be no purer type of justice available anywhere from any religious or political entity anywhere on the face of the earth. In fact for the first time in history of the world, let alone religion, a person could get justice with out the interference of politics or self serving self interests groups.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Decision

Without going into the Bible prophesy which I considered very much, I could not disagree with the other provable and verifiable things which I was presented with. The principals were nothing to me but pure logic. I believed that anyone who would disagreed with them would disagree with the basic concept of the existence of God. These were either concepts I had already professed or found myself sympathetic to. As hard as I tried, I could not bring myself to find fault with them even when I tried. As mentioned before, I had settled this issue with respect to belief in God early on in life. I was a chicken in that I used percentages. Mathematically they are so great in favor of there being a Higher Power, God, or Unknowable Essence that it ceased to be issue with me.

The reason I am not presenting Biblical prophesy here as part of my decision is that what I perceive as prophesy might not be seen in the same light by others. If prophesy is your thing, I'd suggest a book entitled "Thief in the Night" by William Sears. I read this book sometime after I had made my decision. It covers much more prophesy than I had considered. The important thing is that it covers the same material and subject matter that I had considered. It presents it much better than I am prepared to present here. The bottom line is that once I had read "Thief in the Night", I realized I had no disagreement with it or with the authors conclusions.

The things I read about the Bab, Baha'u'llah, Abdu'l Baha and the Guardian were things that could be documented. The lives of the Bab and Baha'u'llah were truly miracles unto themselves. I was very impressed. I spoke to John Lansdowne at length about the things I had considered. He spoke to me of his concerns.

"If this is all true, what is my next step?" Olie had given me the Will and Testament of Abdu'l Baha to read and study. It served to cement and solidify the passing of the torch of authority. I told John that I believed that Baha'u'llah was who He said He was and John agreed with me. It was the afternoon of November 12, 1964. We went to Ollie's home to find no one there. We found out that the Baha'is were celebrating the birth of Baha'u'llah. John and I found them and expressed our feelings. Jolly Morse, a Micronesian was there also. He too had come to the same conclusion John and I had reached. The Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Guam met on the spot and accepted the three declarations in the Belief of Baha'u'llah. Since the LSA had been formed earlier in the year, two Baha'is had move away from Guam. John was not yet 21, but Jolly and I were. With our acceptance into the Faith of Baha'u'llah, we found ourselves on the LSA.

It was a pleasant afternoon. In addition to Olie and Cynthia Olsen, John Love, Ellis Atkins and Duke Manabusen were there. Duke was the first native Gumanian to embrace the faith of Baha'u'llah. There were others there too, but God forgive me I can't remember their names. One lady in particular comes to mind, who, like Cynthia, was also a Knight of Baha'u'llah, was visiting from Sipan, a neighboring island, but I can't remember her name either.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The Confirmations

I knew I had made the correct decision. Even still I had the thought in the back of my mind that if I had erred, God would show me. By the same token, I believed I'd also receive confirmations showing me I had chosen the correct path. Since I have shared my uncertain feeling, I feel it equally important to share some of the major events which occurred just within the first two months after my decision, concluding with what happened nine days after I moved into my Canyon Country home six months later.

There are three of the four specific events which I'll mention now, as they are inter twined, so that as I tell the one continuing story, you'll recognize them as they unfold. First is Lanny Logan Second is Jim Gibson and third are the circumstances that took place when my Mother passed away.

For what ever reason, it was decided by "the powers that be," that our ship was to return to Honolulu until after the first of the year (1965). It was only a few days after my declaration of faith that we set sail. I had given my mother and my wife small tape recorders which we used to correspond with rather than write. Although it is always nice to get a perfumed letter from your wife or girlfriend, it is even nicer to hear their voice. Prior to leaving Guam, I had sent my weekly half-hour tape to my Mother. I told her that I had run across the Baha'i Faith and was looking into it. I had, however, decided not to tell her on tape. I felt it better to explain my decision to embraced the faith of Baha'u'llah in person. I prayed continuously that she would understand why I had done what I had done. I knew it would not be easy. I had, however, asked her to look into the subject matter for me and send me any information she might find. My mother was very devoted to me and would have done at least that much for me. Until I address my Mother's passing, all I'll say is that she had heard of Baha'i and Baha'u'llah before she died. That, alone, is significant to me. My Mother is the only person whom I have ever prayed would become a Baha'i. You'll see why later.

I loved my new wife very much. She knew I was not really happy with my relationship with Catholicism, but it was all I had. I shared with her, on tape, much of what I was going through and sent her some of the literature I had gotten from Olie. I did explain that if she was interested, fine, if not fine too, but please try to understand that my relationship with my Creator was in the balance and please permit me to do what my heart and mind had dictated. If she had questions, I'd try to answer them, but if she never wanted to hear another word about Baha'i, I'd respect that too.

Without depleting everything from their library, I left Guam with some pamphlets, a couple of books and the names of several Baha'is I could look up when I reached Hawaii. I had no idea if these were all the Baha'is in Hawaii or just a few of a larger number. I kept most of the literature under my pillow so I could get to it easily and read it during breaks.

When we had left San Diego for Hawaii and then Guam, where it was I was to hear about Baha'u'llah for the first time, we lost some of our crew to either normal rotation or discharge. This meant we had to have replacements. One such replacement was a young second class Electronics Technician, fresh out of advanced electronics school (ET Class B) Lanny Logan. Lanny was assigned to our Satellite Communications Group because of his high standing in ET Class B school. He was sharp both electronically and in appearance.

Needless to say, he was justifiably proud of his accomplishments. He was assigned to work with me in maintaining the ship-to-shore communications equipment. His pride did get on my nerves and I grew, prior to reaching Guam, to dislike him very much. To complicate matters, he was assigned the bunk directly over mine in my stateroom which I shared with Jim Gibson, a second class Radioman. Jim and I got along fine. Jim was a hard cord Southern Baptist. As I was going through my investigation of the Baha'i faith, I recall Jim saying: "I was born a Baptist and I'll die a Baptist."

I remember telling Jim Gibson that Lanny Logan would screw up sooner or later and when he did, I'd be there to nail him to the cross. I'm not especially proud of that, but, then, I did say it. When I was investigating Baha'i, I didn't have time for that nonsense. My interest was so focused, Jim even asked me if I had finally "gotten the goods" on Logan as I had let up on him so much. In retrospect, Logan did seem a little withdrawn as I think he felt I had come up with something and was just waiting for an appropriate time to lay it on him. Truth was that all the "stuff" just wasn't important anymore.

On the way back to Hawaii, I had noticed that some of the literature from under my pillow was missing and the remainder not in the order I'd left it. I asked Jim about it. He said he'd seen Lanny looking at it. I figured it would do Lanny more good than harm so I didn't say anything at that time. I also told Jim that if he wanted to read it, he was welcomed to do so. This is what evoked his famous:

"I was born a Baptist and I'll die a Baptist" comment.

We arrived at Pier 39 in Honolulu the first week in December, 1964. Due to my tenacious curiosity, I called Master Chief Petty Officer (E-9) Jacques (Jack) Smith and headed for the Naval Base at Pearl Harbor where he was stationed. I was excited! It sure was nice meeting a new (to me) Baha'i. The navy had taught me that E-9's didn't fraternize with First Class Petty Officers (E-6), but between Baha'is, I found that the military aspects of our lives although respected and the traditions were upheld, that's where it ended. Baha'is were part of a new era and to say the least, Baha'is were something else something refreshingly new, different and beautiful. I spoke on the phone from Jack's office to his wife Grace. I was to find out that Grace was one of the people I saw in the poster on the bus the first time I had ever seen the work Baha'i thinking it was part of B'nai B'rith. I have never been treated with such love and kindness from people whom I had never met before and who's only common thread was this new Faith I had embraced. They told me about the Firesides like we had at Ollie's only these were at the Baha'i Center in Honolulu. For those who know Honolulu, the Baha'i Center was an old, spacious, well kept mansion located part way up Pali Highway. It has since burned down. It was here I was to meet, for the first time, what was to be come, long time friends Marc Towers and Maury Willows.

I'm not sure, but I believe it was a Friday I went back to the ship to change and get ready to go to my first Hawaiian fireside. Jack was going to pick me up. When I got back to the ship, I found Lanny reading one of my pamphlets. He was very nervous and said he'd been curious what I had gotten my self into. I invited him to go with Jack and I to the fireside. At first he declined, but then said he would go if he could leave anytime, if he wanted to. I assured him that if he did leave without me, it was no problem. Jim was laying on his bunk in our stateroom and was surprised I wasn't upset with Lanny for reading my literature. He said he was broke and if this thing we were going to didn't cost anything, he'd like to go too, to see what I'd gotten myself into and give Lanny some moral support. I assured him that Baha'i would not accept money from anyone, except from members of the Faith.

We arrived just before the fireside started. The speaker was Maury Willows. Maury had been a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy and was once a scientist who had gone through the South Pacific on scientific expeditions. This, I guess, gave some additional credibility to our speaker in the eyes of my two guests. I know it did to me. Jim sat with me. Lanny was still uncomfortable around me, and I didn't blame him. He sat across the room. There must have been seventy-five to a hundred people there. Sure was bigger than Guam! And most attendees weren't Baha'i. Gibson, Logan and I left the fireside together.

At this writing, Maury Willows and his wife Lois, whom I later found out was a movie star in the old "B" westerns (Lois Hall), live in Benedict Canyon near Beverly Hills, California. (He told me, in his jovial manor earlier today, that he believes he only has a few months left due to cancer.) Maury still, again as of this writing, has Friday night firesides and will until he can't. He has hosted these Friday night Firesides now for over forty-eight years. Only the venue has been changed from time to time. I know Gibson, Logan and I attended one, if not two, more firesides before I got my early morning phone call from my sister, Olivia.

There was another fireside on Wednesday nights which was conducted, again at the Honolulu Baha'i Center, by Marc Towers. Marc was an actor who was originally from Florida. Although he had a degree in journalism, he worked the radio soap opera circuit in New York City. He moved to Hollywood, as most actors sooner or later do, to work in films only to find the Baha'i Faith. And, he did get a few parts. It was the Faith, however that took him to the Hawaiian.

Both Marc and Maury have uniquely different, but both very effective ways of presenting the Faith. At this writing Marc and his wife Florence live in the Caribbean on one of the Virgin Islands. All our paths have crossed many, many times over the years. When I first met Marc in Hawaii, he was Manager of KPOI-FM. At one time, Marc worked for me at a radio station I owned in Canyon Country, California, but that's another story.

Logan, Gibson and a few other guys from my ship were attending the firesides. I had done what I could to teach the Faith to those receptive souls on the ship. I had planed to take several weeks leave around the 20th of December to go home, see my Mother and join my new bride for the holidays. On the morning of December 8th, the day after Pearl Harbor day, I got a call on the ship about 6:30 AM from my sister, Olivia, asking my why I hadn't called her or done anything. I was very surprised she found me and when she said: "Mom has suffered several heart attacks and isn't expected to live." I was beside myself. Olivia told me that she had notified the Red Cross, but I assured her that I hadn't heard anything from them. I told her that I'd do what ever I could to move my leave up and come home to Southern California as soon as possible. It was not humanly possible to get to the Honolulu airport in time for the next flight to Los Angeles, but our Commanding Officer saw to it that my orders for leave were cut and I was on my way for the next available flight.

When I got on the plane, I set my wrist watch to Los Angeles time. I took my prayer book with me. When I wasn't thinking about how I was going to explain my new Faith to my Mother, I was talking to the lady in the seat next to me. I'm sure now that she wasn't the least bit interested in my problems or the new Faith I had found in Guam. When I realized all this, I stopped talking to her and took out my prayer book. I prayed! I prayed that my Mom would recognize Baha'u'llah for who He said He. Sometime while doing this, I looked at my watch and it said 6 O'clock

I arrived at Los Angeles International Airport some time later. My brother Jack (John Edwin Bloomfield, Jr.) met me there. The first question I asked him was: "How is Mom?" He said: "Sorry Bud. You're too late. She passed away at 6 PM."

Carollee arrived soon after from New York. The next few days were spent making the necessary arrangements and going through with the services. It was a difficult time for both Carollee and I and I'm glad she was there to help me through it. I was surprised at my self though. When my Dad passed away, I had a very difficult time handling the situation, but with Mom, I took comfort in what Baha'u'llah had said in The Hidden Words: "I have send death as messenger of joy. Why for do you grieve?" It was true and it worked.

Carollee shared with me that she had looked into Baha'i in New York and had spoken to an Olga Yager about it. Before I returned to Hawaii and Carollee to New York, Carollee had expressed interest in attending a fireside or two. We had the chance of attending one at the home of Nancy and Hugh Lineberger. This was the first "formal" fireside Carollee and I had attended together. She had attended one in New York City with a friend from work. Nancy passed away a few years later from a brain tumor. Just for information sake, Nancy Lineberger was the sister of Dorothy Nelson. Dorothy Nelson and her husband Jim, have been both members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States. Jim is a retired Superior Court Judge and Dorothy is, as of this writing, on the Ninth Circuit Court, which is one step below the Supreme Court of the United States.

I arrived back in Hawaii during the week between Christmas, 1964 and New Years, 1965. I went directly to the ship to put away my things from the trip and as I walked into my stateroom, Jim walked up to me and said: "Allah'u'abha, Larry!" and gave me a big hug. If that wasn't enough, Lanny said: "Allah'u'abha, Larry!" and gave me a big hug, also. I couldn't believe it. Both Jim Gibson and Lanny Logan had investigated and accepted Baha'u'llah while I was gone. They were Baha'is! The bond of friendship that developed can not be explained in a few words.

That night we all went to a reception for a lady, who during her childhood had the bounty of sitting on Abdu'l Baha's lap when he was in California. I remember her saying that she was about six years old when this happened, but for the life of me I can't remember her name. I also don't recall the circumstances which caused me to relate to her how, when I was on the airplane en route to Los Angeles, I had prayed for my Mother to recognized Baha'u'llah. As I was ending my account of the incident of praying for my Mom on the plane, she suddenly got up from her seat and hugged me. She said: "What a bounty your were given!" I had no idea what she was talking about. Sensing my lack of understanding of what she had just said, she continued: "You were given the bounty of giving your Mother a spiritual bridge from this life to the next. Your prayers were answered! What a bounty!" I'm not sure if she was crying, but I know I was when I realized what she was telling me was true. Baha'is are told that those of us who recognize Baha'u'llah for who He said He was have an effect on our relatives for seven generations in both directions.

As a point of information: I did finally hear from the Red Cross -- two weeks after I had returned from putting my mother in her grave. I was to serve in Kingsport with the U. S. Naval Satellite Communications Group for five more months when in May, 1965 it was my turn to be rotated to shore duty. I got orders to the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service in Hollywood.

I left Kingsport when we returned to Honolulu from operations with Syncoms II & III through out the Western Pacific. My first stop on my way to New York to get my wife and bring her to California was in Los Angeles. I had a stop-over there anyway and thought I'd look around to get an idea of where I might be needed to help the Faith and be able to afford to live on my navy pay. I looked high and low and found nothing where I wanted to live and finally said: "God, it's up to You." As I've said before: "Want to make God laugh? Tell Him your plans." After several days and the night before I was due to fly on to New York, I went to a study class in the San Fernando Valley. I met Dave and Marion Johnson. They told me they were short one member on their Local Spiritual Assembly due to the death of pioneer to the area, Bob King. They told me of new construction in the area and how it was growing. The distance to my new duty station in Hollywood was only thirty miles. When I heard how much homes were, I told them that I would stop there first when I returned to California with Carollee to look around.

It only took Carollee and I a few days to get what we had together in our little Green Volkswagen and head west for California. We had both decided we would stop at to places on the way to Los Angeles: 1. The Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois and 2. the Grand Canyon in Arizona. During this whole time, I had not discussed the Baha'i Faith with Carollee, except to briefly answer a few questions she had asked. As we approached Chicago, I asked Carollee to look at the map and let me know how to get to Wilmette. She told me she really didn't want to go to the Baha'i Temple, so we continued our trip west without another word.

Halfway through Arizona, I asked where we should turn off for the Grand Canyon to whit Carollee said: "I didn't want to see your Baha'i Temple so we'll not stop at my Grand Canyon." It was about eight in the evening when we finally got to Kingman, Arizona. When asked how much longer it would take us to get to Los Angeles, I told Carollee about eight or so more hours. We decided to drive on though.

I drove across the high desert through Barstow, Victorville, Palmdale and finally drove into Newhall about three or four in the morning. We were looking for a motel to spend what was left of the night. In those days, they rolled up the sidewalks at nine at night. There was nothing in sight. Not even a dog or cat. I suggested calling the Johnson's'. Carollee said: "No way. Call the cops to see where there's a motel." I pulled into a dark gas station to use the pay phone. As I entered the phone booth, I said: "God I'm here! If You want me to stay, You'd better find me a place and soon!" I called the local sheriff's office. Sergeant Edelman answered the phone. You can't believe the questions he asked. To show you just how dead things were, Carollee and I looking for a motel were the most exciting thing happening in town that night. Within five minutes there were no less than three sheriffs cars with all their bright lights shining on our little VW. When it had been established we were legitimate, Sergeant Edelman told us that he had a house for sale in Canyon Country. We made an appointment to meet him later on in the morning, after we had gotten some sleep. We looked at one or two other places before meeting Sergeant Edelman. The minute we walked into the home at 18528 Fairweather St., Carollee said she loved it. We lived there for a total of twenty seven years with only one break of two years while we were back living in Guam. The telephone number we were assigned by the telephone company was 252-2424. That number is 25-BAHAI. Coincidence? Even when we returned from Guam, it was assigned to us again.

Within a few days Carollee and I had the opportunity of meeting the other eight members of the Baha'i community. Except for those occasions noted here, Carollee and I really didn't discuss the Baha'i Faith. I asked Carollee if she minded if I invited a few friends over for the Declaration of the Bab as no activities had been planned by the Assembly. She said: "Sure, go ahead." That evening, about two hours after sunset, Carollee asked: "What do you have to do to be a Baha'i?" It was Linda Roberts (now Linda Dye) who said: "Simply believe that Baha'u'llah is who He said He was." Carollee said: "Well I've felt that way from sometime now!" We had a new Baha'i.

Carollee and I served on the Local Spiritual Assembly for many years. We had two sons, Lawrence Vahid, born on February 12, 1966 and Thomas Abbas born on November 26, 1967. They were free to look into and encouraged to study any and all other religions. Both our sons embraced the Baha'i Faith, of their own choosing, after they had reached their 15th birthday. Both are now married with families of their own. Tom's wife Jennifer embraced the Faith six years after they were married. Tom has served on the LSA, where he lives, in Orange County, California.

There are many other stories I could share with you, but, to me, I believe these are the more interesting of the bunch. I hope and pray that you now take to time to look into Baha'i. As Queen Victoria said: "If it is of God, it will endure, if not it can do no harm."

Allah u Abha!