This is the story of James and Marilyn Meyer, Bahá'ís since 1955, who now reside in a little town called Espanola, New Mexico. We are now 72 and 69 years old. James, as a young man, under the tutelage of his minister, A.S. Petzoldt of Quincy, Illinois, had been among a group in the church who had figured out the Biblical date of 1844 but did not know where to go with it. One evening many years later, after James had served in the Army, married Marilyn, fathered two daughters, Mr. Petzoldt came to the house to tell him that he had found the reason for 1844. He had found the Bahá'í Faith. He could hardly wait to share the good news with his old friends. Jim remembered the lessons from the Bible and was eager to hear more. Marilyn, coming from no religious background, was very curious about this Bahá'í Faith that had so excited Mr. Petzoldt and James. Soon, we were deep into an investigation of this Faith and the claims made by the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh. Soon too we could see the validity of those claims, both in our hearts and in our minds. We wanted to become Bahá'ís. But we were not allowed to do so without a comprehensive and thorough study of the Sacred Writings and a working knowledge of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. This included the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi's own will and testament, so named by him, The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh. We were taught that the Administrative Order would be the instrument with which the spiritual teachings of Bahá'u'lláh would be implemented. We were taught that the institution of Guardianship, embodied by a line of future Guardians, was an important and unique safeguard for the Faith. According to the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi was directed to appoint in his own lifetime him who would be his successor. Either he must appoint the first born of his lineal descendants if the child met the criteria "the child is the secret essence of his sire," or choose another branch. We understood that very well and were grateful for that assurance. The Quincy, Illinois LSA was very adamant that new believers have a full and complete understanding of the Faith before being allowed to become members. With great joy, we, James and Marilyn and James' parents, Irene and Alfred Meyer, became members of the Bahá'í Faith on June 19, 1955, under the auspices of the Quincy LSA. Being new to the Faith, we were naturally curious about the children of Shoghi Effendi and Rúhíyyih Khánum. Whenever a traveling teacher would come to our area, we would ask about the children. We always got evasive answers, such as: they are in seclusion--or in Switzerland-- or sheltered from the world for their own protection and security. When we asked why, we were told because there were those who might wish to harm them. We could understand this. We never once entertained the thought that there were no children! Never once thought that there was no first born son to succeed Shoghi Effendi. The Meyers, who lived outside the city limits of Quincy, along with six others in Melrose Township were able to form our own LSA. There were also several groups in the near vicinity. We had a large and active community in the area. We were friends as well as fellow believers. Our Bahá'í life was the center of our lives. Then came the momentous news of the passing of Shoghi Effendi. We were shocked along with the rest of the Bahá'í World. We received from the National Spiritual Assembly a message including a copy of the cablegram sent by Rúhíyyih Khánum and added to by the NSA announcing the passing of Shoghi Effendi in London on 11/4/1957. On NSA stationery under date of November 6, 1957, the message read:

"TO THE BAHÁ'ÍS OF THE UNITED STATES

"Dearly beloved Friends:

"By this time you have undoubtedly heard the heart rending news of the passing of the precious Guardian in London on November 4 from a heart attack following Asiatic flu. Every effort was made to inform the friends immediately through the local Spiritual Assemblies and the Area Teaching Committees, but we wish you to have a copy of our message itself, which was as follows:

"'BELOVED FRIENDS WE SORROWFULLY TRANSMIT FOLLOWING CABLEGRAM RECEIVED FROM RUHIYYIH KHANUM QUOTE SHOGHI EFFENDI BELOVED ALL HEARTS SACRED TRUST GIVEN BELIEVERS BY MASTER PASSED AWAY SUDDENLY HEART ATTACK IN SLEEP FOLLOWING ASIATIC FLU. URGE BELIEVERS REMAIN STEADFAST, CLING INSTITUTION HANDS LOVINGLY REARED, RECENTLY REINFORCED, EMPHASIZED BY BELOVED GUARDIAN. ONLY ONENESS OF HEART ONENESS OF PURPOSE CAN BEFITTINGLY TESTIFY LOYALTY ALL NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES AND BELIEVERS TO DEPARTED GUARDIAN WHO SACRIFICED SELF UTTERLY FOR SERVICE FAITH UNQUOTE. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SUGGESTS FRIENDS GATHER FOR PRAYER DURING SERVICE SATURDAY MORNING NOVEMBER 9, LONDON WHERE ASCENSION OCCURRED NOVEMBER 4. GRAVE RESPONSIBILITY RESTING UPON EVERY BELIEVER TO RESPOND GUARDIAN'S SUPREME SACRIFICE BY OVERWHELMING EXPRESSION OF LOYALTY DEVOTION SERVICE AND UNITY THUS EXEMPLIFYING OUR GRATITUDE FOR THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF OUR FIRST GUARDIAN. ETERNAL FAITH OF GOD SAFEGUARDED AND SECURE THROUGH DIVINE INSTITUTIONS ORDAINED BY BAHÁ'U'LLÁH AND MASTER NOW FIRMLY ESTABLISHED BY SHOGHI EFFENDI IN HIS LIFETIME. OUR TENDER LOVE TO ALL THE FRIENDS IN THIS MOMENT OF GREAT SORROW. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY.'

"The Hands of the Cause of God and members of the National Spiritual Assemblies will attend the funeral which will be private. The Hands of the Cause will meet in Haifa shortly thereafter after which announcement will be made to the Bahá'í World concerning the future direction of the faith. "Naturally all pilgrimages must be delayed until further advised. "Our steadfast obedience and our dedication to all that our departed Guardian asked of us will be the measure of our love and faith in this time of sorrow. His latest messages to us are coming to you with the November Bahá'í News. "Deepest love "NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY" _____

Several statements in that message immediately caught our attention as well as that of others in our community. Specifically, the phrase "cling institution of the Hands..." urged by Rúhíyyih Khánum. We were soon on the phone with each other, questioning the meaning of that phrase. Why not, we asked each other, "cling to God, or to Bahá'u'lláh's Sacred Writings, or to the promises made in the Will and Testament"? Why, we asked, had Rúhíyyih Khánum urged the believers to "cling to the Hands"? Strangely enough, in the midst of our sorrow at the loss of our beloved Guardian, we questioned this statement! Near the end of the message we are told "The Hands of the Cause will meet in Haifa shortly thereafter after which announcement will be made concerning the future direction of the Faith." We asked what this meant. Wasn't the future direction of the Faith outlined in the Will and Testament and in Shoghi Effendi's Ten Year Crusade plans? We still assumed that the second Guardian of the Faith--the son and heir of Shoghi Effendi would soon make himself known and step forward to take up the tasks Shoghi Effendi had left unfinished. Surely, even then, the Hands resident in Haifa knew that Shoghi Effendi had no son. Of a certainty, Rúhíyyih Khánum knew there were no children, let alone a son to succeed to the Guardianship. The general population of the Faith did not necessarily know this, but had been misled by many into believing there was an heir. As time went by we received further communications from the Hands. They said that there was no Will, there was no heir, there was no announcement in his lifetime of his successor and the Guardianship and the station of the Guardian was now at an end on this earthly plane. The line of continuous Guardians was at an end--"bada" as they phrased it. How could this be? we asked. We had declared for one Faith and it was now being transformed into something entirely different. Was one, if not the most, definitive provision of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament being abrogated already by the Hands? At the first test of its divine authority did the Will and Testament fail? Did Shoghi fail to do his duty as directed in the Will? Where did this leave the other provisions of the Will? Could they also be changed? Was not the bedrock of the Administrative Order of the faith of Bahá'u'lláh crumbling before our very eyes? How could we let this happen? Had we not been taught to investigate, to question, to search out the truth? The whole Quincy area community was very much disturbed by this situation. But where to go with our questions--except back to the teachings and study them again and again and again. As time went by, we continued to question every communication from the Hands and the NSA, but it all seemed a dead end. Had the Guardianship that we treasured and revered indeed ended as we were told it had? Then came the 1960 National Convention in Wilmette, Illinois at Ridván. Rúhíyyih Khánum was going to be there! Perhaps she could console us--tell us something that would relieve our concerns. We and several more of the Quincy friends drove through the night to get to Wilmette to see and hear Rúhíyyih Khánum. To our surprise, almost the first words she spoke after her greeting were of a man--a Hand-- named Mason Remey, who was making a claim to the Guardianship--to be the second Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith. She urged the assembled friends not to give his claim any credence--not to read his proclamation or even look at it--not to accept a copy of it from anyone, as he, Mason Remey, was 86 years old, a senile and deluded old man, and his claim without merit and to be instantly rejected. What was this? we asked each other. Could it possibly be true? Not for us the warning to reject out-of-hand this claim. But where to find out more about this? Fortunately for us, friends from Peoria, Illinois, and Joplin, Missouri, had obtained copies of the Proclamation of Mason Remey and shared them with us. Soon it was circulating many communities and causing much discussion. The NSA tried to put a lid on the matter, but to no avail. The secretary of our Melrose LSA, on direction of the NSA, destroyed and did not share with the community any mailings from the supporters of Mason Remey. But we got the information in our personal mail. The NSA, hearing that the Quincy and Melrose communities, and others, were investigating the claim of Mason Remey sent representatives to us--Khadem, Blackwell, Sears, et al--but when we presented the arguments for Mason Remey's Guardianship, they had no answer except to say such things as "He's not even Persian and speaks no Persian, so how could he be the guardian?" And they repeated Rúhíyyih Khánum's words to us. They were also free with threats of our being thrown out of the Faith if we did not desist in our investigation. But we continued to investigate in spite of the pressure from the NSA. After much soul-searching and prayer, restudying of the writings, particularly the Will and Testament, Shoghi Effendi's Dispensation, and ‘Abdu'l-Bahá's "Tablet of the Branch," along with Mason Remey's claims, we concluded that Mason Remey was indeed the second Guardian, duly named as Shoghi Effendi's successor in his own lifetime--the first Guardian did not fail his obligation--and proclaimed to the Bahá'í World in his messages of January 9 and March 2, 1951. Our stand had the effect of splitting the Melrose community apart. Five of us chose to support Mason Remey and the others chose to obey the NSA and to disassociate with us. The community were dear friends as well as fellow believers, and the split was heartbreaking. We longed to carry on the discussion, but they were forbidden to do so by the NSA. However, we five from Melrose, along with the entire Quincy community and others from the area, recognized the claims of Mason Remey. On November 18, 1960 we received a letter from the NSA telling us that it had been reported to them that we had stated we believed that Mason Remey was the second Guardian, and we were requested to provide an immediate answer as to whether the report was true. On November 28, 1960, a short ten days later, including mailing time, we received another letter from the NSA saying that under the circumstances the NSA was suspending our membership and voting rights and we were not allowed to participate in Bahá'í activities. Under date of December 5, 1960 we received our third and final letter from the NSA in response to a letter of November 28 that the five of us from Melrose Township had sent, declaring our support for the second Guardian. The NSA letter stated that our names were being removed from Bahá'í membership, that our voting rights were revoked, and that a copy of the letter was being sent "to the Hands of the Faith residing in the Holy Land for their information." From the date of the first letter to the date of the third was but 17 days. We take great pride in being among the first to recognize Mason Remey as the second Guardian of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. We'd like to point out that we had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Remey in Quincy in early 1961. Contrary to Rúhíyyih Khánum's description of him, he was a handsome, noble, and highly articulate figure even at the age of 87. His defense of the Guardianship was masterful. Finally we had come home to the Faith we loved with all of its promises fulfilled!

But, our story doesn't end with our acceptance of Mason Remey as Second Guardian of the Faith.

On Ridvan 1961, the First National Convention of the Bahá'ís Under the Hereditary Guardianship was held in Quincy, Illinois under the auspices of the Quincy LSA.

Subsequently, at Mr. Remey's suggestion, many of us relocated to the Rocky Mountain area where our headquarters are located at Roswell, New Mexico. There are others of us spread throughout the United States and Canada as well as several other countries. We have a duly elected, fully functioning Provisional National Spiritual Assembly, under the Guardianship in India. We have held the Faith secure until the Great Violation begun by Ruhiyyih Khanum and the Hands will end, as it will under the independent investigation of searching souls.

We are now under the Guardianship of Joel B. Marangella, appointed as Third Guardian by Mason Remey in his own lifetime in conformity with the directions of the Will and Testament. We are known as the "ORTHODOX BAHÁ'Í FAITH". Orthodox meaning, following the original teachings of the Faith. We are some of the few remaining "older" believers in the Faith who were there at the very beginning of the violation. We consider it a great blessing to know, without doubt, that the continuity of the Guardianship has not been broken for one moment!

Our purpose in writing our story is to urge al courageous believers in the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh to investigate for themselves the claims of Mason Remey and the continuing Guardianship of the Faith.    We would especially urge those who have become members since the early 1960s, when all mention of a continuing Guardianship IN THIS WORLD, was dropped and no longer taught.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story. May God guide and bless you.

Marilyn and Jim Meyer
5/2000
PO Box 3201
Roswell NM 88202-3201