I am certain that our lives under the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh require adjustments on a continual basis, from time to time, in response to our increasing understanding of the goals set for our spiritual lives by our Holy Founders, which understanding must include all aspects of submissiveness to our Guardian.

However, soon after I stumbled into the Orthodox Bahá'ís when I was searching for the Bahá'í web site as a new heterodox Bahá'í in July of 1998, I realized that something was wrong. I spoke to a heterodox friend who knew little about the other Bahá'í groups and, as I recall, he made a few comments about 'sparks out of the fire', and referred to expressions in the Bahá'í Writings about Covenant-breakers. I was busy at the time with my evangelical pursuits towards non-Bahá'ís, and about three weeks passed, I believe, before I returned to have a closer look at the Orthodox Bahá'í website, at which time I sent an introductory question to the e-mail address in the site. Within a few days, I was persuaded of the Truth of the Orthodox believers' position, and I sent in my declaration of acceptance of Joel B. Marangella as the third Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith.

I had accepted the Bahá'í Faith in April of 1998 and signed my declaration in the first week of May/98 during a special dinner and gathering for the occasion. Having declared with the Orthodox Bahá'í believers and the third Guardian of the Faith about August 15th/98, I had gaps in my knowledge which left me vulnerable to attack by the heterodox friends, which empty spaces they exploited to the full. By God's grace I had already burned my bridges behind me by sending my heterodox Bahá'í official paper-credential down to the Mother Bahá'í Council in Roswell, N.M. And adequate Truth from the teachings of the third Guardian had already found their home in my heart such that I left that situation as it was (i.e., no heterodox paper- credential).

Nevertheless, the onslaught arrived in the form of a ten-page document prepared by one of the heterodox 'champions', and also 'evidence' against Charles Mason Remey presented by another heterodox 'champion'. The ten-page document presented portions of the Bahá'í Writings which I had not seen before, some expressions telling of the 500,000 year cycle of Bahá'u'lláh's Greater Dispensation. The purpose of that manuscript (prepared by the heterodox believer) was to diminish the importance of the first 1000 years commencing at the beginning of the Bahá'í era. The heterodox friend presented the idea that the full maturity of the Administrative Order could take 500,000 years to accomplish, and that it was not necessary to have a Guardian in these first few 'moments', that is, the first 1000 years. I was reminded that in God's sight one day is as 1000 years, and 1000 years as one day. Then, concerning the second Guardian, they presented a wrong year for his comments about Shoghi Effendi, much earlier than the reality, blind-siding me again. Realizing how little I knew of the Bahá'í Writings, having declared as a Bahá'í just over four months earlier, and never having learned anything about the Faith before that time, I was somewhat overwhelmed, and fell into a period of doubt, considering that the Orthodox believers might be sincerely in error because of not seeing the "large picture". Other factors which presented questions included my knowledge that individual heterodox Bahá'í believers had very evidently received specific blessings and assistance from the Concourse on High during their efforts to spread the Faith around the Earth, and that some heterodox Bahá'ís had received visions, even recently. One of the heterodox believers also described the growth chart of the heterodox group as contrasted with that of the Orthodox group, describing the Orthodox growth as parallel to the results of historical Covenant-breakers.

At that time I describe my condition as having stepped into (for lack of a better term) a DMZ. However, I felt that the matter had not been handled correctly either at the beginning, or during the 40+ years since the problem arose after the death of the first Guardian. Why were most Bahá'ís totally in the dark about these matters and ignorant of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá, and why had these matters not been analyzed in meticulous detail before the eyes and ears of all Bahá'ís? Nevertheless, I re-invigorated my evangelistic efforts towards non- Bahái's both in churches and temples and over the internet, e-mailing copies of correspondence to about a dozen heterodox believers on a regular basis, and I included Frank Schlatter of the Orthodox believers on my e-mail list, sending him everything that I sent to the others. I did not accept that the Orthodox Bahái's were covenant-breakers, because I saw no evidence that they fit the pattern of those in the Bahá'í historical accounts who were, in fact, Covenant-breakers. I had encountered nothing but kindness, sharing of insights, reasonable explanations, and mildness from my correspondence with Orthodox Bahá'ís. And an Orthodox believer made a special trip from Washington state just to encourage me. I observed none of the maliciousness characteristic of the Covenant-breakers of earlier times of the Faith.

When the heterodox Auxiliary Board Member for protection arrived from Washington State to make her first of three visits to interview me, I spoke from the position of an Orthodox Bahá'í. At the second visit I was in the "DMZ"; nevertheless, I told her frankly that I did not at all consider the Orthodox Believers to be Covenant-breakers, and that they had not had a fair hearing, and that all of the facts surrounding the events immediately before and after the death of the first Guardian must be examined right down to the weight of a mustard seed in the eyes and ears of all Bahá'ís on Earth. I told her that the vast majority of Bahá'ís are nothing more than "mushrooms in the dark". Her third visit, in 0ctober of 1999, came apparently as a result of an increase of my e-mailings to lists of heterodox friends, which mailings contained frank statements about disobedience to the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá and the consequences of that disobedience. I stressed to her that the large body of Bahá'ís has no interpreter of Bahá'í Holy Writ which includes the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá.

Many months had passed since the Auxiliary Board member had commenced monitoring me and yet none of my questions had been answered. From the beginning she had urged me to write to the NSA for another paper-credential, pledging loyalty to the heterodox UHJ. Our Holy Writ makes it impossible for a faithful Bahá'í to pledge loyalty to a headless UHJ. Thus I remained without a paper-credential indicating that I was Bahá'í. I had already been prevented many months earlier from attending the Vancouver Bahá'í Community Feasts because I had no paper- credential, and after the August 20th Feast, I had become banned also from the Burnaby Bahá'í Feasts. I still had the number of the paper-credential, because it is together with my address on the Bahá'í Canada magazine which was still sent to me. I was told that merely presenting that I.D. number was not adequate, that I must present the paper-credential.

My written e-mailed statements about the violations of the heterodox organization were becoming more intense and more numerous, sent out to lists of heterodox believers. A letter arrived from the Auxiliary Board Member for Protection which contained the final word of the first Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith concerning the declaring of individuals to be Covenant- breakers, and that document clearly proved that the heterodox organization has no authority to declare anyone to be a Covenant-breaker, nor to review the question. I sent out a document to the heterodox friends demanding that Joel Bray Marangella be exonerated, and in that manuscript I personally declared him to be exonerated of all accusations towards him and urged all of the heterodox friends to endorse that exoneration.

Within a few days two of the heterodox believers invited me to a lunch/discussion where I was invited to defend the Orthodox Bahá'í position. Ten heterodox believers were present for the main discussion which lasted from 3:00 P.M. until after 7:00 P.M. Afterwards the two MC's made condemnatory statements against me, and they had a declaration written by one of the heterodox friends, declaring my acceptance of Joel Bray Marangella as the third Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith and stating that I believe that the UHJ established in 1963 and all of the Hands of the Cause of God of the large body of Bahá'ís except Charles Mason Remey are Covenant- breakers, which I signed, took home, added one phrase, then copied into a e-mail, and sent out to a list of a few dozen heterodox friends.

Although the verbal expressions of condemnation against me were severe after the discussion of Saturday, February 26, 2000, apparently no official decree has been pronounced against me by the heterodox organization, and some of the heterodox friends are still communicating with me at this time (early March 2000).

May our Lord bless the sincere ones with insight concerning faithfulness towards His Covenant.