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Zinnia is a singer song writer and we feature her songs in the interview. Zinnia''s mother is Phillipino and her father is Iranian. They came to Canada as religious refugees and had to start their life over. Zinnia was very much aware of this as she grew up and the experience is reflected in her music. You can find her music on iTunes under the name Zinnia.

I met Alan at a Baha''i song writers workshop held at the Desert Rose Baha''i Institute in Arizona December 2015. When I heard Alan''s voice and music and knew I had to feature him on A Baha''i Perspective. I did something different this time when featuring a musician. Rather than playing back recorded material, Alan preferred that we did the whole interview live including his song playing. Although the sound quality is not as good as a recorded piece of music, the dynamics of the interaction between me and the musician was very different and I liked the way it happened. There are a number of musical pieces that we feature on the interview. You can find his music and the jewelry that he makes at http://cosmicountry.com/.

Roger has had a lifelong interest in the fundamental harmony of science and religion and a focused desire to transcend the worldly conflicts that obscure it. He is currently working on a book dedicated to advancing that cause in practical terms. We talk about his work in the context of this Baha''i principle.

Louis is the author of the book, "No Jim Crow Church - The Origins of South Carolina''s Bahá''í Community", which traces the history of South Carolina''s Bahá''í community from its early origins through the civil rights era. He relates developments within the Bahá''í community to changes in society at large, with particular attention to race relations and the civil rights struggle. The book''s coming out is apropos to the recently released poll indicating that the Bahá''í Faith is the 2nd largest religion after Christianity in South Carolina. Louis retells the amazing story of the first known declarant of the Bahá''í Faith, Alonzo Twine, in 1910. It''s a tragic story, but we discuss the mystical significance of such a tragedy with the amazing emergence of the Baha''i Faith in South Carolina.

Avrel is both an author and a musician. We talk about three books he has written and he reads excerpts from all three, and we talk about three of his musical compositions and play them in the interview. You can find all of his literary works on his website The Trailhead . His song "One Sky" can be found on YouTube.

Emily is a graduate student focusing on contemporary Islamic communities. Emily caught my eye because it seems that the Islamic community is so misunderstood these days. We talk about the misconceptions of Islam and her graduate work in this area. Emily just became a mom so at times her daughter decides to chime in. During the first 20 minutes of the interview, there is an intermittent hum that appeared as she spoke. We finally fixed the problem so please be patient.

Niki describes her spiritual journey from being a Christian to becoming a Baha''i. She is a poet and one of her interests is alternative health and healing. She shares her poetry on the interview and we talk about the Baha''i perspective on health and healing.

Amazingly Duanne, who loved books, had dyslexia, and wasn''t able to read for the first two years in school. Despite his disability, he pursued a life of books and became a prolific author of articles and short stories. Some of his writing include the history of the Baha''i Faith in Kansas, where he lives. He reveals the amazing fact that Enterprise, Kansas is the second Baha''i community established west of Egypt in 1897. He shares with us a number of his writings during the interview. Below are links to his works: Index of his work Hidden Meanings in the Poetry of Robert Hayden Sweet Scented Streams Poems for Devotions It''s About Living Summer Shorts II: Best Kept Secrets

Candace tells her interesting story on how she became a Baha''i and how a small town girl from Oregon happened to end up in Chicago working for the Baha''i National Center starting as a secretary and having a host of jobs including editing of a children''s magazine. She also authored "Baha''i Temple"  for Arcadia Publishing, a photographic history of the Baha''i House of Worship in Wilmette Illinois. She is the administrative assistant for the Wilmette Institute.

Ethnomusicologist Marvin ''Doc'' Holladay is a living legend in the world of jazz. His musicianship supported such jazz world luminaries as Pepper Adams, Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderley, Quincy Jones, and Dizzy Gillespie. His autobiography, "Life on the Fence" chronicles his continued evolution in the area of music, race relations, humanitarianism and social justice from the period of World War II through today. His first solo CD is "Sweetness and Light". He''s produced a recent CD called Wings for the Spirit. I play the first track on Wings for the Spirit at the end of the interview.

Brian is the author of the book "The Triad: Three Civic Virtues That Could Save American Democracy". In the book, Brian offers solutions to the problems of partisan gridlock, money in politics, and growing economic inequality in the United States from a Baha'i perspective. He advocates three civic virtues: service, learning, and community building. He calls for civic engagement based on these virtues to create a culture of collaboration. The Triad focuses on what each and every American can do to bring about a better American democracy. The proceeds from the eBook will support the work of the National Center for Race Amity.

Robert remembers being introduced to church and God for the first time when he was 7 years old by his Aunt who had come to take care of him after his mother died. When he was 12 or 13 he decided to check out the Theosophical Society to learn about other religions. He tells his story about the mysterious visitor who introduced him to the Baha'i Faith. Robert is an artist and you can find his work at RRWilsonArt.com. He is also a Wilmette Institute faculty member who facilitates the course on the book "Century of Light," which explains the remarkable advancement of humankind toward unity in the 20th century. We discuss the Wilmette Institute in the interview.

Rob ascribes himself has a closet philosopher and student of comparative religions. Before becoming a Baha'i he had already noticed the basic oneness of all the religions. He shares an interesting story on how this awareness lead him to the Baha'is. In the interview, Rob shares his understanding of the Baha'i teaching of the oneness of religion.

Lea grew up in the southern United States during the early sixties and her awareness of the racial divide awakened about the time that Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated when she was a teenager. She was also introduced to the Baha'i Faith during that time and she describes how shocked she was (in a good way) when she was exposed to a very diversified Baha'i community. Lea and Paula Bidwell, together have created a website called ManyHoops.com. It is a Thanksgiving project stemming from heart-to-heart work to heal the pain, anger and guilt of the past by European descendants and Native Americans. Lea is a direct descendent of a pilgrim family and Paula is Native American. We discuss this project in the interview.

Ian describes his growing up as a precocious kid who read the World Book Encyclopedia when he was young. Ian describes in the interview that his parents were devout Marxists and when he was 12, he disavowed his parents ideology and pursued a spiritual direction. Ian has written many articles which you can find on a website called Lights of Irfan and he has written book reviews which you can find on another website called Common Ground. He has also written books on Conrad Aiken. Ian is a philosopher by nature and he explains in the interview the importance of understanding philosophical fundamentals when reading religious scripture, including the Baha'i sacred literature. He also outlines his observation on the similarities between Catholicism and the Baha'i Faith.

When Peter encountered the Baha'i Faith, it stimulated his spiritual awakening and search. As a result, he traveled across the country after college and found himself entangled in a cult. He tells his story about his involvement in the cult and how he was able to extricate himself from it. Some years after Peter became a Baha'i he was offered the opportunity to work for the US Baha'i Office of Public Affairs. Most of his time there has been promoting environmental awareness, especially regarding climate change with non-governmental organizations. We talk about the Baha'i perspective on climate change in the interview.

Richard is an archivist and historian who has conducted research on the history of the Baha'i Faith in North America and the Middle East. His recent publications include: 1) An Iranian Enclave in Lebanon: Baha'i Students in Beirut, 1906-40; 2) Distant Relations: Iran and Lebanon in the Last 500 Years; and 3) Wonderful and True Visions: Magic, Mysticism and Millennialism in the Making of the American Baha'i Community. His most recent research has been on Baha'i history in regards to the promotion of race unity in America. He is also on the faculty for the Wilmette Institute. We discuss his new research in the interview and the Willmette Institute.

Carole has an MS in Environmental Management and Policy from RPI in Troy, NY. She has taught sustainability and environmental science at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD and was a team member designing and implementing a new environmental policy and science program there. She has worked for The Nature Conservancy mapping endangered species and ecological communities; and has built cob and strawbale structures. She holds a permaculture design certificate and has spent several years using permaculture and edible landscaping to design her yard. She started a Northwest Earth Institute discussion circle in Carroll County, MD, which has evolved into the Sustainable Carroll County Community. She helped facilitate the first Wilmette Institute course on sustainable development and the prosperity of humankind. We talk about her work with the Wilmette Institute and the Baha'i perspective on the environment in the interview.

During Gary's 45 years of working life, he did biological research; worked for the US National Park Service in the areas of lawenforcement, search and rescue, and emergency medicine. He was also involved in biological/resource management planning in central California, mostly in Yosemite National Park and other areas of the Sierra Nevada mountains. He holds a bachelor's degree in Field Biology and a masters degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and Human Ecology. Gary's now retired. Starting soon after retirement, Gary began focusing on climate change by organizing community meetings and interfaith study groups on the issue. Gary is a faculty member of the Wilmette Institute; teaching classes on the relationship between spirituality and the issue of climate change. We talk about the Wilmette Institute and the classes he teaches during the interview.

Hussein, in collaboration with Hillary Chapman, is the author of Awakening: A History of the Bábi and Bahá'í Faiths in Nayriz, an inspiring chronicle of the bloody birth of the Bábi movement in Nayriz Persia and its trying evolution into that city's Bahá'í community-a community that has grown to be the world's second most widespread religion. Hussein is also working on publishing two other books. One on Tahireh, a renowned 19th century Persian poetess that became a force to be reckoned with for the Bábi Faith. She was ultimately killed for her outspoken proclamation of the Bábi Faith. And finally, Hussein is working on publishing a book on 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of the prophet founder of the Bahá'í Faith, Bahá'u'lláh. The book will focus on 'Abdu'l-Bahá's time in America, especially when he was in New York City. Check out his websites: Awakening and Nayriz.org