WHO DO YOU TRUST ?

A TIME OF AWAKENING…..

I was 6 years old, a little young for such an awakening, but a lesson well learned.

It was May, the weather was just beginning to feel like spring. We were out of school for the summer now, and we could stay outside longer and stay up later, even until after the street lights come on and it’s getting dark. A great life, right? Did you ever play “Kick the can or “Hide and seek”, “Cowboys and Indians”, and stuff that kids do when the days are longer and the nights are getting warmer. It was going to be a great summer. All the kids on my block, and there were seven of us, would be resuming our springtime rituals, going to the creek, fishing, swimming, playing in the dirt. It was just then when I was feeling like it’s never going to get any better, when mom woke me up.

This was my first Monday morning after school. “Guess what” she said, "we're going to see dad"! I was still trying to come awake, "What, when" ? I gasped. "Next Monday", she said. "Why"? I asked. To spend the summer with him", she said. "Me and you and sister and baby brother, we're all going on the train to West Virginia next Monday".

So it was, that this woman had just ruined my summer plans, We lived at Grandma’s house on Douglass Ave. In Memphis TN. But we visited my dad from time to time during the summer. Dad was a dragline operator who worked at various very large projects throughout the country, even some top secret government projects, but this trip would take us to West Virginia, a small town, I don’t even remember the name of the place.

But enough, this trip will not be a good thing, I will have to search out new friends and play with people I do not know, and besides, we cant carry my horse, (an old mop which Grandma had discarded, on which I had put a bridle and saddle). It was my favorite thing to do in the mornings, get the horse out after breakfast and go for a short ride in the neighborhood to see who was up. This trip would interrupt all of my plans for the summer. So I began to reject the idea that my summer would be ruined by this trip. I was perfectly happy at Mammaw’s house and I was not going to West Virginia, and that set my mood for the next couple of days.

Mom knew that I was a cowboy at heart and was always playing the scenes from cowboy movies I had seen, and she knew that I was a big “Red Ryder” fan, You know the red headed cowboy hero of the Red Ryder comic books and the Red Ryder BB gun. Wool worth’s department store had a “Red Ryder outfit for sale at the time, a red felt hat, a red vest, red chaps, red cow boy boots and a two gun red holster gun belt set, with shiny chrome cap pistols. And to top it off, a red bandanna which all cowboys wear around their neck. So it was that to abate my anger at the thought of this trip my mom and mammaw went shopping on the Friday before the trip and bought the whole outfit as a bribe to placate my anger....And it worked, I was ecstatic. This was it, we will go on this trip, and we will find new friends. I can always find a stick and make a new horse. Hurry up with the train I am ready to go try out my new “Red Ryder” outfit with some new friends.

So we arrived in West Virginia late in the evening on a Monday, dad was there to pick us up and we went directly to supper at a cafe near the apartment house, then off to the apartment and a bath and then to bed. I slept with the “Red Ryder” outfit under the bed. The morning found me groggy from the trip and the new living quarters, but I went awake pretty quickly, ate breakfast , the put on the whole “Red Ryder” outfit. Then out the door to the playyard. This was a big place, it had many apartment houses and all stacked together, An “Apartment complex” would be the proper name for this strange place. I had never before in my life seen so many places to live all bunched together. And kids, there were surely some kids here to play with, but I was early, Maybe they will come out later.

Sure enough, in about thirty minutes the kids were outside and ready to go. I went over to where they were, they seemed to have a leader by the name of “Chuckie”. He was about an inch or two taller than me and talked sort of fast and rough. There were five of them, I spoke to Chuckie first. “What are ya’ll playin” I asked. Chuckie replied, “Who are you? I said “I’m Earl” “What do you want”? Chuckie asked. “Do ya’ll know how to play Cowboys, n, Indins” I asked, “Naw we play cops and robbers” he replied. “Well can I play”, I asked timidly. Chuckie replied “Naw we already chose sides”, “Well could I be the sheriff I asked”? “Sure”, he said, We need a jail keeper, you just sit here and we’ll bring the crooks to jail, and you can lock’em up”, OK, but where is the jail”, I asked. “That hockey box over there , thats the jail, you just gotta keep’em in it. He said. “OK, so where are your guns”? I asked, we got some an we make some out of sticks. 

That was it, I was to be the sheriff. Boring, just sitting there watching as they went about running hiding and shooting at each other. “cops and robbers” was a boring game.Soon all the robbers had been caught and we re assembled for a new start, I suggested that we change to “cowboys n’ indins” and Chuckie said O.K. who are the cowboys and who are the indians? I made some choices and soon we had three apiece, three cowboys and 3 indians. Everybody was taking part. The indians went to hide and the cowboys would go and hunt them down, an shoot e’m. This went on for about an hour, we were having fun, and I was the focal point of the game because I had the “Red Ryder” outfit on. That made me the hero. 

After another round, of about fifteen minutes, Chuckie made a good suggestion, the cowboys should now switch to indians and the indians would now be the cowboys. Sounded right to me so that was how it came about that Chuckie asked to borrow the “Red Ryder” outfit. That seemed right to me so I let him have the boots, the chaps, the vest and the two guns and red holsters, and the hat. But I kept the red bandana. Chuckie was O.K. with that. So the next thing was we “indins”went to hide. Little did I know what was about to happen, in fact when I went to hide, I wanted to be well hidden, so they would not find me, so I went off the playground to go behind some fifty gallon drumb garbage cans, just off the property, in a field across the railroad tracks. Ha! This was a good hiding place, and of course my accolmplices found good spots too. This was too easy, I could see the other side looking everywhere for us. They found two of us, and I was all that was left. Looks like I was gonna be the best hidden indin ever. 

Then about ten minutes passed, and I could tell, there was no activity. So I came out of hiding and decided to give up. But where was everybody? They were gone! “Chuckie”! I called out, “Chuckie”, where are y’all at ?” I hollered. There was no answer...after about thirty minutes of looking and calling out, I decided that they had given up trying to find me, so I went home. Mom asked me where I had been and I told her all about my new friends and the game we played. Then she asked about the “Red Ryder” outfit. 

There I was standing there in fron of my mother,  barefoot with a red bandana around my neck, a white undershirt and my short pants on, crying now because I just realized that now “Chuckie” was “Red Ryder” he had my new “Red Ryder" outfit, boots, guns, chaps, and all , and I had nothing. So we scoured the neighborhood me crying and Mom hollering “Chuckie”. Had I done too good a job of hiding? Or had the “new friends” been clever in the stealing of my clothes. Which is it you may ask? I prefer to think of it as a good job of hiding that I did. Mom thinkds otherwise. What do you think? Well it took a couple of days but I never again saw even one of those kids. And after speaking with other residents in the complex, we were informed by a woman who lived beside the play yard, that they were from the other side of the tracks, a perfect theft it was, And I had difficulty believing it. And I got a whipping.The lesson? Accept that everyone has good intentions, but trust no one to have them. Everyone has an agenda....believe it because it is true. END

Who’s The Racist ?

Who’Who’s The Racist ?

Life is hard and then you die. There is no promise of perfection, unity, equality or anything else. You are born into the world as it exists. You may be born White, Black, Red, or Yellow, or anything in between. The world changes from day to day, it is what it is, on that day, and it will always will be such. People are different. Many people are born into this world into circumstances that no one in their right mind would choose, and no one is in charge of what circumstance they are born into. The races are all prejudicial, none are exempt. anyone who would deny this has never read the Bible, or caught up on their history, their background or their historic lifestyle (how previous generations lived) all races are prejudicial. The Chinese, the Japanese, the European, the White, the Black, the early settlers of the Americas, (American Indians), Indonesians, Hispanic, Jewish, Mexican, African and any other race you may want to drag into this matter. All have their prejudices. There is no perfect race in any form in our world. God created them all, and it shall always be so that they (we altogether) are one race, THE HUMAN RACE, all equal, all have sinned and fall short. Maybe somewhere in the universe there is a perfect race of beings, but we have yet to find it. To claim that one group or ethnicity is racist is ridiculous, we are all given to make choices, It is a God given right, our decision to choose. Do not think that you are immune to it. Just as your choice of drink, food or automobiles is based on your likes and dislikes, so it is that in all of life you must make choices, and that goes for your likes and dislikes of people as well. It is true that most certainly we all can enjoy different drinks, foods, and automobiles, and as well, our choice of friends, (close and or distant) is ours to make. And it is every day that our path of life brings us to the matter of choice, every day. Shall I go to work, or stay home, go to the doctor or not, drive or walk, sleep or stay awake, life is made up of choices, and everyone on earth has to make them, from the first awakening of morning to the last moment before death. Even in our dreams, there are choice moments, and moments of angst. So shut up about the matter of racism. Being an American does not make on a racist, nor does being white black or any other color of your skin make one a racist. A racist is one who continually spouts the differences between the races, and how those differences affect other races. Differences??? Yes there are differences, ask anyone on this earth and they will tell you that no two races are the same. There are differences, and those differences force us to make choices, we all do things differently, no one does their decision making the same as anyone else. It is a matter of choice. You too, just like your neighbor make choices every moment of every day. That is why Jesus came to this earth, to put an end to the matter of wrong choices. Starting with Adam and Eve, we all make wrong choices. The Parable of The Good Samaritan is the perfect story of race relationships. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is that we love God with all our heart, mind and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. Until one is able to do that, one cannot claim to be race neutral, and if you are not race neutral then you ARE racist. So you think I am wrong? Then answer me this. Would you give your life hanging on a cross until you die to save your neighbors soul? If you cannot honestly answer that quickly without stopping to consider it, then tell me, For whom would you be willing to die? We are all faced with choices, some are great and some are small, yet all are choices. I choose my friends based on the truth of their character, so do not lay on me the word racist unless you are willing to speak it of yourself. Some of my friends are of "another" race, I am of "another" race, and being of the human race, there are people of every race creed and color with whom I would rather not associate, but I do not hate them, I may indeed hate what they do or say, or even how they speak and conduct their lives. But I make allowances for those things, and I just leave those people alone. Does that make me racist? My preferences in vegatables is similar, some of them are distasteful to me. but I do not hate them. The matter of race relations is here to stay. I hate the word racist, and I do not like for people to use that word in my presence, but if they want to speak of it, then I must allow that they have the right to speak it. I do not like it, nor do I approve of the use of it, but I do not hate the person who speaks it. But alas, it is a hate filled word and because we are human we still know how to apply the word to others, but not ourselves. So until that final Day of Judgment when God comes to separate the sheep and the goats, choice is still relevant, God is the final judge of the soul of all men. and even then, choice is there, but this time it’s God’s to make. Do not mention racist to me of anyone, for until YOU are the judge, You might just be the racist.

What's In The Mail? ? ?

                 One day the mailman delivered to my door, an 8.5 million dollar lawsuit filed against several people and firms including me. It had to do with a hotel construction project for which I performed some design work. The project was in Baton Rouge La.and almost immediately after completion of construction had become uninhabitable due to construction flaws. The lawsuit was Filed in the state of Louisiana, in Federal Court. And as I was to learn later, the 8.5 million was to be paid with whatever monies any one or all of us had. Suffice it to say that meant that any loss of money on my part would be all encompassing and devastatingly final. Definitely not something I was looking forward to. It was a matter of such grave consequence that it left me no choice but to hire an attorney and try to defend myself. I hired an old school mate, a graduate of Harvard, and a friend with whom I had worked before. I hired him for two days, to school me in the proceedings of such a grave matter. We shut down his office and held all his calls for two days. He also contacted an attorney licensed to practice in Louisiana who agreed to take my case.   

Surely this  failure was not of my doing. I called the Contractor and discussed this situation with him. All along he knew that he was going to throw me under the bus, and definitely be seeking to lay the blame for this project failure on my HVAC design for this project. He had even hired a Professor of  Engineering from one of our local colleges to sustain his lies for him. And the Professor agreed to do it for a thousand dollars a day and expenses. And all the time this contractor knowing it was his own greed that had caused the failure. “You should talk to a lawyer “and “This won't really involve you” was the lie he tried to pass on to me. And to top it off, we were, because of our business affiliations, good friends and had worked together on many motel projects. I fact I was responsible for introducing him to one of his best clients. We even helped each other secure projects, he in the construction of, and me in the mechanical and plumbing design of motels and hotels.We had done this type of thing for several years and trusted each others judgments through many construction projects. We were friends and business associates. We even spent time together on the golf course. My daughter was even a piano student of his mother. 

 

                The lawsuit accused me of criminal negligence because the interior sheetrock on the walls in every room of the building had mildewed and fallen to the floor  This was unheard of in today's building construction. Surely something had occurred during the construction of these walls that left them subject to this mildew condition. I gathered all the engineering calculations, climatic conditions, construction plans and any other pertinent data that I had available and sent it to my Lawyer in Louisiana. He wrote back that the case was set for such and such date and told me not to worry. Easy for him to say. I had hired two Lawyers. One in Memphis and one in Baton Rouge. I was lawyered up.
         
                   Then one day, a week before the trial was to start, a call came to me from the Lawyer I had retained in Louisiana He explained that he was leaving the country, going on a trip to Europe, and that he had filed the necessary papers for me to defend myself. I could be my own attorney! How can I do this I asked? Don’t worry about it. All you have to do is tell the truth. This wasn’t good news. I was unfamiliar as to how it is that I was to tell the truth, without an attorney, and did not have the time to prepare my story. I had no time to hire another lawyer and just barely time to prepare my defense. I hired my Memphis lawyer to school me on how a court is conducted, We worked for two days, eight hours a day on what to do and how to do it.  I learned how to prepare an exhibit and how to testify in my own behalf. The routine to expect from my adversaries and what to look for in the testimony of other witnesses. I kept remembering the old adage. “The man who tries his own case in court has a fool for a client”.
                 Little did I know this charade  would reveal such a morass of lies that even Napoleon would have become exasperated with the kind of careless haphazard management of the work, exposed during this expensive visit to the capital of Louisiana. The state where the French first settled and imposed Napoleonic law, And in a federal court in Baton Rouge where I am bound to “Just tell the truth” Napoleonic law is the governing law.
Stuff happens… ( God works in mysterious ways), little did I know how this would play out).

Well as things progressed, the trial date was approaching, and I was constantly concerned with this monstrosity of a lawsuit and so much so that my work (making a living) was suffering. Also I was called to the contractors office several times to go over certain design items etc. Little did I know these people and their lawyers were preparing my demise. But Credit me with one thought. I was well aware of the greed that possessed this contractor and because of that awareness, I gave him nothing that he might use to back stab me. But even that fact being a consideration, I was hiding nothing. I had turned over my exhibits to him anyway. (the truth will eventually rise to the top)

The time finally arrived for me to go to court.I packed my stuff, and was prepared for a 5 to 14 day stay. I drove the 600 mile journey stopping only to eat lunch, and get gas.I arrived there in eight hours.  now there was one minor detail to work out that day.
           
               The problem was that I now was in Baton Rouge and needed a place to do my research and study. I stopped at the nearest motel, an old remodeled Ramada Inn, and It was close enough so that if necessary I could walk to the courthouse. It was also near the Mississippi river and on a site not too far from the subject project which would be convenient for a visit if necessary. This would be my retreat.  I checked in at the front desk. Booked a room for 5 days and got a reasonable rate. My room was on the third floor a short walk from the elevator. I began to load all my reference books and trial documents into the lobby at the elevator, and was then told that the elevator was not currently working. Oops, well Ok, I needed the exercise anyway. Four trips up and down the stairs and a walk around the building to my room was enough for today. I shut the door turned on the light and piled all my stuff on the dresser table and sat down in the chair. I slid open the top drawer of the dresser table and a book slid forward in the drawer. It was a Gideon Bible. I picked it up and a thought raced thru my mind, I do need to speak to God about this matter and what conversing I had done up to now was the 23rd Psalm. I recited it all the time. Whenever I began to feel small insignificant and defeated, I would repeat the 23rd Psalm.

(God enters the fray)

These wealthy developers, contractors and Lawyers were going to tear me up, I would think. Then I would take refuge in the words God gave us thru the 23rd Psalm. This Scripture had sustained me thus far and would continue to do so. But now here I was alone quiet and feeling defenseless, with a Gideon Bible in my hands. I will read the bible right now.  I got on my knees , placed my face down on the bed, clasped my hands in the traditional prayer position and asked God to please visit with me. Help me and guide me thru this terrible ordeal. I asked him to help me throughout this trial because I certainly could not do it by myself. Then I sat upright on the bed and opened the Bible. It opened to Isaiah, the 25th chapter. And I began to read.  What this matter is all about. (God revealed his plan to me in this scripture).

             Isaiah 25:1  O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
              God was sending me a message, I had not contacted him about this matter at all, it was my problem and I could handle it. That was my feeling, but God was now stepping into the fray. He is telling me He made these plans long ago and they are faithful and true to his purposes for my life. What a reassuring first verse.  I got down on my knees right then and asked for his will to take over this situation beginning right then

             Isaiah 25:2  For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the foreigners' palace is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.
               God is telling me and indeed He has already destroyed this place, I know that and now he is telling me that it will never be rebuilt, but they are trying to rebuild it. It will bring them down,

              Isaiah 25:3  Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
               God will get the glory from this event. A strong people will glorify Him, and these ruthless corporations will fear Him. God is letting me know what the outcome of this event will produce. And that I will be a threat to them, and although I did not know how, I knew that it would happen that way.

             Isaiah 25:4  For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall.
             God has been upholding me all of my life although I was not always aware of it.  He has always had his eye on me, He has been my stronghold even though I knew it not. So many instances in my life could have brought me down but it just was not in God’s plan. That failure should overtake me was not how this event would end.  There were ruthless attempts to overtake me, to cause me harm or to bring a charge against me, but not as God has planned, and so, even though there was a storm coming against me, it would work into God’s plan as a sign to me of God’s presence in this event, and it would work to my advantage, and it did. Indeed there was a storm, Hurricane Juan, in late October of 1985 and it was on it’s way, this is almost unbelievable, but it is true, it happened to me. It was later in the trial but so incredible, You will get chills when you read it.

            Isaiah 25:5  like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of the foreigners; as heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is put down.
             This took place on the first day. As I was taking a lunch break, . the song of the ruthless, The owner, threatened me with these words “I will bury you, I will break you and will own you” these words actually were a confirmation of what God was telling me, He will subdue the prosecutions case and leave them put down, laid low and defeated. My only comment in response to the threat was “ "that may be, you can try".
              Isaiah 25:6  On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
              This verse to me was God’s reassurance that this was a victory to be enjoyed, savored, and richly remembered. And so it is. But more than that. It is God’s victory worked  exactly as he would have it, and it was his party to begin with, He is the LORD of Hosts, The great I AM planned and instituted the event, and invited those to whom He wished to demonstrate his plan.

              Isaiah 25:7  And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.
              He will remove any doubts. And sins that are forgiven will be swallowed up, never to be remembered, all who believe are to be freed from the grip of Satan’s power over them, My own doubts are cast off , and even though a veil of doubt is cast over my ability, it will be removed by God’s power in his own way. And all will know it.

              Isaiah 25:8  He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.
             Victory is assured, and joy is made to return, ceasing all tears. All the doubts cast upon my work will be removed from everyone’s memory. It is His Will that is to prevail. He has spoken it.

               Isaiah 25:9  It will be said on that day, "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation."
              I am already celebrating His victory in this suit because He has saved me already, and He hasn’t even started yet. I can’t wait to get going now. I am savoring the challenge because I can hardly wait to rejoice in His salvation. All will know it and it will be sweet.

              Isaiah 25:10  For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain, and Moab shall be trampled down in his place, as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.
              This lawsuit although very expensive for me will be a perfect example of what God can do in the lives of those who depend upon His plan for their salvation. The way in which he has built my confidence, given me insights into the workings of the Holy Spirit. I sought the Lord and he delivered me. It was not about me, but all about what God can do and how he uses the simplest of people and events and works in the simple execution of His Justice. This man (the owner) and his contractor , who brought the lawsuit to my door, will suffer because of his pride and his greed.

            Isaiah 25:11  And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim, but the LORD will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands.
                 When the owner, The First witness called, took the stand to testify he began talking and just would not shut up. He managed to destroy his own case in three days time. He was as a swimmer drowning in a sea of pompous and pointless stories, covering tale after tale, trying to justify his case hour after hour. I could not believe he was doing this. And his lawyer could not stop him. He was ruining his own prosecution. He spoke his heart, he lied when necessary, but the basics of his story were true and factual. But he also was exposing himself to attacks by his opponents, me included.

                 Isaiah 25:12  And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down, lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.
                 That is actually what this suit is about, the building walls are failing, falling apart.  And that is exactly how it happened. There will be instance after instance where both of my opponents teams of witnesses testified to events and circumstances which would serve God’s purposes for the destruction of their positions. Especially where the testimony was elaborated against my work. These men are on unstable ground, in a pit of quicksand and they literally think that they can shift the blame to my design.
     
              So easy to set my soul free from concern, to see it written in the word of God. It is so reassuring to know that one has such a formidable strong defender a savior. I began to feel joy rise up within my soul. No longer fearing anything, I looked forward to this learning experience to which I would with God’s help be a tool working by the hand of God. And justice would be the proper result and God would see to it. This is going to be exciting. But time away from my work was costing me dearly. 

               Who, Who, Who are you? (God wants the opposition to be worthy). The week opened with the various parties involved in the suit showing up, with their witnesses and reference material and exhibit books. A plethora of material and a serious group of men with negative purpose in their hearts. The law firm of  Glankler, Brown, Gilliland, Chase, Robinson & Raines, the plaintiffs in the case, represented by Barry Ward, listed in the impressive group of Super Lawyers in the U.S. a very experienced trial litigation lawyer, and a Graduate of the Memphis State University, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. A very professional and intensely serious young man who set about to build a case against the Architect and my design ability and the architect’s defective designs for this project.

              And representing Wilson P. Abraham the developer(and owner), The firm of Steeg & O’Connor by K. Eric Gisleson Esq. An upscale high profile attorney.  Mr. Gisleson graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1964 and received his juris doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 1968.He was formerly employed with the United States Department of Justice in the Organized Crime & Racketeering Section during the years 1968 - 1977 including Attorney-in-Charge with the New Orleans Strike Force from 1973 to 1977. He was promoted to Deputy Chief, Public Integrity Section, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. and acted in this capacity from 1977 to 1980. Mr. Gisleson was employed as Vice President, Administration and Special Counsel to the Ingram Corporation from 1980 to 1983 where he oversaw litigation and compliance issues involving a large multinational oil, gas and shipping company, and worked with another law firm in New Orleans from beginning in 1983. . Mr. Gisleson had extensive experience in environmental litigation and compliance, including one of the largest civil cases ever brought by the USEPA, as well as involvement with federal and state agency compliance matters. Mr. Gisleson’s construction law litigation experience includes:  Major structural integrity issues involving competing allegations of design and construction defects of a major New Orleans downtown office building (architectural and civil and structural engineering experts). Mold and mildew issues of a large apartment/hotel complex in Baton Rouge (architectural, climate, health, and engineering experts). For our present owner developer, "the prosecution"

Sitting next to me in the courtroom was another of God's choices, representing the structural engineer, a lawyer by the name of David E. Walle, strange such a name, and an "esquire" as well. Walle, and this lawsuit is about walls. A coincidence? Well yes I suppose so, but still a bit of a strange coincidence. A New Orleans attorney, friendly and outgoing, a nice man, for our side. I mentioned to him about the matter being in federal court and why was that the case, and he spoke these words to me. This is a serious case of major proportions, the judge is a federal district judge. You will do well to respect his authority, it extends beyond civil and includes life, death, and federal prison time for certain crimes. I was later informed the matter was considered a crime if criminal neglect, and could include a prison sentence. Wow. He also advised me to wear a suit and tie, formally address him as "Your Honor" and "if the court pleases"or "if it pleases the court" and always to remember that this is not "a"courtroom, it is "his " courtroom. Good advice which I understood and heeded as well. My opponent the contractor was dressed in blue jeans, a golf shirt and three hundred dollar Rebocks. not a good choice. The owner was dressed in a suit and tie, respectful of the court.

                  The lines are drawn.  (God can use every purpose in mans heart ). There is more; The plaintiff’s team of witnesses included Dr. Ray W. Brown, the professor of the School of Engineering at Christian Brothers University, a man who was charging the contractor a thousand dollars a day and expenses. This was a ridiculous waste of money and I knew it would be only a day or two before he was gone. No one wants to extend the expenditure of that kind of money for very long, especially not the contractor. The professor would add commentary and negative remarks under oath, comments regarding my engineering design. He proved to be a consummate liar, and while under oath. There would be more as to the witnesses and persons who actually performed work on this disastrous project, but suffice it to say we are dealing with the best in the business in each case. And even the highly trained are capable of bending the truth when it suits their purpose. That purpose being money. And that would become evident in this trial.

                So you can see that this lawsuit has filled the courtroom with a formidable force. There will be no incompetent representation on the side going against my strong defender and it will not be a question of whether or not they are armed with knowledge. There is more than enough experience and expert witness to prove a point. God wants there to be a maximum enemy position fully capable and competent, with no defects., and will prove his just and powerful truth, using the enemie's positions and fortifications against them.
 
                This is how he works, all throughout scripture and biblical history. And so it was in this case. In fact, it is carried to the extreme by God having me completely and utterly without the first inkling of any human form of help. Not even a lawyer to represent me. My lawyer  quit,although I had paid him in advance to represent me.Yet he had other plans, which were going to take him out of the country. And he had no desire to even want to defend me, or even get someone (another lawyer) to represent me. He petitioned the court that I might represent myself. His advice: "Just tell the truth" and recite your position when it comes your turn. You know more about what has happened than they do anyway. I have petitioned the court to have you represent yourself. Don't worry, just tell the truth. That is all the advice I got from my lawyer. 16 letters in those words, at 100 dollars per letter. 

           Then of course there’s me. I have no resume , no college, no law degree, no law experience and no desire to be in court, but with God’s help, this is going to be right in my wheelhouse. Little did I know how much it would be mine. God would give it to me. God would give me the power to make these mighty men of much pomp and circumstance fear the very mention of my name. They would panic at God’s mastery of my technique and how he allowed me to control each, subject under question. I begin to feel what David the young shepherd boy felt when preparing to do battle with Goliath. And just as Goliath, these men do not have a clue as to what is coming. Nor do I, all I know at this juncture is that I am surrounded by a very competent hoard of adversaries, the enemy. And I know with confidence that they will soon become my targets in a battle of words, situations and concepts which God will pick, apart one by one, and without any form of a defense as yet. His plan began to be evident to me when the Judge Addressed me with the remarks "Mr. Miller, Your attorney has filed a petition to have you represent yourself, and I am going to rule on that after I hear what you have to say today. Little did he, or even I know.

                 It would amaze them and as they would comment later at one lunch break, Where did you get your law degree? What law school did you attend? Similar questions I would imagine went thru the minds of the Philistines when David pulled his sling and killed Goliath. Where did this upstart come from? What wars has he fought? David’s victory was a permanent solution to the immediate problem. For David cut off the head of his enemy. God does not provide temporary victories, (as well this court would later define) and this victory is not temporary, once it is done, Jesus Christ becomes the solution to all our problems from then on. The head cannot be reattached To Goliath, and once Christ has been accepted as your salvation, The head has been removed from your sin, Your salvation has been assured. Just as David’s victory was never retracted. He was God’s Chosen and nothing could stop that for which God had chosen him. This is how I felt. And so they would fear me in that courtroom. It began to be clear to them that this was a losing effort for them. I could see it in their eyes, and with every breath I grew stronger and more confident. And the judge began to realize the outcome very early in the trial. It certainly was obvious to me.

            The Battle begins  (Satan stakes his claim). The testimony of the first witness begins, a mistake in my opinion. It is Wilson P. Abraham, a man who is proud and haughty and one who cannot stop talking. He should know that constant babbling is one of God’s weapons. God has me stripped down to one person but there is a friend. David E. Walle  esq., Attorney at law for the structural engineer who was dismissed with no responsibility the first week. This friend David ( the apple of God’s eye) and I have no relationship but he has a few comments for me as we proceed. Offers of advice on conduct in the courtroom, offers of how to dress, how to pay respect for the court, when to speak if needed and how to address the court. This is from Mr. Walle Esq. Recall how God uses walls throughout the Bible. This Lawsuit is about walls, and this is Mr. Walle, an instrument of God, doing God’s bidding. That seems fitting. Anyway he tells me to dress properly, suit and tie. Street shoes, not tennis shoes or $200.00 Air Jordans. Judges are not impressed with street smart dress or speech. They are impressed with decorum and those who respect the court's authority, and this Judge has that in this case. He is the judge and the jury. He will be the deciding factor, God put a devout Christian man in charge.

               There is no story that I could imagine that would be more interesting than this story of God working his miracles in this epic trial for millions of dollars against insurmountable odds. No possible victory seems attainable to me, except I have already been apprised of the consequences to be spread upon my enemies. I definitely do not want to miss a moment of the engrossing testimony This is most entertaining and very engrossing. My energy level stays high and endless. My sleep is uninterrupted and my rest is secure. I study the notes I have taken after each days testimony, prepare questions for the coming witnesses, and plot my strategy until midnight each day, then a prayer, then sleep.

                Prior to Mr. Abrahams being questioned by his own attorney, for the purpose of his exoneration, the judge explains one curious requirement that will be imposed on all participants in this trial. Anyone who wears glasses must remove them when testifying or when being cross examined. For reasons, as explained by the judge, so that he (the judge) can see their eyes. The truth cannot be hidden behind eyes that can be scrutinized, and liars cannot hide the truth when eyes are revealing their lies.

There are many sidelights to take place in this story and I will touch on some of them later.  As the day wears on, and Wilson Abraham keeps up his continuous blather, I am writing every word that is spoken, by the attorney Barry Ward, and by the defendant Wilson Abraham. And Mr. Abraham is a wealth of information. Talking points are ongoing, sentences turning into paragraphs, and then into page after page of meaningless blather but all the while providing the foundation for almost all of my defense. My writing skill is minimal as far as neatness goes, but today it is plain and concise and I am getting every word, I am writing faster than they are speaking and have a deftness of hand and fingers which I have never before had, I am finishing their sentences for them before they speak. I am amazed . Where does this skill come from, I have never had this capability before now, and by reading what I have written,  I can recall almost word for word the whole day’s testimony. This is bordering on intense almost captivating fun. And to think, I will be permitted to cross examine these witnesses. They are helpless against God and it is so evident to me that they cannot stand against what God has planned for them. I can hardly contain my enthusiasm. To me, It is a very thrilling ride on a chariot of fire that I will deliver to my adversaries and will witness their futile defenses burn away like the the chaff in a wheat field. They are defenseless against what God will bring against them. And they do not even suspect it is coming. But I can see their demise after just the first witness.

              Getting acquainted ( God makes it clear very quickly. ). After a full day of  testimony, questioning and answering, and elaboration by Mr. Abraham, the whole scenario is laid out for me. This man may be good at developing construction projects, but he is very lacking in his ability to speak clearly about his work. But I really believe he is innocent of any wrong doing in this project, he has been taken advantage of by a charlatan, being sued by a very evil and greedy man. The first day is over and my notes have recorded the whole day’s testimony and my review of the day enables my innocence. And something in the deep recesses of my mind tell me there is nothing to fear and everything to look forward to. Indeed there is nothing I need fear, God is my strength and my defender and even though, innocent as Mr. Abraham may be, accused of wrong doing in this project, but he is the one who should be offended, It is his property which the contractor has rendered uninhabitable, and in fact it is almost in a state of total demolition, and he is having it rebuilt, at great expense I might add.

               God has a purpose for this event, not just for me and not just for my adversary, and he is going to work his purpose in all of us and will do so on his time frame.. So too will all the other participants in this monstrosity of a lawsuit get to experience the God delivered judgments that come about as a result of this lawsuit. This just serves to remind me of the folly of mans desires. There is none good, no not one. As this day ends. I go to supper at the motel.

                I notice it is full of older men, all sort of a group of friends, strange I thought, maybe it is an old men’s hangout for supper. Oh well, a good meal and a really good desert, the cooks specialty. I go to my room study the days testimony, make copious notes of the days events have a prayer, the 23rd Psalm  and then I fall asleep around midnight thoroughly tired and needing rest.

                  The morning came quickly, I showered, dressed and went downstairs to breakfast. A real treat awaited me. This motel was home for a number of older men who loved to sit and talk, I met a group of them and had a pleasant breakfast, conversing with them and explaining my plight. They were sympathetic.  I have won some new friends, a very present help in this time of trial.
       
                  The truth comes out quickly (Satan is no match when going against God)  Off to court and another day of testimony from Abraham. This was just more of the same.  Except on one subject he began to be a bit more explanatory. The subject of added ventilation which was a key piece of work that had been added during his half million dollar renovation. Abraham had previously testified that his engineers recommended that he cut new ventilation shafts in eight different locations throughout the project for strategic ventilation for the project apartments, since he had approved the use of ventless washer dryers and the humidity would be somewhat higher due to the ventless dryers. He indicated that it would not  be a problem since the dryers had a humidity collector fitting and would not add to the humidity in the space. But they cut in the shafts anyway and without consultation of a structural engineer and without the city's inspection team for approval. When questioned about the specific need for this work to have been part of the original construction he explained that he did not anticipate any problems and since it had been accomplished it had been ineffectual anyway and was not needed, in fact he said" I wasted my money doing that, the design that Mr. Miller has done would have worked fine if the walls had insulation in them.". This renovation also included a wall removal to increase the public lobby area. This involved the removal of a structural wall which was supporting the weight of three spans of concrete floor above it. This too was accomplished without a structural engineers approval, and or the city inspectors approval This left a highly dangerous structural condition as well.

              Then later in the day, testimony from the Architect who had denied having a relationship with me. When it came my turn to cross examine, my first witness, he admitted not remembering me but admitted having certain other projects which I knew about because during our time of design on this project he had asked me for pricing on other projects, so much for that issue. He knew me and I knew him and certain of his draftsmen, we had a relationship, and he paid me for my work on the project we did together. That lie defeated, “that he did not know or have a relationship with me. I was indeed his paid designer of the systems that were correctly installed for plumbing and heating and air conditioning. Perfectly designed, and perfectly functional for the work intended. As long as the building is correctly built.

              We break for lunch that is taken on the entrance steps, beside the statue of Justice. That is when the threats were poured fourth on and against me. They will “own me” .This I discharge as a stupid remark as they do not understand one thing about me. God is doing this case, He is just using me as a tool to bring them down., Give them their comeuppance so to speak. After lunch  that same day, I was rewarded with an enlightening piece of testimony, actually, the key piece of testimony upon which the trial would turn.

              From the mouth of my adversary’s witness quickly comes the admission of what this trial was about. The exposed walls had no insulation on them or in them. The Truth is out. The walls of each tenant space were set in a sawtooth pattern so that about 8 to 12 feet of the sidewall, and all of the front wall would be exposed to the weather. The front wall had a double insulated window as well as the front door, and would be draped inside which helps against cold weather and shades against the sun in hot weather.
But the side wall, which is exposed to the weather has no insulating material to shield against the cold or the heat. Every one of the 144 rooms had this uninsulated wall. I will not go into the details of how that condition affects the room except to say it was a construction error. No room built for human habitation which has an exposure to the weather should be built without insulation to help guard against heat or cold. But this project has 144 of them totally unprotected from the weather. This testimony came from the contractor’s project manager, who admitted that he could not figure out how to put the insulation on the wall. This from a man who has built at least 100 or more motels and apartment buildings for all types of weather. Most of them motels with all rooms exposed with at least one wall to the weather. This is for me, not believable, but is taken as testimony under oath, from an experienced construction superintendent who “could not figure how to install it.” And I should mention that since it was not installed, It also was not bought, nor did the contractor have to pay the $60,000 to buy it, or pay the labor to have it installed. It was however a vital part of the weatherization for this project, that was deliberately and criminally neglected, and no one was any the wiser at the time it was done, as the Architect nor the building code authorities were apprised of the error. And of course, the heating and air conditioning engineer also was not apprised of it. Had I known, I would have stopped the construction in it's tracks, and had the matter resolved. The Contractor, McMurry did not want it known, as he pocketed the  $60,000.00 that he did not have to spend.

               This is how they set it up, His construction foreman who has actually accomplished the work of building walls for over a hundred motels will take the hit for the 60,000 dollar omission of insulation. Wow! What a savings! My thought is that the estimate prepared by one of his estimators,(probably one of his brothers)  failed to notice the sawtooth feature with the 12 foot wall exposure, and left it out of the estimate. This was the contractors way of getting through that without cost. Or on the other hand, he would pick up and extra 60,000 by simply not installing the insulation. This Contractor is famous for doing this, saving his clients large sums of money, and keeping some for himself


                 Testimony continued in this vein for a short time then the Professor of Engineering in Memphis was put on the stand and asked if insulation was important part of the construction of a building, for temperature maintenance.  He said” Only with respect to the time, left alone, the temperature in a space will equal that which is outside the space in time.” Well duhhh.  Anyone knows that to be the case if one just stops to think. In sustained cold, even the best insulation will eventually fail. The reason for using insulation is so that the time it takes will be extended in order to add heat to the space which cannot be quickly dissipated because of the insulation, which is holding the heat in. The same goes for insulation used for cooling the spaces.  He then went on to comment on the fact that I was not a licensed engineer and that the engineer that signed my work was not present for examination. He failed to mention that the Baton Rouge Mechanical Code does not require a designer to be licensed for engineering expertise unless the capacity of the a/c system is rated over 10 tons. This is not an unusual law in mechanical design of air conditioning systems, and of course he did not mention this fact, as it would not enhance his testimony. He has already demonstrated that he will shade the truth with his own definition, thus perpetrating the lie, about the need and the purpose of insulation.  He cast aspersions on my ability and my experience as well. He was not cross examined by me or anyone else. My reason for not engaging him in cross examination was because I already knew that he would tailor his answers so that I could not get to the truth. The man was a liar and I knew it. My ego was bruised and I wanted to retaliate, but something told me to hold back, (vengeance is mine I will repay sayeth the Lord) so I kept still and quiet. This man obviously has only a few scruples and they can be bought for $1000.00 per day.    

 The day closed with some more incidental testimony. This time a drywall contractor who knew of several "Abraham" projects and additionally some of the architects other projects. He was quite familiar with the vertical shafts in this project as well because he had done the work and had installed the drywall around the shafts, and had installed the grilles and the roof exhaust fans. When I asked him about the invoices totaling $84,000 dollars he indicated that the amount was for eight shafts. When I asked him to produce the material and labor cost breakdowns he said, "They are locked up in a warehouse in Shreveport and cannot be retrieved because they are impounded by a local court, and there has been a fire and they may have been destroyed".  At this point the judge stopped the proceedings and announced that he was removing his robe and would speak to us off the record.

The Judge stepped from behind his desk and took off his robe and said as follows, "You will recall the orders that I have subpoenaed all paperwork all files all payroll receipts and such, any data pertinent to this trial. You are hereby directed to go to Shreveport and get this material and if it is not produced in this courtroom tomorrow without fail, You will be put in jail until it is produced in this courtroom. Do you understand what I have just said? ” That statement caused a distinct personality change in each member of the Abraham team and a flurry of activity of searching for building certificates etc. The day ended shortly thereafter and we were dismissed for the day. The witness was sent on the errand to recover the locked up receipts and other paperwork as was relevant to this case. With the threat of jail if he was not successful.

                Back to my  Motel for rest and review of the days testimony. Supper with the group and a review of the days events for the old guys who by now are taking an interest. They all want to hear about it and it helps me relax. It is my group support team. Giving me what I need. A short diversion among friends who are interested and supportive of my cause.

               This night I hear a hurricane is coming, I am in my room and it begins to rain and the wind begins to blow. I open the door and the wind blows the rain in my face, this is serious. It is hurricane Juan, the earliest part of the storm making land here in the middle of Baton Rouge. I can feel God doing his work This storm will bode ill for the Abraham team and it will bode well for me. I don’t recall why I thought that except for the Biblical story when Jesus was asleep in the boat with all his disciples and a storm began to threatened the boat. The disciples awakened Jesus and he calmed the storm.  Jesus was however very upset with the fishermen who had so little faith. I myself felt the calm, and imagined that tomorrow would be an interesting day. Something was about to happen, I did not know what it was, but I knew it would be God's work. More study and preparation then a prayer and to bed.      

                         This Courtroom is mine( God sees to that in no uncertain terms). Testimony will continue today Wednesday, It is raining, wind is blowing and I am parked across the street, not too far to run without getting too wet. But the worst is yet to come. It is raining and the wind is blowing it horizontally and signs and flags and anything exposed to this storm is being tested. I make it across to the courthouse and into the courtroom. I am usually there among the first to arrive and today is no different. Testimony today will include  more testimony  from the drywall man on the invoices and a report on the city's inspections, a construction scientist from Dow Chemical Co., and a  local Architect testifying on building code issues. I will cross examine each one of these witnesses, and I have my questions already prepared, and I already know the answers to each question.

            We start with the drywall man, he has brought two suitcases full of paperwork and invoices, signed checks and as we would later learn, incriminating evidence, This testimony went by quickly and we then recessed to examine the contents of the suitcases. This will prove to be very interesting and enlightening, for the opponents of Abraham, and very disturbing for Mr. Abraham himself. The payroll records and such were very incriminating evidence of some money transfers which are illegal. I mentioned  to Mr. Barr that this was going to be interesting, overheard by Mr. Gisleson. After I made that remark, Mr. Barr just turned away giving me a disgusted look as if to say, “What do you Know of such as this.” But Mr. Gisleson , The already famous lawyer, and Notre Dame graduate, simply looked at me and said” Yeah, well it ought to be, because you have the “smoking Gun” That term in lawyereze means that someone has come into play in a trial and shot down every presented piece of evidence, and is still smoking hot to continue. I guessed that they could see it in my demeanor and hear the confidence in my voice. Although, a smoking gun could be evidence of guilt as well. Which was it? I did not consider it anyway.  After several cross examinations and dismissing each of the witnesses testimony as totally feckless. We dismiss and do not reconvene for two weeks.


               I go home and on the following Monday I meet with my attorney to go over the events to date. He seems pleased with what I have done to date and gives me advice on how to build and present my exhibits. There are several of them and I put them in a 3 ring binder in chronological order, and have a brief explanation of each. I also mention to him the remark made by Mr. Gisslesson. He looks at me with unbelieving eyes and said "what, do you know what that means"? then he explained that when an attorney uses that phrase, he is admitting that someone has given testimony, or conducted a question and answer event which has literally shot down all the evidence thus far presented. Well, That made me feel good. The weeks pass quickly and we reconvene.


              There was another witness, an Abraham team construction inspector by the name of Raoul . In my cross examination of Raoul, I had the opportunity to ask  about a building official giving official written approval of a certain ventilation product for use in motel and hotel construction. Approval by official letter from a code official  having been signed by a building inspector approving it’s use, he exclaimed “ he is dead, so we cannot know if he approved it or not.” It was not disputed though when he was asked again about the document, was the officials signature on it, the official’s signature? his answer was “I do not know” then again could it be his signature? “I suppose so, but he is dead now. “ but was he alive when it was signed?I asked with a strong emphasis on the alive. “I suppose so” was his answer. Not too difficult a job, dragging the testimony of truth out of a witness. This was going to be fun. Continuing on with Raoul, I asked if any of the city's inspection team had been called in to review the structural and electrical changes to the building during the half million dollar restoration. He admitted  that there were no inspections that he knew of and that he couldn't think of everything on a project this size. Upon further questioning of Raoul about the fire protection conditions that had been breached by the cutting of eight continuous vertical shafts thru the floors and ceilings of each location, forced him to admit that he did not know if it had fire stopping devices installed or not, and that he knew of no fire inspection approval.  Then as these matters were noted by me as a matter of public safety and life threatening conditions, and that no building permits or fire officials inspection certificates could be produced at this time, the Judge called the proceedings to a halt.  Explaining that these documents must be presented or this trial will end.

           And this is what he said, paraphrased. " Each morning I get up and go out and get the paper, come back and sit at my kitchen table, have my coffee and read the paper. If I do this one morning and happen to read that this building has suffered a fire or a structural collapse and there are no inspection certificates, and evidences of this renovation to be found, He (the Judge himself) would be held responsible for letting this matter go on without remedy. So here is what you are going to do. You are going to produce in this courtroom tomorrow without fail,, Inspection certificated and Fire Marshall's approvals and material and labor costs and invoices or there will be several arrests for contempt and criminal neglect, Is that clear or do I need to write that down. The Abraham team began to panic, they have never been confronted with someone that makes them look absolutely incompetent.


             Enough of that for now, so we come to the matter of the building certificates and such.  The Abraham team produced enough evidence to satisfy the judge who was also promised more certificates of approval, which satisfied the court and we proceeded then to Mr. Barr, the chemical engineer from Dow Chemical, whose specialty is insulation in home building. He as been involved with and  has built and insulated homes all over the world for the purpose of testing insulation and its effects on home heating and cooling in every type of climate and temperature known to affect building construction. From the coldest to the hottest. Needless to say this man is well qualified in his field of endeavor and can be classified as expert. He is testifying as to the effect of having no insulation in the walls of a building for human habitation. It is deemed a mistake to have no insulation. Further discussion is proffered as to the effects of having visqueen, an impermeable plastic film on the interior of walls, just under the drywall finish board. This too is deemed a mistake, The walls must be allowed to breathe. What a terrible consequence for the contractor, to have this testimony come out at this time, It practically destroys his case. And makes mine. How could a man knowing what he had done in leaving the insulation out of these walls then continue in this almost unconscionable act of involving me in this lawsuit? The only answer that fits this situation is what fits all dismal failures. God is out, and man is stupidly pursuing his own will, and anyone thinking otherwise be damned.


             However under cross examination the course of the questioning changes from insulation and wall construction to room temperature and humidity and ventilation. These rooms had only minimum ventilation and as such, they were susceptible to fewer air changes and this would have an effect on the quality of air in the space. And they had ventless dryers and ventless range hoods. The air quality will be affected for a certainty. Thus it becomes a prerequisite to have good temperature control. So what happens is the air becomes humid in the space. We had this ongoing discussion of room temperature, and humidity. The owner is the victim here, that is evident. But that is his own doing. He insisted on this project having minimum roof and wall penetrations, even for ventilation purposes. And as well, the air conditioning was doing it's job satisfactorily in the warmer months. It was dehumidifying and cooling the air in the space to the tenants satisfaction. It was only in the fall, when the temperature dropped into the 50's and lower that the heat came on and drove the moisture to the walls, and having visqueen behind the drywall, It just turned to moisture in the wall, and mildewed causing the drywall to become saturated and then causing the drywall to fall off the walls. This was brought out by me in my cross examination of the Dow Chemical scientist. We simply had a heat & humidity discussion, question and answer session on the stand, wherein these conditions were explained by the scientist simply answering my questions about how that condition happens, and in this case, why it happened.


             Then my absolute confirmation of my (God's )victory in this trial, as I have previously mentioned, Hurricane Juan was attacking Baton Rouge and it was getting fierce. Suddenly the lights, and all power in the courthouse failed, the lights went out, and it became pitch black, but within seconds the security emergency lights came on in the courtroom. It was an instance of unbelievable clarity. A light over the judges desk came on, flooding him and his awesome presence with pure white light of truth. And another light, the second one came on. Out of about ten of the emergency lights, only one other came on, shining straight down on me. Only two lights came on, the one over the judge, and the one over myself. Pitch black darkness interrupted only by these and only these two lights. The truth lies with the judge, and is with me as well.And even the Judge knew, the only two people in the room that have any grasp of the truth at this point in the trial, were the Judge himself and me.  The witness, Mr. Barr is not at all disturbed, and is just sitting there in the dark when the lights and power come back on. We break for lunch. After lunch the storm is still raging and does not appear to be a damaging storm only high winds and rain but non threatening. We recess for the day.


              We reconvene the next morning and I have a chance to question this extremely aware scientist who is a wealth of information. I ask him about certain aspects of heating and cooling and then get into a single aspect of this trial. My question; Is insulation good to have in walls of buildings built for human habitation? His answer. “Yes.” I then ask why that is such a desirable condition. And he responds with a complete and easily understandable answer, clear and concise with no equivocation. I asked him did he understand the basis for the drywall falling off the wall when the Summer was over and the heat came on one day in the fall. He explained why the drywall fell of the walls of the building,  It was because there was no insulation behind the drywall, but there was a thin plastic impermeable film which prohibited the walls from “breathing”, which did not allow moisture in the room to be pushed outside thru the walls. I.E. In summer the moisture in a room is pulled into the room and drawn to the air conditioning coil where it drips into a plumbing drain. In Cold weather the opposite is true, The moisture in a room is pushed out through the room walls by the heat generated by the heating system to the colder atmosphere outside. Then we get to ventilation, and I ask a simple question. If all the air is exhausted from this courtroom, where does the air come from that refills the room? His Answer. “From outside” and my question.  Having a humidity of 87 % how will that air affect the air within this room as far as the humidity? His answer. “It will be the same.” I announce as follows; “And so there it is, the truth about insulation and ventilation, in less than 5 questions. That is the complete basis for and answer to this lawsuit. These are not revelations, they are basic principles of weather and it’s effects on buildings. They haven’t changed since God created them on day one. I have no further questions.” The witness stands down. The courtroom is silent, no one speaks a word. This is not a difficult case.


Then we come to the local Architect who is to testify as an expert witness as to code compliance. He is quizzed on ventilation for bathrooms and explains that these bathrooms are not code compliant. This is of course not true. Baton Rouge is not a large metropolis and consequently it has a very short order of laws in it's building code requirements. one of those requirements that does cover thoroughly is  the subject of bathroom ventilation, and it just so happens that Plumbing and ventilation codes are one of my specialty subjects. The ventilation of these bathrooms is not only code compliant, but is of the most recent design and it was quite easy to prove this man incompetent as I gave him the very subject code reference to ventilation to read and he had difficulty understanding it, so much so that he declared that he was not up to date on recent newer code requirements and systems, He soon acquiesced and admitted that he was only familiar to codes as apply to architectural matters and was not actually qualified to even read the mechanical and plumbing codes.He was completely and thoroughly inept, and I had only asked that he read two building code references. He did that and then reiterated that he did not understand what he had read. So much for the local code expert.

My God had given me a victory as the opposition had sent an inexperienced architect to do a professional code interpretation and he couldn't even read the law which covered the subject, and had no concept of ventilation beyond raising and lowering a bathroom window. The witness is excused and leaves the stand with some remark about his lack of experience.

                   My designs are not faulty and the building codes govern the systems installations. This is a construction error for which McMuzzy is trying to avoid responsibility. The trial is recessed for the day, the Witness is excused and it is Friday. We are to go home for the weekend, and come in again Monday morning at  8:00 am.

                 The judge asks the prosecution if they have other witnesses, they reply in the negative. The judge asks me if I am going to testify, I answer in the affirmative, then the judge asks if I plan to  call any Witnesses, I answer "Yes, Mr. Abraham and Mr. McMuzzy". There are stunned looks on the faces of the prosecution team, and McMuzzy's lawyers, and McMuzzy is turning pale. I know what he is thinking, he is afraid that I will expose some more of his underhanded project shortcuts which help him build fast and furious, with reckless abandon and come out with inordinate profits at the expense of other contractors and owners as well. I hear them whispering about the possibility of having to deal; with me for another week or two, They dread that occurrence.  With that I go into the law offices of the court and issue the subpoenas, then I get in my car check out of the Motel and drive home. On the way home I get a ticket in Mississippi for speeding. Something tells me that this ticket marks the end of this saga.
                  As I continue to drive, my mind picks up a notion that this trial is over and it will be confirmed to me before midnight. This is the absolute truth and as weird as it sounds, I was awakened at 11:55 pm from a deep sleep, It was the no name contractor calling to tell me that they had just settled the case, he did not get his quarter million and Abraham will keep it to help defray his restoration costs of half a million. The case is over, I take a last look at the clock, It is 11:59.  There is a God.


The smoking gun

Don’t worry about it. (Whatever it is, God can handle it)

What happened that caused me to question what GOD was doing in my life? Why did this happen to me? How did it start? What purpose does God have in mind.

I am a Christian, I was a Sunday school teacher, a deacon and an elder in the Presbyterian Church, I had grown up in the Presbyterian faith. My life began to change in 1966 when I took employment with a prominent plumbing contracting firm. A firm that worked all over the country building plumbing systems for motels and private developments.

I then began to acquire plumbing expertise in the matter of studying for and submitting to plumbing licensing exams all over the United States. I built a reputation for estimating and acquiring plumbing design and construction projects all over the U.S. My experience was extraordinarily diverse and comprehensive. I became an expert in the work of plumbing design, estimating, code review, plumbing law, and plumbing engineering and construction. After three years, and one relocation, I had accomplished as much as some men do in a lifetime of experience. Then without any notice, the firm split between two partners and closed their doors. I then had to look for work elsewhere.

In 1969 I had taken a job with two friends, Jason Rucker, and his cousin Kendrick Rucker. Two friends. The two of them had worked for the same firm that I had, at the same time. In this new firm, United, Contractors, Kendrick was a prime employee of the company, and Jason owned the company. They had a couple of motel projects and the work was being managed very well and seemed to be very successful. They were operating an aggressive plumbing and HVAC contracting firm. I was hired with the full intention of a long and loyal hard working relationship, and my talents were to be used in much the same way as any other construction manager/estimator, except that I had been in the work force much longer than either of them.

I carried licenses in roughly twenty two states, I could design and draw plumbing, and HVAC plans, and I could pass any license exam in the country without fail. I was hired to give the firm a more aggressive and wider ranging ability, and we could manage and bid over twice the number of projects that were presently being handled. Another employee, would grow the company more rapidly, and provide us with a wider ranging field of endeavor. Jason was the primary personality in this arrangement, as he was the founder and sole owner of the company. I had no reason to think that this would not be a good and long lasting relationship. Little did I know, and much sooner than reason would expect.

Then it began to dawn on me that this was not going to work. Jason Rucker was a control freak and it began to become apparent that he (being of the Mormon faith) had decided that both Kendrick and myself were to be his Cause Celebre. It became his obsession to make Mormons out of the both of us. With myself, it might have seemed to him as possible as I was a Presbyterian, which he thought was an insignificant faith, and could easily be swayed. In his mind, any Presbyterian was fair game, and he determined that I needed his faith, as he knew something about the Bible and of my faith. But with Kendrick it should have dawned on Jason by now that one cannot make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Suffice it to say, this was to become his downfall. We at this time in our relationship had no inkling though of how bad it would get before the final bell would bring it all down. God was doing a work in me and I was to be the instrument of his just cause. God would bring this to a conclusion such as I could not in my wildest dreams ever have imagined.

To put a perspective on it so as to make the picture clearer, Jason had wanted a Plumbing license in the State of Kentucky, as we had an opportunity to obtain a project in Hopkinsville, Ky. Which would be our first in that state. Licensing in Kentucky was very difficult to earn, as the exam was a very difficult one and the Inspectors and proctors at exam time are very prejudicial. It is not uncommon that anyone doing business and taking this plumbing license exam would fail and thus could not re apply for another year from the date of the first exam. Jason applied for his licensing exam for qualifying his firm to perform a plumbing project in that state as the project was ours if we could become licensed. He flew to the state capitol city of Kentucky, Frankfort, checked into his motel, and spent one night reading over the Plumbing Code rules and regulations governing the installation and maintenance of plumbing construction in the State of Kentucky upon which the exam is based. He took the exam and failed to qualify, thus leaving his firm in the position of losing a lucrative contract.

When I hired in, it was my responsibility to obtain qualifying licensing in any jurisdiction where it is needed. This was my first occasion to do a licensing exam for this comp-any, and so I applied for and took the test and was immediately qualified. It was not a difficult task and my score was 97 out of a possible 100 points. Then we secured the contract and the project was started. I managed the project from start to finish and we made a good profit. But the real result of all that was, that by passing the exam successfully I had caused Jason to have feelings of jealousy and envy and what’s more, he even became resentful of my presence in the company. This was very early on in my association with his company. He was a very insecure individual and it would prove to be catastrophic for the company, as you will later read. But for now I thought I would be able to manage our relationships. 

Now I will tell you a short spooky tale of a night in Key West, Florida, during the hurricane season. We visited Key West as a two man team Jason and Myself, with the intention of doing business. I had contacted a client Located in Southhaven Ms. Just minutes from Memphis, “Aladon” was the client who had a project in Key West in which the plumbing contractor had bankrupted and was no longer on the project. We were invited to offer a bid on taking over the work. So we made a trip there to view the progress of the work and to seek information about licensing. On the plane trip, as we were on our way there, Jason advised me that on our arrival we would stay at the Holiday Inn there on the beach and that after our dinner he would give me what the Mormon faith calls “ The Lecture”. I said that I did not want to have him do that as I had heard some of the aspects of the Mormon faith, and of his particular beliefs through his Mormon faith and he need not do that, as I was already a born again Christian, a Presbyterian, and had not the least interest in what I consider to be a cult religion, and one that had it’s own doctrine, which is not necessarily Bible based. He insisted in a friendly manner and I, to end this continual badgering, agreed. We met for dinner at 6:00 PM, then after dinner I went to my motel room, hoping he would become preoccupied and forget about “the lecture” It was a Monday night, and Monday Night Football was my planned TV time, then to bed. I had made the decision to let him give me the lecture but I never told him I would listen to it.

At precisely 7:00 PM he arrived and suggested we turn off the TV. I said no, then he suggested we could put the sound on low volume and we would continue with the lecture. This was at 7 PM and the game was starting. The picture was very vivid and it focused on the football for the kickoff. As the player kicked off, the ball began to rise into the air and at that point, with the ball in mid air, the whole of the area of Key West where we were staying went completely dark. Not as much as a firefly of light. A total power failure blackout. We went outside and had a look around. There were gas lights around the pool and some of the safety lights had come on which were powered by an emergency gas powered generator, emergency lighting , that was it. We went back inside and he said” well that’s going to work out well, I’ll just give you the lecture in the dark”. He continued and for two hours he went on and on, never a pause and I never raised a question. At the precise time of the halftime he was finishing his lecture, the lights came back on and it was 9 PM. He said “well what do you think” I responded with “certainly was a long lecture I, must have slept thru most of it, did I snore”? This did not impress him and if I could have fallen to my death right then he would have been happy. He was not pleased as I said “ We have different beliefs Jason, and I respect your choice of being a Mormon, I just happen to be a Presbyterian and we should respect each others choice of religion”. We spoke very little after that and then only about the project in which he had suddenly lost interest. The power failure had given him the perfect opportunity and he had failed. He later told a mutual friend that I was a lost cause.

I had become adjusted to how the business was being run, and had fit in nicely. We had increased our project load and were growing. I had worked there about 6 months when one Friday night I was approached by Kendrick, the Cousin of the owner Jason, ,and was offered a chance to form a two man partnership and receive quite a bit of new work at the very start. This would be a two man operation with a benefactor/ developer who would receive “finder fees” from each project of his that became a contract for the two of us. I agreed that it would be a profitable venture, as I was not happy with Jason’s attitude towards me by then, and I saw no problem with such an arrangement.

Kendrick approached Jason with the news that the two of us, were leaving to form a two man partnership. Jason was very upset with this news and his animosity towards me which by then was very apparent, progressed to the state of deep seated anger and resentment He countered our proposal with the reasonable offer of a three man partnership, of which he would be the major stockholder. Kendrick and I with 24 shares each and he with 52 shares. In addition, he would maintain the original company which he had started and which was very successful on it’s own.

This arrangement I knew was a bad deal for myself, and I also knew that Jason would be making plans to do anything he could to drive me away from the deal. But I agreed and this was about the time we were beginning to get along financially. We expanded our horizons with the aid of a developer/broker and began to take on more work. But there was something in this three man arrangement which just did not seem right. I was aware of the animosity within the company, but felt I could weather that. It was something else, I could not put my mind to it but there was another element there that I could not identify

After that incident, Jason used every opportunity to try to belittle, and to harass, and downplay me and my work. We continued on for about another 6 months then the trouble began. We relocated to a more accommodating location, and he set his mind to having a sheet metal business. That indeed was of great benefit to our bidding power and a full crew and an estimator as well were hired and then the business began to be difficult. There was an animosity being cast on the whole company and Jason was isolating himself from the general affairs of the business, becoming secretive and morose in his dealings day to day, Small wonder, I probably could not have don as well as he did if such as happened to him , had happened to me. But we continued on for a few months and things seemed to settle down and business was good, Then Jason got the bright idea That we should hire a business consulting firm to go through the affairs of the corporation, and also do psychological profiles on each of the firms employees, and each partner as well. This was an expenditure of about $10,000 dollars which I thought was a waste of money. This however was his directive and we had no choice in the matter. This study and analysis went on for about 3 weeks during which time I became aware of and identified several, instances of incompetence which exposed the sham that was being perpetrated on our business by this analysis. I demonstrated this obvious phony analysis to Jason , still he insisted it go to it’s completion., Further examinations and interviews were performed on each partner and Jason was graded as insincere and lacking competence for his duties, he was listed as schizophrenic and unstable. But the analysis team excused this as a job generated asset which protected his business because he was so cautious, his condition was graded as excellent. I on the other hand was graded as average but lacking in loyalty and drive, with no incentive for growth or stability. All of this was a sham which was suited to make Jason look good in the business aspects for the company, and the two lesser partners to look like less than average performers. What purpose it served will later become evident. We survived that ordeal without splitting up and I thought maybe we would be better for it, since we all were given passing grades, although the total analysis was a fraudulent exercise in futility, and would further prove that Jason was just a very insecure person. The reality of which began to develop right away.

After the analysis fiasco Jason decided that he would like to relocate the company in a better, larger property, and he bought the old WMC radio headquarters in Bartlett. I presume that he was advised to do this by the analysis conclusion. This was a very good idea as it would give us more space for our sheet metal business and we hired more people in the office as well, another estimator, Jason’s invalid brother who would become a spy for Jason, for reasons not known to me. Apparently the brother needed a job and it became my duty to train him. He was astute and learned quickly but was severely handicapped and just added to my work load, and eventually he was just another expense at the office. I then insisted that we hire my Dad as the head of Memphis traffic and transportation and hire my son and a couple of his friends as sheet metal workers. I did not expect Jason to agree with this proposal, but he gave me no argument at all.

Shortly after that time,Jason came up with another bright idea. He should run for Mayor of Memphis. This idea was grasped by his wife and the campaign began. Another idea gained from the analysis team and probably brought on by the ego bath the analysis poured out on him. (God was working), little did I know. Work out of Jason’s office began to dwindle to a trickle as his campaign began to pick up speed. He was almost assured of all the Mormon votes in Memphis, and his campaign was based on his good looks, ( he was 6’-2” tall and weighed in at 320 lbs) How good looking is that? Nevertheless he continued with his campaign spending thousands of dollars, some of the money came from the company till. He began to actually believe he could become our mayor. After more expense, campaign ads etc. the election was upon us, and his victory was eagerly anticipated by his Mormon friends, and his wife. He lost. Thank God that is over, now maybe we can get back to work.

Not so fast my friends, He buys a $400,000 dollar farm in a neighboring town and begins to spend more of company money an $80,000 dollar silo, then he begins a farming operation. More of the diversification probably as recommended by the analysis survey, (God at work). Good grief I had no idea he had that kind of money. This became a successful operation for Jason until one stormy day a tornado destroyed his Silo, full of soy beans. (someone is telling us something). He promptly rebuilt it, with another $ 80,000 bucks of company money. Kendrick and I were both flabbergasted with Jason’s playing fast and loose with the company money, and were at a loss as to how to prevent the company’s eventual downfall. Jason even went to the expense and trouble of having mine and Kendrick’s offices bugged. It was very obvious and very disheartening to see the work we had all successfully accomplished, go down the drain. Then on a bright and cheery Monday morning in the summer of 1973 I became aware of a disturbance in the executive front office. Jason had become aware that Kendrick had started his own firm without informing either one of us. Becoming very irate at the discovery of this subversive action, Jason had locked Kendrick out of his office and ordered him never to come back. (God is working).

Shortly after the firing of Kendrick, we were served with a lawsuit in which Kendrick accused Jason and myself of wrong doings which were totally fictitious. I suppose it was inevitable that we become a dissolved partnership. Mistrust was everywhere. Who could blame Jason, he was fighting for that to which he had given birth. And the two of us he thought were trying to take it away. Jason in my opinion was doing what anyone in his position would do, defending his own business. Needless to say, the lawsuit against us was dropped when in the deposition I was questioned about certain “gifts” to a certain developer ( now deceased), I exposed another “gift” to a union official, a friend of the three of us. We would all suffer if that were to be brought to the courts attention, and all parties knew that I would bring it out. The ridiculous lawsuits were dropped and we were now a two man company. It became evident that Jason was going to destroy the whole business, because he had lost heart and felt he could no longer handle the tremendous expense he had brought upon himself. He had me go with him to the bank and sign on for an $ 80,000 dollar loan, so as to keep the business afloat, With that money, I directed our office personnel to see to it that checks were issued so as to pay off every debt which was due and payable. We would go broke but we would owe no one, and the deepest pocket around was Jason, and his property would stand good for the bank loan. We did pay off all our debts. All that was left was for us to liquidate the assets. This would break the company but Jason was determined that we were to suffer all the consequences of that which he thought were the acts that destroyed his empire. Finally after about three months of a very stressful and distasteful relationship, I was given a discharge slip and left the company. I lost my 1/3 share of about 7 million dollars due to the hasty and precipitous actions of a greedy and malicious pair of partners who had literally tried to destroy each other over a greedy attitude on the part of each of them, and with subversive acts. slander and financial ruin.

The Days were beautiful after that agonizingly long stressful experience, I no longer had a care for who was doing what, who was spending what, and why. I began pursuit of my career as a plumbing and HVAC design engineer. With the technical and practical experience that by now was more than adequate to accomplish the work that I desired, I began a private practice. My contacts with local Architects, Engineers and contractors would prove to be a bountiful blessing, and work began to pour into my practice. My work was steady, my business growing and my customer base was expanding I specialized in Motel and hotel design with the occasional church and school project helping me gain confidence and experience.

Of course it's quite simple how and why God got involved. I needed his help, and in his Son Jesus he made that Grace available to me. It was always there, but this time I could see it working. In May of 1982, I was contracted to provide air conditioning heating and plumbing engineering design and drawings for construction of The Riverview Condominiums. This is a project that consists of 144 individual condominiums. Each condo will have all the comforts of an individual home, including kitchen, bathroom, laundry space, with over/under style washer dryer, individually controlled heating and air conditioning systems. All the amenities of an individual home. The project was constructed according to the time schedule and was occupied in the summer of 1983. It was doing quite well by then. But in the fall of 1983 it began to fail to be suitable for habitation. Rendered so because the walls of the rooms had mildewed and the drywall had started to fall off the walls from mold and mildew. This is unheard of in construction in today’s age. A gigantic lawsuit was certain and I would certainly be included as a key actor in this failure. All projects under construction in today’s age are dutifully inspected and perused by the architects and builders, and engineers and in turn are thoroughly inspected by the local building code authorities. There is no way that this condition could exist in this project. What happened? Of course, It was quite simple, someone had dropped the ball in this project, and it probably would be discovered that it was neglect of some sort in which I was later to be accused. We would learn of it soon enough, but I am getting ahead of the story. Let me reset the matter.

A very good example (God was providing me with purpose and worth)I had been brought on board for the Baton Rouge Project by a contractor, Tony Murfree who had taken my price and passed it on to the Architect. I had processed this type of work so many times, I could do it in my sleep. I had worked with this contractor so many times before that we could almost read each others mind. This contractor was very good at building concrete and block structures fast and efficiently. Fast is worth a great deal of money to owners. Efficiency is worth a great deal of money to both owners and contractors. Fast was a specialty of ours as a team effort, and we had done it many times before. We were happy with the project. The reason I was involved, was because I had done so much work and was always on time with my portion of the work, I was good at it. Never had a failure or a mistake or error or omission. These are admirable traits and are worth money. Although this contractor was fast and economical, I had never witnessed a failure, nor did I ever suspect he would cut quality or falsely expedite the time frame by leaving out products and pocketing the money saved. I never had to worry about the contractor failing to perform his task and doing it correctly. This was a nice quick little project, and he was a good Baptist citizen who would never cut a deal to pocket illicit cash profits. The thought would never have crossed my mind.

Don’t worry about it. (Whatever it is,I can handle it) Satan steps up

But should I have been concerned? YES! Why? The owner was a contractor as well, and was dictating conditions and techniques. I had never worked with this owner prior to this project. although we had been warned, of the propensity of this man to be very litigious. But what is there to worry about? We had done this many times. We put our concerns behind us and plunged headlong into the deal. We had a meeting in late April, I prepared a list of questions for the owner and gave them to him on the phone. I had no worries regarding this association, and even during the design stages I had conversations with the owner about certain conditions he was requiring. We were authorized to go to work. Drawings were prepared and submitted in early May. I had gotten answers to most of my questions by then and we were complete and partially paid by May 5th. Construction was ongoing. Never once did I get a call to visit the site, advise on construction technique, or to review or inspect the work. A few of my questions had been answered early on. The balance of the questions answered sporadically as construction was ongoing. Then nothing for a year or so. My fee compared to the scope of this project was ridiculously low and apparently the owner thought nothing of letting the Murfree firm run the work as was needed. A dangerous condition inviting chicanery. And apparently of no concern to any of the building code authorities. Now that I have hindsight, I can readily see where this was a fiasco just waiting to happen. These men were both of such mercenarily inclined personalities that the collision of wills was inevitable.

Satan re states the threat( Satan even tries to reprogram your thinking)

Then one day the mailman delivered to my door, an 8.5 million dollar lawsuit filed against several people and firms including me. And Filed in the state of Louisiana, in Federal Court. As I was to learn later, the 8.5 million was to be paid with whatever monies any one of us had. Suffice it to say that meant that any loss of money on my part would be all encompassing and devastatingly final. Definitely not God’s doing. But why did he allow me to be engulfed in this all-consuming, distraction? An all-consuming time devouring attack on me, and my ability. A distraction of such grave consequence that it left me no choice but to defend myself. Surely this failure was not of my doing. I called the Contractor and discussed this situation with him. All along he knew that he was dragging me into the fray and was seeking to lay the blame for this project failure on my engineering skills. He had even hired a Professor of Engineering from one of our local colleges to sustain his lies for him. And the Professor agreed to do it for (another greedy individual) One Thousand dollars a day and expenses. And all the time this greedy contractor knowing it was his own greed that had caused the failure. “You should talk to a lawyer “and “This wont really involve you” was the advice I got.

Lawyer up (It pays to have your resources and proper counsel )

So with nervous caution I hired a lawyer, (a high school friend, and a graduate of Harvard Law School). This is a very smart man and he gave me some very good counsel. This proved to be a good decision even though he was not licensed to practice law in Louisiana. He advised me on matters legal and helped me obtain a lawyer in Louisiana. As time passed I began to prepare my defense. What does one do when everything in his life all he has or ever will have will be taken. I was accused of criminal negligence because the interior sheetrock wall finish of the building had mildewed and fell from the concrete block walls to which they were attached. This was unheard of in today's building construction. Surely something had occurred during the construction of these walls that left them subject to this mildew condition. I gathered all the engineering calculations, climatic conditions, construction plans and any other pertinent data that I had available and sent it to the Lawyer in Louisiana. He wrote back that the case was set for such and such date and told me not to worry. Easy for him to say. I had hired two Lawyers.

One who tries his own case has a fool for a client....

I then set about to try to continue my work. The workload had eased and my work became scarce, and I was preoccupied with research for the lawsuit. This was somewhat scary, as I still needed to have income. But as time for the lawsuit drew near, I was deeply involved in the research and preparation for this fiasco. One day a call came to me from the Lawyer I had retained in Louisiana He explained that he was leaving the country, going on a cruise to Germany, and that he had filed the necessary papers for me to defend myself. I could be my own attorney! How can I do this I asked? Don’t worry about it. All you have to do is tell the truth. This wasn’t good news. I had no time to hire another lawyer and just barely time to prepare my defense. I hired my Memphis lawyer to school me on how a court is conducted, We worked for two days, eight hours a day on what to do and how to do it. And I might add , at a cost of sixteen hundred dollars. I learned how to prepare an exhibit and how to testify in my own behalf. The routine to expect from my adversaries and what to look for in the testimony of other witnesses. I kept remembering the old adage. “The man who tries his own case in court has a fool for a client”.  I was lawyered up. and so far I was out some $3200.00

Just tell the truth.. ( there is always the last resort, admit the truth)

I prepared a book of exhibits for myself and copies for the Judge and for my adversaries. In the state of Louisiana the law is called Napoleonic Law. It is somewhat different from other states laws. I have no idea what that means and had no time to research it. Why would I worry about that anyway. It is all totally foreign to me. I was advised by the attorney who filed my papers to allow me to defend myself that it would be no big deal, just be sure you “tell the truth.” Good advice. What else can I do, I only know the truth. I engineered this work as I always did. In accord with good engineering practices and a careful survey of the certain owner desired conditions and in conformance with all applicable building codes and engineering principles. Somehow I will get that message across. I also knew that by some mysterious circumstance, the walls were not properly built, because if they were correctly built, they would not be in the condition they reportedly were in when they failed. Little did I know this charade would reveal such a morass of lies that even Napoleon would become exasperated with the conditions exposed during this expensive visit to the capital of Louisiana. The state where the French first settled and imposed Napoleonic law, And in a federal court in Baton Rouge where I am bound to “Just tell the truth”

Stuff happens… ( God works in mysterious ways)

During the course of this project, (only about two weeks), I had occasion to speak with a draftsman in the Architects office once or twice about certain aspects of the work. So too did I speak with The owner- contractor of the project. And I also spoke with various utility and service agencies in Baton Rouge. I was asked by the architect to Quote a price on another project as well, and did so during the course of this project. The Architect and I had spoken at least three times regarding this project, and a couple of times about the other project quote. The Architects plans were not very professionally prepared but he was a very professional person and had prepared plans before for the owner on many projects during the many years of their association.

Sometime early in the Quote stage of this work, I had driven to the Murfree contractors office just across town about a 20 min. drive. I had often met with the owner of this company for project discussions as a matter of business, and I always took notes of these meetings. Only this time it was a little different. We were in a fast track mode and we met only twice. The first occasion there had been an accident. A person in a pickup truck had pulled across 3 lanes of stopped vehicles and hit my car in the side door. And a police report had been filed. This made it a very memorable day. Drawings that I picked up that day became part of my working drawing set. An unforgettable day indeed.

During this visit I had written several questions for the owner, and Tony and I were in conversation with him on that day. I had accumulated a beginning file of notes. Hand written, contiguous notes. Part of the permanent record of the design team. Phone calls, Auto accident, accumulated files and drawings, personal office visits, engineering principles, curriculum vitae, weather patterns, all of these things would have a significant part to play in this drama that was developing. Little did I realize that God had already begun to do his work. Soon I would know just what the final score would be. But for now suffice to mention only that I am alone in a sea of professional High profile lawyers, and I am solely responsible for my own defense. (except for what God was doing.)

The importance of ordinary events ( All God’s plans are significant)

I gathered all pertinent data listed all the documents, reference books, plans, phone records, contemporaneous notes, plumbing, heating and cooling calculations, and any pertinent data and hand scribbled notations and began to assemble them in an orderly file of reference . This was done so that I might be able to recount any of the matters about the project that took place during the design and production of the plans. I then put this in an orderly book of exhibits and made copies for the Court, a copy for myself and copies for the other parties involved in the lawsuit. I began to make “memory notations” That is to say, during the day or at night when relaxing or sleeping, if any thought or remembrance of the events of the design or development of this project came to me I would make a scribble note of it. Then at the beginning of each day I would write these remembrances down in an orderly and time sensitive list for further review and thought processing. This became an automatic process for my entire day, a diary of events of the day, and any memory notations all were written down and organized the next morning. Thus the events of my days became truly important to me. I became sensitive to what was happening around me and how my decisions were influenced by the events of the day. This seemed to sharpen my memory of what happened during the period of time when I was working on this project. I seemed to be able to recall all of the relevant events pertaining to this project during the period of time that this project was being designed. Never before had my memory been so tested. And never before had my memory been so quick and responsive. My memory began to flood with the things that happened during the design of this project. I began to remember conversations, dates, circumstances and phone calls. My recall was flawless, I could remember details during conversations, the time of day that the call was made etc. I Had a wealth of notes that I had made, and I began to make more notations as memories began to add up. I kept a pad and pen at my bedside table and if something came to me in the night I would jot it down and research it the next day. The time was now, I carried a tape recorder and a note pad. I rehearsed my story over and over again. I remembered everything. No event was ordinary during this time. Everything that happened and every word I could remember became important. And my Memory was flooded with factual events of those days.

A suitable place, a suitable reference book, a suitable scripture (Every breath you take every move you make) (God is watching over you)

So the time came for me to go to the courtroom of Federal Judge Frank J. Polozolo an honest man if ever I met one. A Catholic Italian of about 40 years of age. A big man in his black robe. But first I must tell you what took place. I loaded my automobile with reference books, code books and as many technical books and building plans as possible. I had done my research and had touched all the bases. Now I would try to relax and get some rest. As I drove to Baton Rouge, I would recite my testimony and it took no time for me to have it totally memorized. The miles flew by as did the time. I stopped for lunch in Jackson Mississippi and filled up with gas there. I cruised on to Baton Rouge.

When I got to town, I looked up the Federal Courthouse to determine where it was and how to get there. Then I looked for the closest possible Motel. I had withdrawn ten thousand dollars from my life savings and had carried five hundred dollars with me. Money was not a problem. The problem was that I now was in Baton Rouge and needed a place to do my research and study. I stopped at the nearest motel, an old remodeled Ramada Inn, and It was close enough so that if necessary I could walk to the courthouse. It was also near the Mississippi river and on a site not too far from the subject project which would be convenient for a visit if necessary. This would be,(my En-Gedi) I checked in at the front desk. Booked a room for 5 days and got a reasonable rate. My room was on the third floor a short walk from the elevator. I began to load all my reference books and trial documents into the lobby at the elevator, and was then told that the elevator was not currently working. Oops, well Ok, I needed the exercise anyway. Four trips up and down the stairs and a walk around the building to my room was enough for today. I shut the door turned on the light and piled all my stuff on the dresser table and sat down in the chair. I slid open the top drawer of the dresser table and a book slid forward in the drawer. It was a Gideon Bible. I picked it up and a thought raced thru my mind, I do need to speak to God about this matter and what conversing I had done up to now was the 23rd Psalm. I recited it all the time. Whenever I began to feel small insignificant and defeated, I would repeat the 23rd Psalm. These wealthy developers, contractors and Lawyers were going to tear me up, I would think. Then I would take refuge in the words God gave us thru the 23rd Psalm. This Scripture had sustained me thus far and would continue to do so. But now here I was alone quiet and feeling defenseless, with a Gideon Bible in my hands. I will read the bible right now. I got on my knees , placed my face down on the bed, clasped my hands in the traditional prayer position and asked God to please visit with me. Help me and guide me thru this terrible ordeal. I asked him to help me throughout this trial because I certainly could not do it by myself. Then I sat upright on the bed and opened the Bible. It opened to Isaiah, the 25th chapter. And I began to read.

What this matter is all about. (God reveals his plan to me)

Isa 25:1 O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.

God was sending me a message, I had not contacted him about this matter at all, it was my problem and I could handle it. That was my feeling, but God was now stepping into the fray. He is telling me He made these plans long ago and they are faithful and true to his purposes for my life. What a reassuring first verse.

I got down on my knees right then and asked for his will to take over my life beginning right then

Isa 25:2 For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the foreigners' palace is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.

God is telling me and indeed He has already destroyed this place, I know that and now he is telling me that it will never be rebuilt, but they are trying to rebuild it. It will bring the foreigners down,

Isa 25:3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you.

God will get the glory from this event. A strong people will glorify Him, and these ruthless corporations will fear Him. God is letting me know what the outcome of this event will produce. And that I will be a threat to them, and although I did not know how, I knew that it would happen that way.

Isa 25:4 For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall.

God has been upholding me all of my life although I was not always aware of it. He has always had his eye on me, He has been my stronghold even though I knew it not. So many instances in my life could have brought me down but it just was not in God’s plan. That failure should overtake me was not how this event would end. There were ruthless attempts to overtake me, to cause me harm or to bring a charge against me, but not as God has planned, and so, even though there was a storm coming against me, It would work into God’s plan as a sign to me of God’s presence in this event, and it would work to my advantage, and it did. There was a storm, Hurricane Juan, and it was on it’s way, this is almost unbelievable, but it is true, it happened to me. It was later in the trial but so incredible, You will get chills when you read it.

Isa 25:5 like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of the foreigners; as heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is put down.

This took place on the first day. As I was taking a lunch break, . the song of the ruthless, The owner, threatened me with these words “I will bury you, I will break you and I will own you” these words actually were a confirmation of what God was telling me, He will subdue the prosecutions case and leave them put down, laid low and defeated. My only comment was “ that may be, you can try”

Isa 25:6 On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

This verse to me was God’s reassurance that this was a victory to be enjoyed, savored, richly remembered. And so it is. But more than that. It is God’s victory worked exactly as he would have it, and it was his party to begin with, He is the LORD of Hosts, The great I AM planned and instituted the event, and invited those to whom He wished to demonstrate his plan.

Isa 25:7 And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.

He will remove any doubts. And sins that are forgiven will be swallowed up, never to be remembered, all who believe are to be freed from the grip of Satan's power over them, My own doubts are cast off , and even though a veil of doubt is cast over my ability, it will be removed by God’s power in his own way. And all will know it.

Isa 25:8 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.

Victory is assured, and joy is made to return, ceasing all tears. All the doubts cast upon my work will be removed from everyone’s memory. It is His Will that is to prevail. He has spoken it.

Isa 25:9 It will be said on that day, "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation."

I am already celebrating His victory in this suit because He has saved me already, and He hasn’t even started yet. I can’t wait to get going now. I am savoring the challenge because I can hardly wait to rejoice in His salvation.

Isa 25:10 For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain, and Moab shall be trampled down in his place, as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.

This lawsuit although very expensive for me will be a perfect example of what God can do in the lives of those who depend upon His plan for their salvation. The way in which he has built my confidence, given me insights into the workings of the Holy Spirit. I sought the Lord and he delivered me. It was not about me, but all about what God can do and how he uses the simplest of people and events and works in the simple execution of His Justice. This man( the owner) will suffer because of his pride and his greed.

Isa 25:11 And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim, but the LORD will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands.

When this man(the owner)took the stand to testify he began talking and just would not shut up. He managed to destroy his own case in about two days time. He was as a swimmer drowning in a sea of pompous and pointless stories, covering tale after tale, trying to justify his case hour after hour. I could not believe he was doing this. And his lawyer could not stop him. He was ruining his own prosecution. Any lawyer will mtell you "do not elaborate with your statements, answering an opponents questions. Keep it short and simple".

Isa 25:12 And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down, lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

And that is exactly how it happened. There will be instance after instance where both of my opponents teams of witnesses testified to events and circumstances which would serve God’s purposes for the destruction of their positions. Especially where the testimony was elaborated against my work. This case is about the "walls" of the 144 condo units. And God is telling me he will bring them down.

Who, Who, Who are you. (God wants the opposition to be worthy)

So easy to set my soul free from concern, to see it written in the word of God. It is so reassuring to know that one has such a formidable strong defender a savior. I began to feel joy rise up within my soul. No longer fearing anything, I looked forward to this learning experience to which I would with God’s help be a tool working by the hand of God. And justice would be the proper result and God would see to it. This is going to be exciting.

The week opened with the various parties involved in the suit showing up, with their witnesses and reference material and exhibit books. A plethora of material and a serious group of men with negative purpose in their hearts. The law firm of Glankler, Brown, Gilliland, Chase, Robinson & Raines, the plaintiffs in the case, represented by Barry Ward, listed in the impressive group of Super Lawyers in the U.S. a very experienced trial litigation lawyer, and a Graduate of the Memphis State University, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. A very professional and intensely serious young man who set about to build a case against the Architect and my design ability and the architect’s defective designs for this project. And representing Wilson P. Abraham the developer(and owner), The firm of Steeg & O’Connor by K. Eric Gisleson Esq. An upscale high profile attorney. Mr. Gisleson graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1964 and received his juris doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 1968.He was formerly employed with the United States Department of Justice in the Organized Crime & Racketeering Section during the years 1968 - 1977 including Attorney-in-Charge with the New Orleans Strike Force from 1973 to 1977. He was promoted to Deputy Chief, Public Integrity Section, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. and acted in this capacity from 1977 to 1980. Mr. Gisleson was employed as Vice President, Administration and Special Counsel to the Ingram Corporation from 1980 to 1983 where he oversaw litigation and compliance issues involving this multinational oil, gas and shipping company, and worked with another law firm in New Orleans from 1983 to 1991. Mr. Gisleson had extensive experience in environmental litigation and compliance, including one of the largest civil cases ever brought by the USEPA, as well as involvement with federal and state agency compliance matters. Mr. Gisleson’s construction law litigation experience includes: Major structural integrity issues involving competing allegations of design and construction defects of a major New Orleans downtown office building (architectural and civil and structural engineering experts) Mold and mildew issues of a large apartment/hotel complex in Baton Rouge (architectural, climate, health, and engineering experts). This is my project.

The lines are drawn. (God can use every purpose in mans heart )

There is more; The plaintiff’s team of witnesses included a head of engineering at a University in Memphis TN. , Who would add commentary and negative remarks under oath, comments regarding my engineering design. There would be more as to the witnesses and persons who actually performed work on this disastrous project, but suffice it to say we are dealing with the best in the business in each case. And even the highly trained are capeable of bending the truth when it suits their purpose. That purpose being money.

So you can see that this lawsuit has filled the courtroom with a formidable force. There will be no incompetent representation on the side going against my strong defender and it will not be a question of whether or not they are armed with knowledge. There is more than enough experience and expert witness to prove a point. God wants there to be a maximum enemy position fully capable and competent, with no defects., and will prove his just and powerful truth, using the enemies positions and fortifications against them. This is how he works, all throughout scripture and biblical history. And so it was in this case. In fact, it is carried to the extreme by God having me completely and utterly without the first inkling of any human form of help. Not even a lawyer to represent me. My lawyer quit, had no desire to even want to defend me, or even get someone (another lawyer) to represent me. He petitioned the court that I might represent myself.

Then of course there’s me. I have no resume , no college no law degree, no law experience and no desire to be in court, but with God’s help, this is going to be my stomping ground. Little did I know how much it would be mine. God would give it to me. Here I am, among the Philistine army facing a Goliath. I also know how it will end, and I cannot wait for my chance. 

God would give me the power to make these mighty men of much pomp and circumstance fear the very mention of my name. They would panic at God’s mastery of my technique and how he allowed me to control each, subject under question. It would amaze them and as they would comment later at one lunch break, "Where did you get your law degree"? "What law school did you attend"? Similar questions I would imagine went thru the minds of the Philistines when David pulled his sling and killed Goliath. Where did this upstart come from? What wars has he fought? David’s victory was a permanent solution to the immediate problem. God does not provide temporary victories, (as well this court would later define) and this victory is not temporary, once it is done, Jesus Christ becomes the solution to all our problems from then on. Tghere is a phrase sometimes issued at the end of a lawsuit. "With prejudice" which means that it is over and done and cannot be re tried in any form.  The head cannot be reattached To Goliath, and once Christ has been accepted as your salvation, The head has been removed from your sin, Your salvation has been assured. Just as David’s victory was never retracted. He was God’s Chosen and nothing could stop that for which God had chosen him. This is how I felt. And so they would fear me in that courtroom. It began to be clear to them that this was a losing effort for them. I could see it in their eyes, and with every breath I grew stronger and more confident. And the judge began to realize the outcome very early in the trial. It certainly was obvious to me.

The Battle begins (Satan stakes his claim)

The testimony of the first witness begins, a mistake in my opinion. It is Wilson P. Abraham, a man who is proud and haughty and one who cannot stop talking. He should know that constant babbling is one of God’s weapons. God has me stripped down to one person but there is a friend. David E. Walle Attorney at law for the structural engineer who was dismissed with no responsibility the first week. This friend David ( the apple of God’s eye) and I have no relationship but he has a few comments for me as we proceed. Offers of advice on conduct in the courtroom, offers of how to dress, how to pay respect for the court, when to speak if needed and how to address the court. This is from Mr. Walle esq. Recall how God uses walls throughout the Bible. This Lawsuit is about walls, and this is Mr. Walle, an instrument of God, doing God’s bidding. That seems fitting.

There is no story that I could imagine that would be more interesting than this story of God working his miracles in this epic trial for millions of dollars against insurmountable odds. No possible victory seems attainable to me, except I have already been apprised of the consequences to be spread upon my enemies. I definitely do not want to miss a moment of the engrossing testimony This is most entertaining and very engrossing. My energy level stays high and endless. My sleep is uninterrupted and my rest is secure. I study each days testimony until midnight, then a prayer then go to sleep.

There are many sidelights to take place in this story and I will touch on some of them later. As the day wears on, and Wilson Abraham keeps up his continuous blather, I am writing every word that is spoken, by the attorney Barry Ward, and by the defendant Wilson Abraham. And Mr. Abraham is a wealth of information. Talking points are ongoing, sentences turning into paragraphs, and then into page after page of meaningless blather but all the while providing the foundation for almost all of my defense. My writing skill is minimal as far as neatness goes, but today it is plain and concise and I am getting every word, I am writing faster than they are speaking and have a deftness of hand and fingers which I have never before had, I am finishing their sentences for them before they speak. I am amazed . Where does this skill come from, I have never had this capability before now, and by reading what I have written, I can recall almost word for word the whole day’s testimony. This is bordering on intense almost captivating fun. And to think, I will be permitted to cross examine these witnesses. They are helpless against God and it is so evident to me that they cannot stand against what God has planned for them. I can hardly contain my enthusiasm.

Getting acquainted ( God makes it clear very quickly. )

After a full day of testimony, questioning and answering, and elaboration by Mr. Abraham, the whole scenario is laid out for me. This man may be good at developing construction projects, but he is very lacking in his ability to speak clearly about his work. But I really believe he is innocent of any wrong doing in this project, he has been taken advantage of by a charlatan, being sued by a very evil and greedy man. Tony Murfree. The first day is over and my notes have recorded the whole day’s testimony and my review of the day enables my innocence. And something in the deep recesses of my mind tell me there is nothing to fear and everything to look forward to. Indeed there is nothing I need fear, God is my strength and my defender and even though, innocent as Mr. Abraham may be, of wrong doing in this project, God has a purpose for this event, not just for me and not just for my adversary, and he is going to work his purpose in all of us and will do so on his time frame.. So too will all the other participants in this monstrosity of a lawsuit get to experience the God delivered judgments that come about as a result of this lawsuit. This just serves to remind me of the folly of mans desires. There is none good, no not one. As this day ends. I go to supper at the motel, and I notice it is full of older men, all sort of a group of friends, strange I thought, maybe it is an old men’s hangout for supper. Oh well, a good meal and some really good desert, the cooks specialty. I go to my room study the days testimony, make copious notes of the days events have a prayer, the 23rd Psalm and then I fall asleep around midnight thoroughly tired and needing rest. The morning came quickly, I showered, dressed and went downstairs to breakfast. A real treat awaited me. This motel was home for a number of older men who loved to sit and talk, I met a group of them and had a pleasant breakfast, conversing with them and explaining my plight. They were sympathetic. I have won some new friends, a very present help in this time of trial.

The truth comes out (Satan is no match when going against God)

Off to court and another day of testimony from Abraham. This was just more of the same. Then later in the day, testimony from the Architect who had denied having a relationship with me. When it came my turn to cross examine, my first witness, he admitted not remembering me but admitted having certain other projects which I knew about because during our time of design on this project he had asked me for pricing on other projects, so much for that issue, He knew me and I knew him and certain of his draftsmen, we had a relationship, and he paid me for my work on the project we did together. He did finally say that we had a (telephone) relationship

Then later that day, after lunch I was rewarded with an enlightening piece of testimony, actually, the key piece of testimony upon which the trial would turn. From the mouth of my adversary’s witness comes the admission of what this trial was about. The exposed walls had no insulation on them or in them. The Truth is out, spoken by a witness for the prosecution, my adversary.

The walls of each tenant space were set in a sawtooth pattern so that about 8 feet of the sidewall, and all of the front wall would be exposed to the weather. The front wall had a double insulated window as well as the front door, and would be draped inside which helps against cold weather and shades against the sun in hot weather. But the side wall, which is exposed to the weather has no insulating material to shield against the cold or the heat. Every one of the 144 rooms had this uninsulated wall. I will not go into the details of how that condition affects the room except to say it was a construction error. No room built for human habitation which has an exposure to the weather should be built without insulation to help guard against heat or cold. But this project has 144 of them. Insulation within outside walls is a building code requirement in most cities, state and municipal codes.

This testimony came from the contractor’s project manager, who admitted that he could not figure out how to put the insulation on the wall. This from a man who has built at least 100 or more buildings for all types of weather. Most of them motels with all rooms exposed with at least 1 wall to the weather. This is for me, not believable, but is taken as testimony under oath. And I should mention that since it was not installed, It also was not bought, nor did the contractor have to pay the $60,000 to buy it. Wow! What a savings, and it would speed up the process of building the project. Nor would there be an expense for having to install the omitted insulation. another $60,000.00 quite a savings wouldn't you agree?

This Contractor is famous for doing this ( God is not Mocked)

Testimony continued in this vein for a short time then the Professor of Engineering from a Memphis university was put on the stand and asked if insulation was important part of the construction of a building, for temperature maintenance. He said” Only with respect to the time, left alone, the temperature in a space will equal that which is outside the space in time.” He then went on to comment on the fact that I was not a licensed engineer and that the engineer that signed my work was not present for examination. He cast aspersions on my ability and my experience as well. He was not cross examined by me or anyone else. My ego was bruised and I wanted to retaliate, but something told me to hold back, (vengeance is mine I will repay sayeth the Lord) so I kept still and quiet. There was no waqy that this intelligent witness could possibly help my case, and besides he was charging $1000 per day, and would soon be gone. 

The day closed with some more incidental testimony from a project inspector by the name of Raoul . I had the opportunity to ask Raoul about a building official giving official written approval of a certain ventilation product for use in motel and hotel construction. Approval by official letter from a code official having been signed by a building inspector approving it’s use, he exclaimed “ he is dead, so we cannot know if he approved it or not.” It was not disputed though when he was asked again about the document, was it the official’s signature? his answer was “I do not know” then again could it be his signature? “I suppose so, but he is dead now. “ but was he alive when it was signed? “I suppose so” was his answer. Not too difficult a job, dragging the testimony out of a witness. And while we had this witness on the stand. I remembered that there had been some remodeling during the construction of these buildings. The contractor had removed a structural support wall in the first floor so as to give more room in a first floor office area. And some air shafts had been added to provide exhaust from the severe moisture problems caused by the omitted wall insulation. These shafts penetrated each floor and would have needed fire stopping. My question was, "do these shafts have fire stopping in them"? I do not know was his answer. Then I asked  Raoul If these modifications had been inspected. His reply was,"I do not know, you cannot keep up with everything you know". This was followed with the question, Has the fire department inspector been apprised of these modifications? Again his answer, I do not know. Then the question from me "Did you get a certificate of occupancy from the city inspection department? again "I do not know".

 Then the judge stopped the proceedings and took off his robe, and made this statement. "Gentelemen, every morning I wake up and go to my driveway and get the paper, then I get a cup of coffee and read the paper. I do not want to do this one morning after this trial is over and one morning I read where fire has destroyed this building, and then find that there is no record of the Fire Marshalls approval of this building, for occupancy. I want you to leave this courtroom today and come back in here tomorrow with these necessary approvals on this will go on until these documents are produced". This few minutes of cross examination of Raoul were a devestating blow to their case, and they went into panic mode. But they came in the next morning with all the necessary approvals. This satisfied the judge. This was going to be fun. And now a bit of irony from the judge. He speaks and says these words. "Mr. Miller, I am going to dismiss you, but not just yet, because I want to hear what you have to say". Then there was a witness called by the Mufree team, an expert in local building codes. This man was at least honest. When asked if he knew the local plumbing and HVAC codes regarding ventilation of bathrooms and code requirements for air changes in residential applications, he replied that he did not have experience in those areas. A second witness was asked to read some code information from the city code book and readily admitted that he could not understand what he was reading. So much for the "experts" testifying against my work in this case. I had destroyed their testimony with one question each. Back to my En-Gedi for rest and review of the days testimony. Supper with the group and a review of the days events for the old guys who by now are taking an interest. They all want to hear about it and it helps me relax. It is my group support team. Giving me what I need. A short diversion among friends who are interested and supportive of my cause.

"The storm is coming" I refer to Isaiah 25: 12 and 25:4

This night I hear a hurricane is coming, I am in my room and it begins to rain and the wind begins to blow. I open the door and the wind blows the rain in my face, this is serious. It is hurricane Juan, the earliest part of the storm making land here in the middle of Baton Rouge.

This Courtroom is mine( God sees to that in no uncertain terms)

Testimony will continue today Wednesday, It is raining, wind is blowing and I am parked across the street, not too far to run without getting too wet. But the worst is yet to come. It is raining and the wind is blowing it horizontally and signs and flags and anything exposed to this storm is being tested. I make it across to the courthouse and into the courtroom. I am usually there among the first to arrive and today is no different. Testimony today will involve a construction scientist from Dow Chemical Co. the manufacturer of the insulation that was omitted from the walls.

Mr. Barr, who has built and insulated homes all over the world for the purpose of testing insulation and its effects on home heating and cooling in every type of climate and temperature known to affect building construction. From the coldest to the hottest. Needless to say this man is well qualified in his field of endeavor and can be classified as expert. He is testifying as to the effect of having no insulation in the walls of a building for human habitation. It is deemed a mistake to have no insulation. (there it is, my victory) but God is not finished with these men, nor me.  Further discussion is proffered as to the effects of having visqueen (a vapor barrier) on the interior of walls, just under the drywall finish board. This too is deemed a mistake. What a terrible consequence for the Murfree firm, to have this testimony come out at this time, It practically destroys his case. However under cross examination the course of the questioning changes from insulation and wall construction to room temperature and humidity and ventilation. These rooms had only minimum ventilation and as such, they were susceptible to fewer air changes and this would have an effect on the quality of air in the space. And they had ventless dryers and ventless range hoods. The air quality will be affected for a certainty

Thus it becomes a prerequisite to have good temperature control. So what happens is the air becomes humid in the space. We had this ongoing discussion of room temperature, and humidity. The owner is the victim here, that is evident. 

Then it happened. God makes it known where lies the truth. Suddenly the lights, and all power in the courthouse failed, the lights went out, and it became pitch black, but within seconds the security emergency lights came on in the courtroom. It was an instance of un believable clarity. A light over the judges desk came on, flooding him and his awesome presence with pure white light of truth. And another light, the second one came on shining straight down on me. Only two lights came on, the one over the judge, and the one over myself. Pitch black darkness interrupted only by these and only these two lights. The truth lies with the judge, and is with me as well. The only two people in the room that have any grasp of the truth.

The witness, Mr. Barr is not at all disturbed, and is just sitting there in the dark when the lights and power come back on. We break for lunch. After lunch the storm is still raging and does not appear to be a damaging storm only high winds and rain but non threatening.

We reconvene for court and I have a chance to question this extremely aware scientist who is a wealth of information. I ask him about certain aspects of heating and cooling and then get into a single aspect of this trial. My question. Is insulation good to have in walls of buildings built for human habitation? His answer. “Yes.” I then ask why that is such a desirable condition. And he responds with a complete and easily understandable answer, clear and concise with no equivocation. Then we get to ventilation, and I ask a simple question. If all the air is exhausted from this courtroom, where does the air come from that refills the room? His Answer. “From outside” and my question. Having a humidity of 87 % how will that air affect the air within this room as far as the humidity? His answer. “It will be the same.” I announce as follows; “And so there it is, the truth about insulation and ventilation, in less that 5 questions. That is the complete basis for and answer to this lawsuit. These are not revelations, they are basic principles of weather and it’s effects on buildings. They haven’t changed since God created them on day one. I have no further questions.” The witness stands down. The courtroom is silent, no one speaks a word. This is not a difficult case. My designs are not faulty and the building codes govern the systems installations. This is a construction error for which Tony Murfree is trying to avoid responsibility. The trial is recessed for the day, the Witness is excused and it is Friday. We are to go home for the weekend, and come in again Monday morning at 8:00 am. The judge asks the prosecution if they have other witnesses, they reply in the negative. The judge asks me if I am going to testify, I answer in the affirmative, then the judge asks if I plan to call any Witnesses, I answer Yes, Mr. Abraham and Mr. Murfree. There are stunned looks on the faces of the prosecution team, I go into the law offices of the court and issue the subpoenas, then I get in my car check out of the Motel and drive home. On the way I get a ticket in Mississippi for speeding. Something tells me that this ticket marks the end of this saga, and I will know that before midnight tonight. 

God is faithful and just.

I go home and speak to my wife about the events of the week, we have supper, and we watch some Friday night TV and about 10:00 PM to bed. At eleven 55 PM the phone by my bedside rings, It is Tony Murfree calling from Baton Rouge to tell me that they have settled the case. It is over and the judgment is final. And the charges against me have been dismissed "with prejudice". 

God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.