I want to narrate one of my own experiences. After my wife’s death, and well into my semi-retirement, a friend invited me to work with him. His company was growing rapidly and he needed administration. It was balm for me, in the absence of the person who meant more to me than my own life. Business was good. A large contract was signed with a major housing developer, listed on Wall Street, in the amount of eleven million dollars. Our company completed it as cast, and on time. Our company was indebted to the bank for the construction period. The collapse of the building business in 2008 caused the main contractor to withdraw arbitrarily, ruining my friend’s business. The retiring president of the failing contractual combine received more than 100 million dollars in parachute benefits. My friend had to close his business with a huge debt lingering, the government took over the bank, and several persons including me, lost their retirement and/or investments. I returned home and began to address the debt portion that included my name as responsible person during the five years I served. Neither my friend nor I took legal action.
One of the bank notes was secured by a piece of machinery that I owned, but was tied up with the company. I put it up for sale, and one of the men I highly respected from our company became my representative in the sale. He knew the machinery and the business. Both of us were acting out of friendship to our mutual friend for whom we worked. A gracious gentleman in Australia bought the machine, and proceeded to have it transferred. He hired a shipping company to make all the involved arrangements for shipment. In the meantime I was being harassed by persons who learned of the debt I had to address. For fees to their company they would arrange for reduction of the debts. One went so far as to transfer a charge to my checking account. After a few months of pressure I gained correction and repayment. That was good in that shortly I was informed that there was a court case, and the man who called me was identified as bankrupt. If he had prevailed to represent me, my case would have greatly worsened, and thousands of dollars would have been added to my loss of retirement savings.
A fellow called from Canada faking the voice of one of my grandsons: I need $2,500.00 to get out of jail for a driving arrest. I am detained until the fee is paid. He was too embarrassed to let anyone know, but me. I was instructed to send the money by American Express from a nearby station. I spent some hours trying to find out what the situation was, receiving several calls from reputed Canadian officers about my grandson. He had, as the officer informed me: his one call and could not talk to me again. At last, I called his wife a thousand miles away and asked if he was all right. I was protecting his privacy. Yes, he is here, she reported. I called my local police, and they to Canada. The arrest of several men followed the fraud that had gained them more than 2 million dollars from grandparents. Newspapers carried the story.
Then I got back to the first problem to verify facts on the transfer of machinery to Australia, the owner of the American shipping company was evasive. He answered emails cryptically, addressing questions poorly, if at all. I was advised by persons, even with Australian business, to take the matter to court, but did not. The machinery was shipped; the payment of the escrow was not made as contracted; and, then I received partial payment until a second and final payment was made a couple weeks later – after firm and tenacious follow-up on my part. The agent, arrogant in his response to our concerns, and to my friend representative, demanded faithfulness to what he wanted, but was casual about the concerns of others. Is this love labor lost, ugly and painful? My recourse was entirely in faith and those who serve faithfully. In a context like this I have learned fresh lessons about daily faith. I have heard speakers at business events, and they have been excellent, as general practice, but many of the attendees will follow other procedures within narrow margins, sometimes off the margins, in an effort to survive in the business world, to try to balance a budget in the light of costs, especially costs of labor; to meet competition which, in some cases, operates illegally; to leadership that may be overwhelmed with the complexity of assignments; and, so the story goes. Lack of values in the performance of duty exacts cost to life. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020