Many times inmates will claim their innocence by saying, "I'm innocent!  I was framed!"  Well, I guess an officer has the right to do this, also...   But with good reason. On February 18, 1984, just before we were relieved by the next shift, three Lieutenants walked past my office on their way to the front grill.  In a few moments they returned and entered my office.  This alone was enough to put a chill up my spine, but the worst was still ahead of me. They asked my partner and me who was working the next tier.  I told them that I was assigned to it.  They asked me to go with them which I did.  I already suspected that something was terribly wrong. When we came to the tier grill, they pointed out that the lock on the panel box was very much unlocked.  I promptly locked it and tried the handle as usual.  I thought to myself concerning my habitual method of closing a tier.  As always, I would check both panel boxes and the tier grill to be sure that each was locked and secure, even if I am working with another officer as in this case. I had generally been the senior officer and was training rookies.  I wanted to set an example for these new men.  My partner and I had just been there securing the tier just minutes before.  How could this have gotten unlocked? You might ask, "What is a panel box?"  Simply put, it is a steel box which is built into the wall beside the tier grill where all the levers for opening cell doors are found.  This box has a steel door and lock.  There is a panel box at each tier and most tiers have two, one for each side for opening doors on each side of the tier. If an inmate would have gotten in the panel box, he could have opened twenty cells letting out forty other inmates.  Leaving this open is a gross breach of security. Since I knew that I had, in fact, made sure that all the locks were secure, but could not explain how the door had gotten unlocked, I felt it wise to remain silent for the time being. All involved officers had their reports finished and submitted when they began their work for the next day. I discovered that this was an excellent time to witness.  Many times inmates and officers alike would come up to me asking, "How can you work smiling like you do knowing that the 'brass' is trying to fire you for this?  I, or course, knowing in whom I have believed, would simply respond saying that God gave me the job and those men were not going to take it from me.  I was totally secure in the knowledge that I was going to keep my job. The incident occurred on a Saturday morning at about 7:40 a.m., but was informed Sunday that I was expected to be at the Colonel's (the Chief of Security) office at 8:00 a.m.  Monday morning to speak to the Colonel in a disciplinary meeting. On Monday morning, as I approached the Colonel's office, my union representative told me that the meeting was called off.  He said that it would have to be rescheduled. This was odd.  They don't just cancel discipline meetings.  They like to proceed with matters such as this immediately so that it is fresh on everyone's minds. Each week they would set up an appointment for Monday then cancel it.  No one could explain why.  Even the union rep. said he didn't  know.  This was definitely unusual.  Sometimes was, seemingly, not right.  I say 'seemingly' because, though God has everything in control, our human way of thinking says something is wrong. I thought, since we Correctional Officers worked according to not just rules and regulations, but laws, and they could be postponing the meeting that they might find some way to legally prosecute me?  This would make me an example to all Christians there.  Then I realized another factor in this whole situation.  I was still on probation.  I could be fired at any time for no real reason.  Why, then, is all this happening?  Why don't they just go ahead and fire me. Of course I know now that all these negative thoughts were injected into my mind by some devil to discourage me and hopefully cause me to have great setbacks and doubt with Christ. As I look back at this situation the way I thought God might be looking at it, I saw a very different picture.  I saw a spiritual war going on.  Men, working in unison with the will of devils were planning to fire Officer J.L. Snurr, AKA 'Christian.'  Each week they would consider, "Now we'll get him out of here!  We'll fire him now!" But God, with a totally different idea in mind, was sitting on His throne declaring, "Oh, No You Will Not!" Needless to say, I was not fired, and I continued to work there for six more years.  I was there to help the other few Christians to fire up revival within the prison, and to encourage other believing officers who would begin working there.  After this was accomplished, God made the way for me to move on.  So, I did. By the way, about five years after this incident, my Captain was talking to me and asked if anyone had told me how that lock got opened.  They hadn't. He told me that the officer on the second floor that night had planned the joke, and had sneaked down when we had finished there and unlocked it.  A PRACTICAL JOKE!  I could hardly believe that anyone could be so unthinking, and uncaring.  Since he knew that the 'brass' would come through there on their way out. According to the Captain, this man, was in a tavern where some officers were talking and he bragged about how he pulled this off.  He was soon out of his job.  Oh, this tavern incident occurred two weeks after the lock was opened.  They knew who did it and they kept trying to cause problems for me for many more weeks.  But God gave me the strength to endure. But God was on the job, as always.  He protected his child from the evil of this world.