"Working properly" can mean many different things. Yes, everything was "working" and it still is. The question I was seeking an answer for - I guess - is why I needed to ground the fixture out to make it work (and whether or not such practice causes a safety hazard). I still don't know why I need to ground the fixture out. I can't quite figure out how the switch is working with two hot wires leading into one three way switch. Hopefully the electrician can "shed some light" on it. The fixture should work connected to a hot and a neutral. The neutral and the ground are connected together at the service panel, so they are essentially the same, except that the ground is only used as a safety to carry fault current. Your actual problem is that the neutral conductor to the light is open(dead). It's dificult to diagnose a problem like this when the wiring was done in such an unorthodox fashion. With a meter, the electrician will be able to ring out each wire, and figure out where the open circuit is, and correct it. This is more easily done, leaving everything connected and as is.
Again, thanks for everyone's help on this.
Doug