My Trip To Minnesota

Originally, I was going to keep a running log of the things I saw and did. Then, I didn't. So here's a quick snapshot of my time in Minnesota, apart from the training class that took up most of each day.

On Monday, I flew into Minnesota around 4:00, as a snowstorm that lasted into the night was just ramping up. Apart from the rather fast driving by the Super Shuttle driver (in my opinion), there was not much eventful in my day. I stayed in my hotel room, except when I ventured down to The Liffey, an "authentic Irish Pub" attached to (and providing Room Service for) the hotel.

I was having a decent pulled pork sandwich in a corner of the building, a corner shared by 8 or so insurance adjusters (I think that's the term for people with the insurance company that work with mechanics and whatnot on the prices they will pay). They were loudly swapping war stories, and as much as I tried to just watch the baseball game on the TV at the front of the room, I could not help but overhear the men nearly yelling at each other only 6 feet away.

It was thus that I managed to overhear a conversation that went down the thread of a notoriously scandalous mechanic who had a very large "Praise the Lord!" decoration of some kind in his business. The conversation then went to how if you are doing business with anyone that's emphatically invoking the Lord to swear by the honesty of his low prices and the value of his deals, that these are the men most likely to absolutely take you to the cleaners and lie to your face. I found this shocking at first, but less so as I went on. I think there are many people in the world that will happily adopt the Christian styles, forms, and accessories if only to wring some hard-earned dollars from a trusting believer. This absolutely sickens me, and gives me some idea why "taking the name of the Lord in vain" has been a specific prohibition for some time. Swearing by God falsely cheapens and tarnishes his name, making it a mockery in the world. That had happened here, and I found it revolting - not that the men would say these things (as I perceived them to have no specific grievance with the church), but that the situation they described would be so common among them.

After that, I retired to my room to pray for these men, for the poor witness they had seen, and for the men who are making a mockery of God through their false oaths.

I'll have more stories later, but for now some pictures: