The Flight Back

In Midway airport with forty minutes left on the clock...

I tried chasing down a Mormon in Midway airport, but he lost me in a crowded restaurant (well, I it’s not that he lost me it’s just that he became less accessible and completely preoccupied with devouring his sandwich). While thinking of some way to engage him in conversation I ran across three guys wearing shirts ties and backpacks. Why talk to one Mormon when you can take on three at once? 


So I followed them, and to my delight they headed in the direction I needed to be going anyway (chasing the Mormon had taken me in the opposite direction of my gate). Unfortunately they were not on my flight. I sat next to them at their gate and waited for their conversation to lull. Sure enough an opportunity came. “Where are y’all heading?” I asked (Pretty dumb question but I had to start somewhere…). I found out that they were heading to New Hampshire for Seminary to become Catholic Priests. I should have known better. I’ve never seen a group of Mormons wearing matching ties, and cufflinks? 

After discussing the very complicated subject of how to get to heaven if you are a Catholic (according to the answers they gave to my questions you have to basically get try as many rituals, wear as many charms, and put a lot of hope in what someone tells you – as it isn’t in the Bible. I’m exaggerating, but you get the point. They couldn’t tell me where purgatory was in the Bible and finally agreed that you could get to heaven without it or even baptism. They seemed to think that they and I agreed almost completely on how to get to heaven. I was in the middle of telling them why an aborigine who had lived a basically “good” life couldn’t get to heaven… when their plane started boarding. I left each with a tract, and got back to my gate.

On the way to Houston, the guys in my row and I were busy reading our Bibles (NASB on my left, and NIV on my right) – wild!