My wife dragged me to Central Union Church every Sunday. She had gone to there since she was a kid and wanted out kids to get the same spiritual upbringing that she had. I wasn’t much of a believer, but I figured I would just go and stay quiet so as not to rock the boat. She knew I didn’t believe, but we never argued about it so long as I never mentioned it.

That’s where I met Jacob. Actually a hell of a nice guy and my wife and his were buddies. He and I were both Patriots fans, so the wife and I would go over to their place to have a few beers and watch the game.

We’d known each other for about a tear when we had “the conversation.”

I was a little concerned about the fact that the town council had decided to tear up a large section of the public park. Billy, my kid, was about three, and I had imagined that one day Billy and I would be able to toss the football around there - like my dad had done with me.

I said something like, “hear about the park?”

“Yeah, about time, too,” said Jacob.

I didn’t want to rock the boat, so I just said, “Oh?”

“Yeah, man. One step closer. One step closer.”

I smiled and looked back at the fourth quarter. Patriots won again.

I asked Ellen about his reply later that night and she glared at me.

“I thought we didn’t talk about religion.”

“That was religious?”

“Of course it was religious.”

She shooked her head with irritation and I looked down thinking, “just keep your mouth shut. Just keep your mouth shut.”

I found out what he had been talking about the next week during the service. Chaplain Brown suddenly announced that the campaign to plow over the park had been a success. I don’t recall him having brought it up at an earlier service, but I confess I didn’t really pay much attention to what he was saying.

“We’re one step closer to Jesus’ return,” said the Chaplain.

I heard Ellen mutter, “one step closer,” a look of repture in her eyes.

Jacob was in a state that afternoon. He almost couldn’t contian himself and it was hard to get him to pay attention to the TV.

“Soon, we’ll have all of the enviromental laws stripped away. When the last tree falls, when the air turns black, Jesus will return.”

I did my best to focus on the game again, but it wasn’t easy. Patriots won, of course.

“I know we don’t talk about relgion, Ellen, but I have to know. Do you really believe that destroying the planet is going to bring Jesus back.”

“Of course. We all do.”

“Look, if God wanted the world to die, wouldn’t he do it himself?”

“We are His agents. He is acting through us. Do you really want to talk about this?”

“But what if there is no God?”

She shot me a furious look.

“Let’s not have this conversation.”

I shut up.

Next Sunday, Chaplain Brown gave a list of candidates that we should vote for at the next election.

“These men, these fine men, are sympathetic to our cause. Once they’re in office, we’ll be one step closer.”

I decided not to go to watch the game that day. I was too agitated. I heard later that the Patriots won.

On Tuesday, the only people I noticed voting were people from Central Union.

I stood in line with Ellen and Jacob and his wife. Ellen looked at me sternly.

“You’re going to make the right decision, right?”

“Of course,” I replied, take one more step towards the voting booths. I squeezed her hand and thought of the future.