“You know what amazes me,” Dave said, “is how people in America, from the Supreme Court all the way down, thought they could insult God and get away with it. Even most Christians in America have been acting like God is some kind of big, easygoing teddy bear in the sky who’s going to let them get away with trashing all His sacred laws.”

Carl nodded his head, took a sip of coffee, then almost sobbed, “Charley, I’ve got to tell you, I never saw it like this before. My job was to sell stuff. I was part of the Hollywood media scene. I’m an ad man. Sure, I thought I had some standards, but when it came to selling stuff, success was all that really mattered.” He was getting visibly upset, and he took a deep breath to calm himself. Then he continued, “You know, if I saw that the big audiences were going for shows that trashed God and religion, or if they were turned on by naked chicks jumping in and out of bed with naked guys, then that’s where we put the dollars. It was just good business. I mean, I figured I wasn’t a priest.

People’s morals weren’t my job. Whatever people wanted, that’s where I put the bucks.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, honey,” Lori said, putting an arm around Carl’s shoulders. “You were always very careful to pick the best people.”

“Oh, yeah, right,” he continued, his pain evident in his voice. “You can be sure I fought like a tiger for the rights of producers and writers—so they could be as free, crude, and blasphemous as they wanted to be. We thought you Christians were no better than right-wing thought police. In fact, it never occurred to me that you were trying to protect us from the wrath of God.”

As Carl spoke, the four people in that room drew together quietly and naturally, both because they needed one another in this difficult hour and because they felt the genuine sorrow in Carl’s words. They understood the hurt, the fear, the emotion that lay at the back of his thoughts.

“For years, none of us listened,” Carl said, with tears in his eyes. “Now, it’s too late to do anything about it.”

“I hear you, Carl,” Charley said, “but that’s not exactly true. Even if two billion people die because of the things we’ve been talking about, another four billion will be left. I’ll be the first to say that you and most of your Hollywood pals have been fools. But from now on there’s a lot you can do before the Lord comes back. You can’t buy God’s love, but you can demonstrate the changes taking place in your heart.”

Spontaneously, Charley, Dave, and Lori reached out and took Carl’s hands in theirs. They stood there for one brief moment, a lot like a basketball team in a moment of silent prayer, then quietly moved apart again.

“Carl, I do love you,” Lori said quietly.