In 1970, Jerry Walker is six years old. His consciousness revolves around being a member of Herbert W. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God, whose beliefs he finds not only confusing but terrifying. For Jerry's parents, the promise of relief from the world's hardships provides comfort and hope for a divine future where they might regain the sight they each lost as children. The next life would arrive in 1975, three years after the start of the Great Tribulation where all nonbelievers would perish in rivers of flames. When the prophecy of the 1972 Great Tribulation does not materialize, Jerry is considerably less disappointed than relieved. When the 1975 end-time prophecy also fails, he finally begins to question his faith and imagine the possibility of choosing a destiny of his own.