Casey Gerald traces the drama of his life back to an East Texas church on the night of December 31, 1999, the night he believed the world was to end. When the rapture didn't come, he searched...
========== There we were, souls and bodies packed
into a Texas church on the last night of our lives. Packed into a room just like this, but with creaky wooden pews
draped in worn-down red fabric, with an organ to my left
and a choir at my back and a baptism pool
built into the wall behind them. A room like this, nonetheless. With the same great feelings of suspense, the same deep hopes for salvation, the same sweat in the palms and the same people
in the back not paying attention. (Laughter) This was December 31, 1999, the night of the Second Coming of Christ, and the end of the world as I knew it. I had turned 12 that year and had reached the age of accountability. And once I stopped complaining about how unfair it was
that Jesus would return as soon as ...