I was hoping that today was the day I’d become rich. I guess the casino had other plans for me. After being played like a fool at the poker table, the black jack table, and the slots, I walk with my head down towards the exit. With the slot machines still ringing in my ears, I’m a few steps away from the exit when a voice to my left catches my attention.

“How about a game of Religious Roulette?” the man shouts enthusiastically.

“Sorry, I’m all out of cash,” I say as I pat my side pockets.

“No worries sir, this game doesn’t require cash or chips, just a single belief token,” he says with his smile stretched from ear to ear.

“Sorry, I seriously don’t have anything on me, not even a belief,” I laugh to myself, and start heading for the revolving doors.

“Don’t be a fool. Everyone has a belief, you probably just aren’t even aware of it. Why don’t you check your right pocket,” he quickly responds.

Just before my hand reaches the door, I reluctantly reach into my pocket expecting to find nothing but lint. Instead, I feel a rounded token with gold lettering that spells “Belief: Use wisely”

“Ready to play,” he says, the same full faced grin on his face, “It’s really easy I’ll explain the rules.”

I look at the roulette wheel and it’s no different than I had seen at previous casinos. 16 red spaces, 16 black spaces and the 2 green spaces covering the wheel. The odd part was the betting board. Unlike other casinos where you can bet on rows or corners, or even individual numbers, this board just showed a large red and black space. A giant stack of belief tokens covered the red space, while the black space had 1.

“Why is the red space so favored?” I ask pointing to the mountain on red.

“For the reward sir,” he gestured across the table, “Please let me explain. This game of roulette is unlike any game of roulette you’ve ever played. No longer do you need to spread chips around the table, blindly guessing at numbers or rows. We’ve simplified the game to just red or black. ”

“So what exactly are the rewards, and why is red so favored?” I ask, again pointing to the tower of tokens.

“Well I must first tell you that this reward will not payout today. In fact, it doesn’t even payout in this lifetime but if you choose right, you’ll be rich beyond your dreams in the afterlife. Upon death your individual roulette wheel will spin round and round, and land on one of the 38 numbers. The number itself doesn’t matter; all you care about is whether it is red or black. So are you going to throw your token into the red space with the rest of the people?” As he finishes his rehearsed speech, five more belief tokens crash over my right shoulder and join the pile on the red space. Apparently others have been hearing the rules of the game.

“How exactly do you payout in the afterlife? Seems like a scam.” I pull my belief token back to my chest.

“I ensure you sir this is legitimate. We have been in business for thousands of years. We have connections with the Lord Jesus Christ, and he promises a huge payout for that belief token if your roulette wheel lands on red. You can probably see why that red space is so popular.” Another ten to twenty tokens splash into the sea of beliefs, “Upon death, you will be greeted by your entire family and everyone you have loved, but most importantly; you’ll be infinitely rich as we will be giving you one billion Jesus Bucks. Yes sir, even Heaven has currency.” He winks while maintaining his overt smile.

“And what’s the reward for black,” I ask. His smile fractures briefly, but recovers as he clears his throat.

“Umm, good question sir. Don’t get me wrong, you will still be extremely wealthy in the afterlife, but you will be paid in United States currency. As you well know, United States currency is absolutely worthless in Heaven after they dropped the Gold Standard.” He looks down and shakes his head, “However, it is still extremely valuable in the unconscious afterlife”

“Unconscious afterlife.” My token still held tight in my right hand.

“Yes, I’m sure you’ve heard of it before. You’ll be completely unaware you’re dead, or living but you will be infinitely rich. A billion US dollars is still quite a bit of money in the unconscious afterlife” His eyes bounce from my eyes down to my belief token.

“And the odds are 50-50? There doesn’t seem to be any benefit to betting on black if you are unaware of your wealth. Everyone should bet on red because you actually benefit in the afterlife. There is no risk.” I sneer, still skeptical of the whole game but especially of the man selling me on the rules.

“Don’t forget the two green spaces sir, 0 and 00. The green spaces should be feared, but not taken with any serious consideration.” His smile has vanished as he stares at the two small green spaces. “The green space offers no payout of any kind. No Jesus Bucks, No Heaven and no cash for the unconscious afterlife. A waste of a belief in my opinion. But this is an American casino, what are the chances of it landing on green?” his voice trails off as his eyes follow the lonely green spaces around the board.

“Well with 38 spaces, and two of them being green, the odds would be about,” I start. But his eyes shoot from the board and lock onto mine. He quickly cuts me off.

“I ensure you sir, these odds you speak of will do you no good in this game. Your ignorance is evident in the fact we have been speaking for several minutes now. As we’ve talked many others have joined the red space and ensured a happy, rich and eternal life. Do you not understand the payouts I am offering you? Do you not understand the simplicity?” His voice and intense stare causes me to look away and back at all the tokens. “Put your belief token on the red space and you’ll never regret it for the rest of your life.” He points down at the stack of beliefs, and the rows and towers of tokens that fill the table.

“What about the one token on the black space? Who’s the fool to place that bet?” I point out the single belief coin spotted directly in the middle of the black space.

“Some cynical old man that wanders this casino from time to time. He was just in here a second ago. I asked if he wanted to change his bet. He didn’t. Ignorant bastard” He nods in the direction of the revolving door. I slip my belief token in my pocket and start walking. “Hey, are you not going to place your bet?”

I enter the revolving door and am immediately blinded with a beam of sunlight. I cover my hand over my head and can barely make out a man sitting on a bench holding a single rose. His grey beard mangled and uneven, he looked homeless. I race across the street and approach the old man, “Excuse me, sir” he looks up and meets me with a worn leather face, expressionless. “Did you happen to be the person who bet on the black space in that Religious Roulette game?” I ask.

“Yes I am. I often go back to that table, and I’ve even thought about changing my bet, but I haven’t, and I won’t.” his eyes so focused on the walls of the casino, I was sure he could see that roulette wheel still spinning inside.

“Why did you even make that bet in the first place? You must know that black offers no real reward upon death, red offers all the desired benefits. I want Heaven, I want eternal riches. I would never have to worry another day in my life. Everything would work itself out. No sadness. No fear. No pain. And forever aware of my vast fortunes in Heaven.” I had clearly made up my mind. Why am I talking to a cynical old man who clearly didn’t understand the payouts? The dealer was right, I knew what I hoped for, and there was no other rational bet to make. Reaching into my pocket to grab the belief token, I turn to go back to the casino.

“I’ve never been very good at predicting the future, maybe that’s why I shouldn’t be making bets on it.” my feet stop in their path, I turn around as the aged man continues, “But looking on my life, I’ve had my share of wins and losses. I won when I met my wife of fifty three years at my high school football championship game. I don’t remember the final score, but I’ll never forget her eyes. And I’ve lost, I lost what felt like everything when she passed away a year ago. She always had a gift in the way she looked at life, love and happiness. She would spend so much time in her rose garden. She loved those roses. Spring was her favorite season, and when Fall came, while it made her sad; she would always say ‘It’s sad that something as beautiful as this rose has to lose its petals and die, but this fact only makes me truly appreciate its beauty when it’s fully bloomed.'” The man lets out a quiet sigh, “I miss my rose, but this sadness of loss only makes me recognize the beauty of her life and our love. I guess that’s why I bet black. There’s something about losing that makes you appreciate the things you’ve won. I feel like I’ve already won so much. I have a heartbeat. I have perception. I have life. I’d rather hedge my bet, and live life like my reward is in this world, in this day, not waiting for me after death. If life is a rose I’d like to recognize its beauty while it’s fully bloomed” The old man looks back at the revolving doors and then back at me, and as he does the sun shines on his bright green eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to change your mind or tell you how to use your belief. I just don’t want to discount my life, my winnings, in hopes for vast fortunes for eternity. Please, take this.” His wrinkled hands lifts up the single rose. Bright red and smelling of earth, he places the petals against my chest.

I stand there staring at a foolish wrinkled man. “You can keep it cause I’m not interested in a dying rose. I’m focused on the potential winnings. I’m sorry old man but you clearly didn’t understand the reward, or the game for that matter. Black is an empty bet. Red offers all the benefits, and it consoles all unknowns I have about today and tomorrow. I don’t mind being poor today, if I know that I will be infinitely rich in the afterlife.”

I turn my back to the lonely old man and his rose and face towards the casino. With my belief token gripped in my right hand, my eyes locked on the revolving doors, I step off the curb. I hear a loud horn come from a truck to my left. A quick pain shoots across the left side of my body. It didn’t last longer than a second. No sadness, No fear, No more pain. All there was, was black.