Will, after twenty years in the Navy, returns home to the bedside of his mother, who has suffered a severe stroke. Using Navy savings, he enrolls in college, aspiring to run for Congress. He and Brother Art, who find no reality in God, prepare their father, Joe, to accept their mothers death without the traditional references to heaven. Joe is weary and ready to retire. Art, also a teacher, takes over Joes private school. Will and Art found a society for the Common Good, based on love of mankind and a life of service, with none of the features usual in a religion. On the campus Will finds a life companion, whom he marries, but their homemaking is interrupted when Will gets called back into the Navy to serve in Vietnam.