“Life can only be understood backward; but it must be lived forward.” —Søren Kierkegaard

Frank Raisinwing and Layla Servanski have been friends since they met as undergraduates. They have also had an on again, off again romance, but are non-committal due to religions differences. One evening at a bar near the university where they teach, they meet a bartender, Buddhist monk, priest, and rabbi. This group becomes friends and are soon presented with a mystery they are compelled to solve. Each will travel back in time only to discover they all have one unexpected thing in common.

It all started when…

A rabbi, a priest and a Buddhist monk walk into the bar. They all order a scotch on the rocks, well except for the monk who orders a cup of tea, since the Buddha preached that alcohol clouds the mind. No one likes to see a monk with an overcast brain. The bartender takes a long look at the three clergymen, the bearded rabbi dressed in a dark suit, the rosy-cheeked priest in his traditional white collar, and the red-robed Buddhist monk with his clean-shaven head.

"Is this supposed to be some sort of joke?" said the bartender.

The religious threesome look at one another oblivious to the meaning of the bartender's remark.

After an awkward moment, the bartender says, "Alright, I'll pay for the drink of whoever can tell me which I should be most concerned with when I die, the past, the present, or the future."