Ideas for Talking to My Dad

I live with my Dad and he's been covering most of my expenses ever since I tried to kill myself and lost my job two years ago. I really love him and I want to work harder to show him I care about him. A good chance to talk to him more would be when he comes home for dinner in between jobs. There's a problem though. Even if I get out of bed and try my best to hold friendly conversation, I always get stumped about what I'm supposed to talk about. We can't talk about things like politics, social issues, religion, or science because we disagree on literally everything and that kind of discussion just gets me aggravated. (I studied wildlife biology and science; he's a young Earth "creationist". I'm an atheist; he's a fundamentalist Presbyterian. I believe in equal rights; he thinks being gay should be outlawed. Etc, etc.)

I try to think of things to say instead like "How was work?" or telling him about my progress in job hunting or what I've been trying to use to fight the Depression. But those topics last only a few sentences. How was work? He'll talk for a minute about the people he works with and many advertisements he sold. And then what I do I say? I never know what to say. Sometimes I think up a few conversation starters earlier in the day, but when the time comes for dinner, I can't think of any of them. Can anybody help me think of things to say and strategies to keep conversation going? Help would be greatly appreciated.

I see you are opposites that can be quite explosive at times i bet ...though sometimes the differences of opinion actually require lengthy conversations or that's what i encountered with opposites to me esp the "religious" and politics. the convos are 2 3 hours long. so win win right ?
As long as they don't turn into arguments its good

I am a great talker i babble for hours BUT if i have a person that i just cant communicate with i kinda continue to babble until they actually say .."listen..i better go" or " lets do this or that?" then by them changing from "chatting to doing" makes it easier than the awkward silences.