Aching God (Iconoclasts, #1)

by Mike Shel

Welcome pain, for it is sent to instruct the wise man. He felt a needle of indignation poking at him. Pain sent by the gods as instruction? It smacked of a cliché he loathed above all others: All that happens, happens for a purpose. The notion rankled him. It was his conviction that learning came to spite suffering, not because of it. Philosophers and priests who believed pain was a blessing in disguise could go fuck themselves.

Were all prayers to any god no more than begging for mercy? From beings who possessed the power to make all suffering vanish if they saw fit to do so? Would he not end unnecessary pain for humankind if he had the power to grant it? Was devotion to the gods something so crude? A protection racket run by capricious, almighty thugs who lacked the elementary human kindness to alleviate suffering without abject pleading, or some form of payment?