Who is to say that prayers have any effect? On the other hand, who is to say they don't? I picture the gods, diddling around on Olympus, wallowing in the nectar and ambrosia and the aroma of burning bones and fat, mischievous as a pack of ten-year-olds with a sick cat to play with and a lot of time on their hands. 'Which prayer shall we answer today?' they ask one another. 'Let's cast the dice! Hope for this one, despair for that one, and while we're at it, let's destroy the life of that woman over there by having sex with her in the form of a crayfish!' I think they pull a lot of their pranks because they're bored.
The excerpt explores the ambiguous nature of prayer and divine intervention, questioning whether prayers have any real impact. It presents a whimsical image of gods at play, suggesting they engage with human affairs in a capricious manner, almost as if they are indifferent to the seriousness of human suffering. The idea that they might randomly choose which prayers to answer seems to highlight a sense of randomness and unpredictability in the...
