Faith and Mercy

I want to share with you a beautifully written paragraph from my cousin’s book, Mercy. Brief background: Anna, the Italian journalist who witnesses all sorts of horrors in Africa, is struggling to understand how God could allow such immense suffering. The other character, Kez, is an Egyptian Muslim. Although Kez has his addictions, he is a man of faith.

When Anna slips a note under Kez’s hotel room door saying, “Predator, victim! Parasite, host! Canine distemper! Surely there could be finer mechanisms that these! Surely God can do better than this!” Kez replies:

“What do you know of the life of the neutron? What do you know of the circuitry of the brain? What can you tell me of the balance struck between electricity and magnetism? Which insights can you provide into the event horizon of a black hole? Tell me: what do you know of music of numbers, the clarity of water, the human eye? You know nothing. You sin through pride, my sweet friend. You sin through pride: the deepest, the darkest, the Original sin.”

He was far less castigatory in person. “Allah is great. You’re not. End of story.”

Mercy, by Lara Santoro is available in hardcover and paperback.