Killing Rain by Barry Eisler

Page 133:

I remembered something from a childhood visit to church. Matthew, I think, where Jesus said: Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.

I chewed on that for a moment. Then:

Bullshit. God doesn’t care. Like Dox said, if he did care, he would have done something by now.

If he did do something, would you even know what it was? Would you be paying attention?

I would if he smote me, or whatever. Which is what I would do.

Maybe that was the point, though. All this time, I’d been expecting -- hell, demanding -- that God smite me down for my transgressions. And prove himself to me thereby. But what if God weren’t really in the smiting business? What if smiting were all man-made, and God preferred to communicate in more subtle ways, ways that men like me chose to pretend weren’t even there?