Faith & Spirit Quote by Peter De Vries

Providence is supposed to be the comfort blanket, the metaphysical customer-service desk you call when life goes sideways. Peter De Vries flips that expectation into a deadpan complaint: if a “kind Providence” exists, it should stop inflicting the very disasters it’s traditionally blamed for. The line hinges on a delicious legalistic pun. “Acts of God” is the insurance and contract euphemism for floods, storms, earthquakes - the stuff no one wants to pay for. De Vries drags that bureaucratic phrase back into theology, exposing how neatly we launder terror into paperwork and piety.

The intent is not simply to mock religion; it’s to needle the language that lets believers and institutions maintain reverence while excusing chaos. By asking Providence to “put a speedy end” to “acts of God,” he turns prayer into a grievance form. The adverb “speedy” adds bite: suffering is not ennobling when you’re living through it; it’s just expensive, exhausting, and overdue to stop.

Subtext: theodicy is a verbal shell game. Calling catastrophe an “act of God” preserves divine authority and human innocence at once. Nobody’s at fault; everyone’s helpless; the premium still goes up. De Vries’s cynicism lands because it mimics the polite cadence of a petition - “Let us hope” - then smuggles in an accusation so direct it sounds almost reasonable. The joke is a small revolt against reverent phrasing, and it works because it catches us using sanctified language as a shield against the unacceptable possibility that the universe is indifferent - or that God, if present, has terrible aim.