Thy Will Be Done - Chapter 3

"Padre," Hanson asks rhetorically, "do really believe in the line that God doesn't give you things you can't handle?" Further pushing for answers, Hanson continues on his trek. "How about that line that God is an all-loving god, that he does no wrong, that he's a good god.", putting the emphasis on good. "Do you really believe that Father?"
Not knowing if Hanson was looking for real answers or whether he was just looking to get some last minute thoughts off his chest, Father Anderson replied in a rather neutral way. "Well son, you've read The Good Book a few times I'm sure, what do you think?"
Taking a hit off the cigarette, inhaling and thinking, Hanson looks at the priest, talks through the smoke in his lungs and exclaims, "Bullshit. If he was so good, why did he let these things happen to me?", asking in almost a pitiful voice.
"Now son, you know that you did things to people, God didn't make you do anything to any of them", defends the priest.
"I'm not talking about what I did, Father. I know what I did was..." pausing to contain his thoughts, "they were wrong."
Getting to the crux of a confession, whether legal or spiritual, Father Anderson asks, "Are you sorry for what you did son?"
Taking another drag from the cigarette, Hanson again pauses, exhales the smoke, and quietly responds, "I am sorry for the hurt I caused other people Father. I'm sorry that I wasn't stronger, to overcome the temptation of revenge. That matter of an eye for an eye for example was what drove me to do what I did Father." Taking a swig of the beverage from the flask, Hanson begins to well up with emotion, his voice getting more pitched. "Do you realize how helpless I was as a child? Do you realize what it's like being herded off to some strange home with not a damn bit of explanation from anyone?", he explains, hearing his voice echo though the cavernous halls of the cell block. Hanson looks into the priest's eyes for the first time, "I'm sorry all right Father, but I don't have regret."