I’m glad they failed.

Alchemists would be unbearable!

They’d be know-it-alls, have a gazillion, “I remember when” stories, and if they started losing an argument they’d pull the old, “listen junior, it was before your timeline” line.

Everybody would be sickly nice to alchemists because alchemists would be filthy rich!

I wouldn’t want to be a successful alchemist.

Who wants to live on this earth forever?

And watch everybody I loved die?

And what if I got permanently sick?

Or broke my leg?

What if I got a tattoo I didn’t like?

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When people no longer believed base metals could be converted into gold, interest in alchemy faded.

Like medieval Bitcoin.  

The alchemists never created gold nor the elixir of immortality, but they opened the portal to something better: chemistry and pharmaceuticals. 

Without the alchemists, people who have relied on tablets to stay alive, like my own beautiful parents, would have died decades ago.    

Come February 1, all painkillers containing codeine will become prescription only.

We hear of the danger of painkillers; rarely the greater danger of pain not being killed.

What will a person in severe pain do if their pain persists?

Almost anything. 

In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, in the depth of his agony, Romeo wisely advises, “tempt not a desperate man”. 

In the Bible’s account of Cain and Abel God asks Cain, "Why are you so angry?... Why do you look so dejected?” (Gen 4:7).

Cain’s pain leads to hate and eventually murder of his brother Abel.

Pain is the precursor to almost all history’s atrocities.

Many people lost their job because they were in some pain; many walked out on their families or even had an affair because they were experiencing severe pain.

Severe pain has caused suicide, yet a necessary part of healing is often tablets, including codeine.

Jesus’ first miracles were turning water into wine and physical healings.

He began his ministry bringing people joy through taking away their pain. 

One of our most important goals should be the alleviation of suffering through the alleviation of pain.

For those in pain, alleviation and sure is better than finding gold.