Humans are pattern seeking animals. It is a well known aspect of our evolution to the ‘higher’ primate level. We take random coincidences and aspire underlying meanings to them. It is both a strength and a huge liability.

By-products of that include conspiracy theories and, yes, religion. And Ghanaians, as a people- we seem to have mastered that art to insane levels.

I recollect the case of a thirteen year old boy who allegedly died after burning a bible. The pattern seeking police where out in force- saying he was struck down by God for his act. Worse, a lot of people were saying he deserved to die.

That is the crazy extremes to which we can take our devotion to the metaphysical, and that damned need to continue the servitude by constructing patterns of God’s power. And here we have another similar case.

An orphanage got razed to the ground by a fire in Nungua in Accra this past week. The New Life Orphanage caters to a number of disadvantaged orphans in the vicinity, who are raised by the management and enrolled in school.

Luckily, during the time of the fire, all the inmates had gone to school. Founder of the orphanage,Nii Afotey Botwe, told Joy News he became aware of the fire when he realised smoke coming out of one of the boys room.

“I run quickly to check when I realised that the fire was coming out. There was a lot of smoke and the extinguisher cannot do anything because there was a lot of smoke”.

Property worth thousands of cedis were lost, including laptops, clothes, books, clothing and furniture. The orphanage is in dire straits now, the inmates unable to lay their heads there. they have had to resort to finding sympathetic members of the township who would allow them a place to lay their heads.

So with all this human suffering, it seems a tad immoral to say that some Bibles surviving the fire is an indication of God’s supreme power. It seems a tad immoral for any God to know that there is a fire that is going to make the lives of these orphans infinitely worse- yet decide that the only things worth saving are Bibles- which in Ghana are a dime a dozen.

Why is it important that Bibles survived the fire? Couldn’t that space be used to tell us something important, like how to help ameliorate the suffering of these kids? What else did not get burned? Or conversely, where there only three bibles on the entire premises?

It is a sick bit of rationalisation that we always tell to make ourselves feel better about our God, but we never consider the twisted side of it. I can tell you that if I was all powerful- I would consider human suffering more worthy of stopping than saving three books.

But that’s just me, and who am I to question God, right?