Mr Wilder said he had taught the teenager - who transferred from nearby De La Salle College last year - and planned to talk to him about his faith.God is a funny chap, isn't he? In a very real sense. What is He trying to tell us, by performing the Miracle of the Apartments. Is He telling us that it is more holy to attend a private Anglican school than an Integrated Catholic one? Or is He gently chiding the boy's parents for having a denominational bob each way? Or for living in Manukau City? He moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform, does God.
"I must say when it first happened I wondered what God was doing and then I suddenly realised he performed a real miracle," he said.
But then, what of the other boys at King's who were not favoured by God? He clearly was not feeling very wonderous when that boy was falling from the overbridge. He was not in a miracle mood when the other one was drinking himself into a coma. And not only did He allow that third boy to be killed by a rare virus, but He created the virus in the first place.
Yet, there is consolation. It is not just boys at private schools who suffer so. In fact, God is far more unsparing to the children of the poor, many of whom suffer hunger, disease, abuse and early death. Just the other side of the walls of King's College is the vibrant and underprivileged community of Otahuhu. Just over the road from Decile 10 King's College is Decile 1 Otahuhu College. Despite the strong Christian faith of many of its students, they have a far greater possibility of suffering disease, disadvantage and premature death than the boys of Kings's College.
And (here comes the twist) when God moves in such mysterious ways as to snuff out the lives of the poor kids, the New Zealand Herald hardly notices.
1 comment:
And then there was that sad story a few years back of the boy killed when his party bus went under a bridge on the motorway.
God works in mysterious ways, clearly, because if this was another school it would be the subject of outraged headlines.
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