Order and Chaos



Notice I did not say, Order OR Chaos. It is the “and” that makes all the difference.

Have you noticed a living room on the day after Christmas? If there are little children involved, certainly there will be chaos. Paper, ribbons, tape, bows, boxes, toys (probably some already broken) and even plates, glasses, contents of stockings, camera paraphernalia and all sorts of decorations (one or two broken or tumbled from its graceful pre-Christmas perch no doubt) strewn about. Can we say cyclone? My daughter calls it a ‘happy mess’ and so it is, filled with memories, love, service and a lot of joy. Still, it is chaos, and it needs to be put back in order before the next week passes.

Sometimes our lives are like that aren’t they? Chaotic, but joyful, crazy and messy and topsy-turvy--but all good stuff. Then there are times (sometimes too long of a span) of difficult chaos. Broken dreams, unexpected consequences, Loss, failure, financial ruins and all sorts of craziness that makes us wonder if order will ever be retained. Yet, it is. We end up with a new normal. A place that we never anticipated, and looking back perhaps may even be grateful for. . . someday, but today?

Instead of looking at the chaos in our lives as terrible messes to fix, what about looking at them like a Christmas morning Living-room. Something to be relished as we move through to a new beginning? Some place of taking out, messing up, re-organizing and sorting through ideas, experiences and emotions. Every day has potential for order and every day has potential for chaos. It isn’t the current state of affairs that matters most, it is the being, you, me. . . doing the sorting, experiencing and remembering that matters.

So next time the world seems crazy and complicated and difficult and well. . . messy, try standing back and enjoying how it got that way, considering how to change things for the better now that it is all out in the open anyway, or just letting it be messy for a little while longer while you sip cocoa and relish the mess. It will be orderly again. It will be chaotic again, . . and. . . it is all good.

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