Good morning…
The Bible begins in chaos. When God began creating the heavens and the earth, the earth was a shapeless, chaotic mass, with the Spirit of God brooding over the dark vapors. Then God said, “Let there be light.” And light appeared (Genesis 1:1-3, TLB). Then immediately God went to work, divided the light from the darkness, setting forth day and night, forming land, sky, and sea, filling the universe with seed-bearing plants, reproducing animals, and humans who birth humans as caretakers of creation. On the seventh day God rested from the hard work of creating. A week that began in chaos laid the foundations of the life we now experience.
During our dynamic discussion of The Other Side of Chaos by Margaret Silf, one friend said, “Did you know that there are over fifty synonyms for the word chaos?” After class I did some digging and, sure enough, I discovered a list of fifty-two.
havoc
mess
confusion
jumble
hell
disorder
disarray
disorganization
messiness
disorderliness
anarchy
disarrangement
shambles
tangle
riot
clutter
dishevelment
heck
muddle
welter
tumble
snake pit
muss
free-for-all
lawlessness
labyrinth
maze
misrule
maelstrom
misorder
disorderedness
mare’s nest
chance-medley
snarl
storm
morass
mishmash
shuffle
web
hodgepodge
litter
knot
miscellany
medley
motley
bollix
Bollix? I have never heard that word. Researching, I learn something new. Bollix as a noun is a confused bungle. When we are caught up in chaos, we are a confused bungle. We yearn for God to speak light into our darkness, to divide and to set forth, to form and to fill, to offer us rest amid life’s regenerative riot.
After class our friend sent me a snapshot of a quote she scribbled on the inside cover of her book.
“Why is chaos necessary (important for life)?” she had read her handwriting aloud during class. “If we don’t have it, we’ll always fall back on our safety net – the way we’ve always done things. Without chaos we are too stable to re-organize – too inflexible to adapt to change – to find something better. LET GO.”
Coming out of chaos, it takes great courage to LET GO. Might we surrender our lips to a brand new prayer? God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life (Psalm 51:10, MSG).
…Sue…
