I have always had a thing about chaos. I am not a good person to be with if you want life compartmentalised or indeed if you need things tidy. I do not necessarily think that this is a problem. Some people are ordered; and others are not. I happen to fall into the category of those who are not. I well remember going into an OT professor’s study, and seeing him just above a pile of books. The professor knew where everything was, and people just left him to it. Sadly, I am not as prolific an author as him: one day, perhaps…

In July, I spoke at two conferences; one of them at the Urban Theology Unit was gloriously chaotic: speakers shifted around (I was one of the speakers whose session was moved), venue not quite ready. The other was the British and Irish Association of Practical Theologians, which was superbly organised. For no apparent reason, I found the UTU slightly chaotic conference more helpful. For me, fluidity can help wondering to happen.

This is because for me: the slightly chaotic allows creativity to thrive. I hasten to add that this is true for me, and others blossom with order. I will always have several books on the go; which all end up read – eventually. I have picture of what my allotment will look like – and it is getting there.

Theologically, order has more going for it, I suppose. The opening chapter of Genesis seems to be about the creator imposing order on chaos. In the Gospels, Jesus’ miracles are often seen as a triumph of order over chaos. I think this can be evidenced in the nature miracles (walking on the water, stilling the storm et al).

As always that is one side of the story: inherent in the Christian tradition is a God who is playful and creative. I do think play and creativity can be ordered and boundaried; however it is not always the case. Just as my lurchers run for sheer pleasure, God is creative because he delights to be. God does not need to play, just chooses to be so.

This is not really a justification for disorganisation, but is a pointer to allowing disorder at times. I have some chinese vegetables growing in my allotment. They have been surrounded by weeds and other plants for the last couple of months. They vegetables are not almost ready to eat. Sometimes chaos creates the right environment, just as much, perhaps, as order. Be creative and chaoatic. It is not going to hurt, for once 🙂