We touched on fundamentals of order a year ago on this date, and return to order for today. There is much to be said about order, to be thought through, to find the best in life. It is admitted that human beings sometimes find order to be boring, perhaps antiseptic, but that is because we are imperfect so find some comfort in disorder that we feel fits us. Rather than argue the point here, we take order as a matter of biblical affirmation. There is a God of order, and we should attempt to fit into his orderliness for our lives. If Scripture injunction does not persuade us, arguments for order are plentifully proved in the nature of things, especially for personal life. The public argues for order, but seeks to achieve in some disorder.
On another Page, I refer to Francis Collins, a scientist engaged in the development of the Human Genome Project. He is also a Christian. One of his main arguments relates to order, order not only for science but for the whole of creation. It is from order that the scientist may proceed with some confidence. The distaste for miracle in science is that it interrupts the analysis by exceeding the order of nature. And, it is from order that design may be posited. From that position this scientist/writer/Christian moves forward with considerable confidence. It is interesting that he put so great emphasis on the order/design concept at a time when there is collision among philosophers/analysts about order in the education of children in public schools. Fundamentals like order, values, and other factors seem lost, diluted or confusing.
Military strategy is well-ordered, so to address the disorderliness of warfare. Order/disorder in nature/science is a major issue not only for serious analysts but for lay citizens in everyday life. Lack of order in small matters of life may cause more distemper in families than just about anything else. Debate is hindered, in part, because concepts of order may be disorderly. Understanding order is vital to faith, and is paradoxical, as perceived by the mind of man. Mankind can, by disregarding order, create disorder, not only for self, but for nature. For example, society has built dams on rivers in some parts of the world whereby the beneficial order of nature in that locale has been disrupted. In a number of instances, expensive dams have been destroyed in attempts to restore natural order.
What way is the most orderly? The Apostle is concerned that even the gifts of God may be invoked in sloppy manner. We ought to be concerned in our era with the same problem. An important way to advance our purposes and God’s is in the refinement of life’s order. The Scripture offers that. For example, the order of the solidarity of the family, one’s place in it, and love/loyalty to it serves to solve many human problems. Losing family order (solidarity) has led to large social programs that are costly and marginal. Mankind needs order without stringency. We don’t have enough tax income to buy it.
Order is larger and more helpful than we have presumed. Schedule is a part of order. We learn that even God follows a schedule, predetermined both in nature and in his own functioning with us – and that from God, who manages within mankind’s time limitations. We have the schedules of the seasons that help us plan. When we take control of our lives, that control is registered in some kind of order. Order helps us to live well. When done well, it includes everything we need to do to meet rightful expectations from self, family/society and God. There is time for enough sleep, work, study, conversation, recreation, maintenance, and the like – but without order there is too much to do. Without order we tend to be less efficient, and not fully satisfied with what does get done. There is time in the orderly person for daily spiritual involvement, exclusive of other matters. In this omission we are found guilty of neglect.
It seems to me that much of life since the middle of the twentieth century has been directed to some disparagement of order. We see it in our music, grooming, style that leads to garishness in attempts to find variety, model changes made annually leading to recalls. We have jumbled cultures so to deny the order that formed us. It is in the orderly disposition of life that we identify ourselves. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020