When in chaos, say “yes”

In 1969 Stephen Vizinczey published his book “The Rules of Chaos.” The title

sounds like a contradiction. Can chaos have rules? That question still begs for an answer. At the time of the publication, it was a fitting title. The United States was involved in a senseless war in Vietnam. The United States tried to kill its way to victory in the dumbest war in the history of our country. The estimates are that the U.S. killed nearly three million Vietnamese people and lost the war. One of the chapter titles in Vizinczey’s book is “Only the Defeated Survive.”

The book was hugely successful among a relatively small group of people. It is probably rightly called a niche publication. The book’s messages were very appealing to me. For me, the subject was not a niche in life but the stuff of which real life is made. I had strong urges to give up on the idea that life could be reasonable and rational. The irrationality of the Vietnam War swept over the country in many ways. At the time I lived near the campus of University of California-Santa Barbara. Morality was redefined to mean “If it feels good, go ahead and do it.” Students burned down the local branch of the Bank of America. Students acquired dogs and did not care for them. Breeding was completely out of control. Hungry dog packs roamed the streets of a nearby housing area. Students took over the computer center of the university and shut down the entire university operation.

The Vietnam War era passed but its impact did not. I have never forgotten the lesson that life is not comfortably ordered with a few bumps here and there. Life is chaotic, and I have learned to live with chaos as a fact of life.

The present political season has brought chaos to the forefront of my thinking once again. Republicans have given chaos new shapes and definitions. Democrats have their moments also, but Republicans are making chaos into an art form. Because of the present political chaos, some of my friends are deeply concerned and fearful of the prospects of the nation’s future. I entertain no such fears.

As a Baptist I hold the Bible dear. “What does the Bible say” is always a part of the discussion. The Bible does indeed speak about the presence of chaos.

The context of early Bible history is found in the area around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The primary city was Babylon. The area is often referred to as Mesopotamia and the word means “between two rivers.” The area is seen by many as the cradle of western civilization. Mesopotamia is rich with mythology. A recurring theme of the area mythology is chaos. The great battles were between chaos and order. Human beings have been trying to figure out what to do with chaos for several thousands of years.

Chapter one of the book of Genesis is usually seen as a story of creation. Very real problems greet us in this translation/interpretation. A better translation makes Genesis a story of discovery and action. A typical translation says that “God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was without form and void.” A better translation makes the passage an Israelite response to Babylonian mythology. Putting the story into a Babylonian context, a better reading would be “God discovered the heavens and the earth and found the earth chaotic and useless.”

It is here that the two traditions, Israelite and Babylonian, part company. In the Babylonian tradition chaos is fought in the name of order. Order always wins the battle, but only temporarily. The battle is renewed annually. The victory over chaos is never final. Chaos simply will not go away. In the Israelite tradition God does not engage chaos in battle. Rather the Israelite Good enters into a series of acts, each one labeled as good. The story of Genesis one is not about the creation of all things but about responding to chaos with good. This is a principle that is foundational to all Israelite and Christian behavior and ethics.

This was the tradition of Jesus from Nazareth. Nowhere is Jesus presented as entering into a battle. He went about doing good. His instruction was clear. “Put up your sword.” This also is the background to the instruction of Paul in chapter twelve of his Romans letter. “Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Rereading Stephen Vizinczey has been refreshing. I especially like his third rule of chaos: “If nothing is certain, nothing is impossible.” I have found that the best possibilities lie in the doing of good. Doing good is fun. It is baffling to the pervaders of chaos and bewildering to those who want to fight chaos. Doing good beats all the alternatives.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.