Divine Order in Chaos
By Rev. Paul John Roach
I was hitchhiking through Germany back in the 1970s and was picked up by a man about 10 years older than me who was a professor at a college in Munich. He very kindly took me to his home for lunch before returning me to the autobahn to continue my travels. As we ate, I noticed a statement that had been inscribed on his kitchen wall. It read, “Chaos is an order we do not yet understand.”
The statement intrigued me because it spoke not only to the limitations of human knowledge and understanding but to the idea that even what seems arbitrary and chaotic could be part of a greater, universal order and harmony.
Even the Darkness Is Not Dark to You: The universe, and humankind’s understanding of it, is constantly unfolding. Newtonian physics, in its elegance and surety, became the foundation of our understanding for two centuries.
The presence of God is available even in the most chaotic and challenging times.
Then the apparently chaotic and contradictory landscape of quantum physics was posited, which shifted our adventure in knowledge to new levels. The outwardly crazy dance of subatomic particles and their refusal to be pinned down in time and nature can initially confuse us but is ultimately exhilarating.
Particle or wave, Spirit or matter, order or chaos? In our new understanding we do not have to choose one or the other. Both nest together like the Taoist symbol of yin-yang or the Hindu marriage of Shiva-Shakti—undifferentiated potential and manifested energy.
Charles Fillmore: the co founder of Unity, was keenly aware of this interplay of substance and form, of idea and manifestation, and it is a cornerstone of his teaching in “The Atom-Smashing Power of Mind”.
Psalm 139:
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
And the light around me become night,
Even the darkness is not dark to you;
The night is as bright as the day,
For darkness is as light to you.”
In practical spirituality, this means, that the light, the order, the wisdom of the Divine permeates all things. The presence of God is available even in the most chaotic and challenging times. The possibility for transformation is always here.
All Is in Divine Order; It is important to avoid easy answers to difficult and heartrending problems. This is sometimes called “cheap grace” or “spiritual bypassing.” This is when we blithely affirm or declare that “All is in divine order” or “God doesn’t give us something we can’t handle” without engaging at the world’s level.
Chaos and Order, Light and Dark: It is to minister to others in this way, avoiding pat answers, extending love, while at the same time conveying a message that is helpful and grounded in principle.
Whether you are a minister or not—and we all minister to each other in some way—I have found only one way to do this successfully. It is to embody in your own being the reconciliation of apparent opposites—chaos and order, light and dark, anger and joy.
I still thank the professor for his hospitality that day long ago and for the wisdom I found written on his kitchen wall.
07/21/27