Chaos: The New Order

My husband and I watched an fascinating lecture by Jordan Peterson, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. The talk was entitled Reality and the Sacred which "explores the human search for meaning in a chaotic world and how our perceptions and beliefs shape our sense of reality."

Peterson proposes that life is full of two key states of being: chaos and order. These dichotomous ideas are wrestling to rule our lives. How we view chaos and order has a huge impact on our day-to-day interactions. Peterson illustrates this point by utilizing different religious viewpoints such as Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, and Taoism.

Honestly, I will not do Peterson's lecture justice by attempting to summarize it here. If you are curious, I encourage you to take the time to listen to it (click on the name of the lecture above). However, there are a couple of things I would like to highlight.

First, I was intrigued by Peterson's view of Christianity and its approach to suffering. He used Jesus Christ to illustrate his point. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he struggled with the burden he was about to bear. He prayed the famous words, "Abba, Father...everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will" (Mark 14:36). Peterson explained that since Christ accepted the suffering that he was about to undergo, he was able to transcend it. Apparently, this is valid from a psychological point of view as well. For instance, if a person who struggles with an anxiety disorder voluntarily subjects him/herself to a situation that causes negative symptoms, that person is more likely to overcome the anxiety than a person who enters the situation against his or her will. Very interesting.

Second, consider this quote from Peterson's lecture: "The Taoists believe that the world is always an interplay between chaos and order. And if you live your life properly, you stand with one foot in order and one foot in chaos. Because if you are only in order, nothing interesting ever happens to you; nothing is anything but a repeat of everything you already know. That is the state that fascists desire. Because fascists desire everything to be exactly the way they are forever. And if you are only in a state characterized by chaos, you are at sea or overwhelmed and everything has fallen apart for you. And there is too much of everything for you to deal with…The Taoists believe that a meaningful life, the optimally meaningful life, is found between the border of chaos and order. And I would say that your nervous system tells you exactly when you are there…You can tell that you are there because you are secure enough to be confident, but not so secure that you are bored. You are interested enough to be awake, but not so interested that you are terrified. When you are in a state like that, when things are interesting and meaningful, time slips by you and you are no longer self-conscious."

Wow! I must admit I seek order over chaos. I enjoy my life to be predictable. However, when I am in such a place, life does get boring. I guess I need to embrace the chaos in my life instead of running from it. I must trust my God for the security and confidence I need to face the unknown. I hope and pray the same for you.

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