Chaotic Control

Before we go crazy thinking that the world is in total chaos, think. When was the first time you heard that said? Personally, I’m certain it was in the 1950’s. I remember hearing that no good would come with Eisenhower having to leave the presidency at the end of his two terms. What good could come to America without the war hero who had saved us from the Nazis?

The world would go to hell in a handbasket. There were Communists and Lord knows what all else. Why bother to have hope? Life could never get any better. Who could control matters without a hero like Ike? Little did Mom and Pop America realize the extent to which life was out of control in Washington during that time.

The world survived. In spite of the fact that in every decade of my life since that time I have been informed that life is utterly chaotic, we have survived. That we need another Ike or Truman or Roosevelt (either one) to bring back order. Someone must get this madness under control. The question is, who?

For people who aren’t paying attention — who don’t have their eye on the prize — life can feel completely chaotic and out of control. We can convince ourselves that routine is order. We can get stuck in that routine. We are certain routine gives order to our lives. For years I had to get on a bus or subway or in my car to make it work on time. Odds were good that I would be in the office on time. Nothing was etched in stone. No matter what I planned, there were inevitably problems with traffic somewhere along the line.

Yet, I flourished. In spite of chaos in traffic. Maybe someone became upset, but it was a matter out of my control. Traffic jams and subway breakdowns happen. What seemed to be chaos was just another situation. If I was lucky enough to be on a bus or subway, it meant more time to read my book or magazine.

It was turning lemons into lemonade.

Waking up in the morning, life happens. Even before our first cup of coffee.

While attempting to control the physical world around us, we ignore the metaphysical world. People say that God or some spirit is “out there” and they vaguely point above their heads.

I want to know when that began. I want to know when God began to be “out there” instead of “in here”.

Not in my life.

I talk about seeing God and communicating with It, but I just as easily recall times I have seen God communicate with people around me. Like the man I met thirty-plus years ago who edited my book Reach For The Stars. One day in a meeting I looked up and God was beside him, talking to him. That convinced me that I needed to know this man. Whatever it was he had, I wanted it. I have seen angels around my friend every time we’ve seen each other since then, but that first day God was beside him.

That friend is but one of countless men, women and children. You, too, should expect that I will see angels around you if we meet.

To the physical world I am considered chaotic. Out of control. How many people can you think of for whom seeing God, any sort of a god or spirit, is sane? Much lees a typical daily occurrence? In what way is this not out of control? How is this not evidence of psychosis or some other manifestation of madness?

The material world at large does not regulate our inner lives. World events determine our lives when we fail to put our spirituality before material wants. We determine our lives if and when we are willing to make the effort. When we do the work.

When we believe in Something greater than us that is outside our perception.

I am baffled by our world and the strange ways of my fellow inhabitants. By the need to control every last detail in life.

Try something absolutely absurd.

Stop.

Let go of the desire to control.

When I quit trying to control chaos, it’s no longer chaotic. When I look at the pictures of the universe that come from the Hubble and Webb telescopes, I see order. When I first saw the Hubble and Webb pictures, I was shocked. Seeing in daylight — when I am wide awake — what I have always seen when I am either asleep or in dreamland caught me off guard. These pictures are images of where I go in dreamland.

These are the places where mystery lives.

Where to mortal eyes all appears to be chaos.

Where the Divine tricks the mortal mind.