Is chaos good or bad?
Asking the Rabbis the tough questions.
All that God created is supposedly good. But what about chaos?
A thought from the story of creation (this week’s Torah reading):
Do you ever feel like your life is out of control and completely chaotic? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed and lost? Your plans aren’t working and you are confused about your future direction. There are relationship or financial difficulties to deal with and challenges that seem insurmountable. You are just a mess. If you are feeling this way, then consider the following thought:
At the beginning of Bereishit, we learn about the six days of creation. The Torah tells us two things about the very first day.
1) “And the land was tohu vavohu – chaotic and empty; darkness was on the surface of the deep…”
2) The first creation was “light”.
At that point the light did not benefit anyone or anything. There were no plants that needed nutrients from the rays, nor were there animals and humans needing to see where they are going.
In fact even the sun and moon that illuminate earth waited until the fourth day. So what was the purpose of creating light before it was actually needed?
The answer is that light represents the very purpose of existence. This first creation is God’s mission statement of “Project Creation”. It reads as follows:
“I am creating a world where not everything will be smooth. It will sometimes be chaotic, dark, confusing and challenging. But on the backdrop of this chaos I am creating a shining brightness, to demonstrate that you too can transform darkness into light. Challenge can be turned into opportunity. Chaos and confusion can be the platform for creative solutions and a fresh approach. Emptiness can be the catalyst for newness and fertile growth. Darkness and difficulty can ignite hidden powers and unknown strength.”
In Hebrew the word for light is “ohr” which has the same Gematria (numerical value) as the word “raz” – secret. In every life experience, even the darkest, there is a hidden spark of light waiting to explode.
So if you think your life is chaotic and dark, remember that beneath it all is a bright shining light waiting to emerge. You can be the one to reveal it. And that is a privilege arising from chaos.
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