By Lois E. Wilson
The noun form of the word “order” has many meanings: For instance, those in the military are given orders which tell them where and when to report for duty Court, schools, Congress, and many meetings start with a call to order. Certain divisions of organizations and Christian ministry groups are often called orders.
To arrange objects in a pleasing, decorative, and useful manner is putting them in order.
Pearl S. Buck stated “Order is the shape upon which beauty depends.” Edmund Burke believed “Good order is the foundation of all things.”
The term law and order relates the two together. Advocates of it want strict laws and enforcement of them. They believe such is the foundation of an orderly society
“Order marches with weighty and measured strides; disorder is always in a hurry.” (Napoleon I).
“It is best to do things systematically, since we are only human, and disorder is our worst enemy.” (Hesiod)
Disorder often affects other people in a negative way. The term “disorderly conduct” can be a criminal offense which results in monetary fines or jail time.
Some of these offenses are improper sexual conduct, unlawful lodging or loitering, drunk and disorderly behavior, fighting, general noisiness, using offensive words, rioting, disturbing the peace on school grounds, and refusing to disperse. This is a partial list of disorderly conduct examples.
The worst form of disorder is chaos. It presents a situation of supreme unpredictability. It is a state of utter confusion. There seems to be no single leader. It can be a wild free-for–all. Below are some quotes about chaos:
“Every chaos has an order hidden in it. What we see as a chaos, is actually driven by a very disciplined and dedicated order of things. What we need to do is focus on the stuff before us, make our way through this chaos, and that order will sort itself out for us.” (Sapan Saxena).
“Chaos in nature is immediately challenging and forces a good artist to impose some type of order on his or her perception of a site.” (Wolf Kahn).
Chaos may seem unsolvable. But throughout history, it has been the impetus for invention. Chaos can be an opportunity for us to demonstrate our creativity and recognize we can be the leaders who find the order within—it is our call to order.