I prefer chaos to the hell of order.
Paraphrasing the late, Polish poet, Wyslawa Szymborska, I want to cast my vote for the messiness of chaos.
Chaos is a twenty-year-old Stanford student ringing your doorbell at 8:30 p.m. on a Tuesday evening, with her suitcase and duffel bag and all the earthly belongings she will require for a summer in Denver to give up her time and passionate energy to work on the Obama campaign. I was not quite expecting her.
"Hi, I'm Ashley." I was so flustered I forgot to tell her my name. Two hours later she found the courage to ask, with polite patience, "and what do I call you?" Ooops.
In all the commotion of planning a quick visit to our local high school by the First Lady, Michelle Obama, and training a few hundred new summer volunteers, and having a wingding weekend for voter registration at the PrideFest and Juneteenth events this past weekend, Ashley's arrival was only rumored, never confirmed. Chaos. But such good chaos.
Ashley (or is it Ashleigh, I don't yet even know her last name!) will be living with us this summer while she gives her time to the campaign. What a privilege for us to participate in this way. And what fun to have another kid in the house.
Chaos brings surprise, change, new ideas, fresh and promising possibilities to our world. We roll with it. That is what we do. And I believe that is what the divine does with the universe. Rolls it. And rolls with it.
I can't wait to see what happens next. In fact, that's life, waiting for what happens next.
Gotta go buy new sheets. Ciao for now.
