Blog for April 4th, 2022
Order: noun- the arrangement or disposition of people or things in relation to each other according to a particular sequence, pattern, or method:
I found a few different ways to define “Order”. There are also many ways to discuss and define order. Anything from “may I have your order please?” To “I need to put my room in order.” But here in this blog I’m going for “Putting my spiritual house in order”, as well as knowing there is indeed an “order” to things.
There is a natural flow of order to things, a natural flow to life, and to death. There is natural order of families and carrying on the human species. There is a natural order to the seasons, they come and go, mostly bringing with them expected weather changes. There is the natural order of the planets and the universe. Of earth revolving around the sun in a year, that is amazing!
There is a natural order in communities and law and order. There is natural order in growth. As a baby grows and becomes more and more independent and makes personal choices, they begin to set the order of their own lives.
There is even a natural order to how we begin to use addictively. How our lives turn into chaos and spiral out of control. It is so predictable that the pattern of addictions is written about in many books and articles. Even chaos and addiction has an order. We all know the saying “it’s time to get your affairs in order.” This usually has to do with the law or medical issues.
Of course, once a person surrenders their life to recovery, there is an order that has been laid down and proven for many years. The twelve steps are in the order they are in for a reason. The process of finding a sponsor, going to meetings, working the steps and being of service all have order to them.
Working the twelve steps is not the only way to be clean and in recovery. Some depend solely on their Higher Power, church, job, family and other ways. Still, there is an order to the path they are on.
I myself have been struggling with getting my “stuff” in order. My home and possessions that I have accumulated over the years. I’m very sentimental and hang on to too much stuff. I’m working on it.
But the biggest quest of all is getting my “spiritual house in order”. As stated earlier, it starts with surrender. Then the steps and following the guidance of a sponsor. My surrender is to my God. This is an ever changing, ongoing state of being, learning and growing. You know how you can read a meditation one day and a month later re-read and get a totally different meaning from it? It’s like that. Constant, ever changing.
Yet, as much as we can be changing and growing spiritually, some truths do not change. They will always be the same and always bring order. I could talk about how the sun rises and sets each day, or the seasons come and go, or babies are born and people die. These are truths.
But truths that I feel bring order and even calm in this world are God. Love. Learning. Growing. Being. The art of giving and receiving can be a great catalyst to finding your order and your truth. But the thing about truth is…. truth is truth. Whether we believe it or not. It’s not “my truth” and “your truth” kind of thing. The truth is, the sun will rise and set, people will be born and die, young lovers will meet. And God is in control. For me, that is the mostly calming of all. Which, in turn, brings order to my life.
I love how the steps are ordered in such a way as to lay out a plan that will take us from surrender to wholeness. To a point of giving away what was so freely given to us, love. I find that amazing. Because Love is a truth and staple of our world as well.
I’m not saying we all have it or feel it all the time, but it is alive and well somewhere, with some people at any given moment on the planet earth, that is a truth.
I strive for order. I crave order and you can’t know how far that concept is for me from when I first got clean. I thought “order” was lame and boring. I preferred chaos and insanity, obviously. Living clean has encouraged me to have routine and order. It took some getting use to, but after a while, I noticed that it kept me calmer and more grounded.
So yes, I think “order” is the order of the day. I like my routines and trying to keep things in order. It gives me direction and guidance. This does not mean that I don’t have room for flexibility, I sure do. I know how to let go and switch it up in a heartbeat if the situation calls for it. Then when things calm down, I have direction and purpose and I don’t have to flounder. I don’t have to guess at what my next indicated step is. I already know, I have an automatic routine that guides me, but does not dictate to me. It’s a guide, not an absolute.
Maybe it is time to get “all affairs in order”
1 Corinthians 14:40 “Let all things be done decently and in order.”
Question of the Week: Do you have an orderly routine? Is your house in order?
