INTRODUCTION<br > I have written a book in praise of the splendid chaos of life， the chaos<br >that saves us from the fate of clones and robots and opens our way to<br >incredible futures. Chaos is important. Too often the word is used in<br >a negative sense， as if chaos were something which should not exist.<br >But chaos is the power and wisdom and freedom of God in our<br >midst. We need it.<br > By the word "chaos" I mean all those random， haphazard<br >happenings， the unpredictable situations in life， the random chances，<br >the rotten luck， the fortuitous events， the uncertainties， coincidences<br >and confusion， the unforeseeable and the uncontrollable. They are<br >the very stuff-of-life that complement the routine expectations of law<br >and order. When chaos occurs people expend their energy in desper-<br >ate attempts at restoring order. Even Church and state do it. We<br >want to have things in control. This at least is a partial mistake. Out<br >of the chaos comes something new and creative， something not<br >planned at all that order and routine could never have delivered. If<br >we are trapped in order， if we have imposed order on ourselves--and<br >therefore inevitably on others--we have choked off life and growth.<br >COntrol we may have， and a false security for a time， but change will<br >find us out. Chaos will not be denied.<br > Chaos offers the possibility of a choice. It is an expression of the<br >world s freedom-to，be. It should be celebrated， reveled in， and em-<br >braced. Our energy should be directed toward discovering the new<br >creative possibility that might emerge from it if we choose well.<br > Chaos， then， is something positive. It is not evil， such as the<br >moral evil of sin. Evil is opposed to order and destroys it. Chaos<br >