Is there any connection between a tribe of Pacific Island cannibals and these annual lists we love highlighting the best & worst from the past year? I may be stretching, but I say: Yes....!
In 1839 an English missionary was cannibalised on the island of Erromango. This year 18 of Rev John Wiliams' descendants attended a reconciliation ceremony on the site of their ancestor's murder. Closure for the family; a lesson for us. It seems that human nature is inherently drawn to the appeal of orderliness. Things in their place, and a place for every thing.
Isn't this one of the subconscious forces at work when we try to make sense out of our life by making these relentless year-end lists? And usually in 10's. The 10 best dressed...ten best liked...ten best winners; ten worst looking...ten most hated...ten biggest losers. The 10's go on and on into a kind of silly infinity. And why...? Because making lists like these seems to give us a sense of order -- even control -- in this chaotic, random world we're stuck in.
Conspiracy theorists are another example. So are Monday morning quarterbacks. So are today's after-the-fact experts on terrorist plots. All these could-have-should-have prophets are actually imposing their sense of order on a largely orderless universe. Lets face it -- if we admit everything is out of joint and beyond our control -- that is where madness lies. And so we try to contain the madness.
Of course, while the philosophers wrestle with this human conundrum, the theologians are sure they have already found the answer. It is God, and the mysterious ways by which He imposes His order on things. I'm certainly not qualified to say who is more right, but I do remember my old philosophy professor who said: "By the time the philosophers reach the summit of truth in this life, they'll find the theologians got there just ahead of them!"
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I'd always be tempted to put my money on the theologians.
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