At one point in the drama the Doctor takes Donna to see the very beginning of the universe. He comments, "It's what you do, you human beings. You make sense out of chaos—with your weddings and your calendars."
It's what we do. We make sense out of chaos. It is perhaps both our curse and our blessing. It may be what the Garden of Eden myth is about. We humans seem fated to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We make distinctions. We categorize. Sorting things out makes sense to us. We seem driven to make sense out of chaos.
I have sometimes envied the pugs, who take life as it comes with no thought (apparently) of explanations, or order, or wondering what it's all about. Each day is a new day to enjoy—mostly sleeping, eating, the occasional trip to the back yard, treats, walks and cuddles. It's a dog's life!
Not so we human beings. Faced with the chaos of the world we need to make sense of it.
But I think the Doctor is right—we make sense out of chaos with our rituals like marriage, and with our calendar making, marking out the seasons. The chaos of human relating is not so chaotic when we make relational commitments that mean something to us. The chaos of time makes sense when we give to time meaning—birthdays, New Year, Solstice, anniversaries, memorials.
The yearly marking of Christmas makes sense out of chaos in a particular way.
The ancient story tells of angels announcing "Peace on Earth! Good will to all!" How we need such to make sense of the chaos of violence and ill will! Each year as the days draw in and the cold comes and the dark threatens to overwhelm (in our hemisphere, at least) we tell of a story that promises peace and good will, a story that sees in the birth of a poor child all the meaning of the universe.
The story has inspired people for almost two thousand years, from the ancients to stories of St. Nicholas, to Good King Wenceslas, to Dickens's fashioning of so much of Christmas as we know it, to Doctor Who who saves the (British) world from Aliens every Christmas Day with good cheer, and an underlying message "Peace on Earth! Goodwill to all!"
Yet, we do not always make sense out of chaos. Sometimes we compound the chaos. Recently, I know of a few good friends who have given up on listening to or reading the "news," even eliminating the CNN news feed from their iPhone. The reason? The "news" is a gory litany of ills far and near. The media feeds us a steady stream of violence; an abundance of ill will. I venture that most of it we need not know about. Most of it we can do little about. Of all the good in the world we are told of murders, or beatings, or violence, or who's fallen out with who. Enough already! The media, feeding fear to the people, stir the pot of chaos.
At our best we make sense out of chaos, and give meaning where there is apparent meaninglessness. The birth of the Christ child makes sense; "Peace on Earth, Good will to all" makes sense; Santa Claus giving gifts to all makes sense; A Christmas Carol with its human transformation makes sense; even Doctor Who saving the world from aliens makes sense. For the sense we make out of chaos is that in the birth of a child we see the Ultimately Real, the very best that there could be, the hope of the world.
+Ab. Andy