Creating Order from chaos

One of the things I love to do with my high school English classes is act out stories. I have a wall of props in my room that students love to use. It’s always amazing to see their creativity in turning my meager offerings into great costumes to channel the characters they are assigned. Over the years a favorite has been a giant plastic crayon. That crayon has been a sword, a cane, a gun, and even a horse. We create elaborate palaces and fortifications with the desks; a narrator is assigned to read the story, and the students act out the drama.

It’s always a chaotic mess. My room gets a little destroyed; and I am sure the screaming, laughter, and sound effects can be heard down the hall. I try to limit the distraction to other classes, but sometimes the joy just can’t be contained.

The other day I had my sophomore students reenact the story of The Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. There was an attack, a poor wounded babe, dancing celebrations of success, and God’s sustaining of our Mary Rowlandson through it all.

Those of you that know me may be wondering why I, a generally organized and structured teacher, would invite so much chaos into my classroom. The answer is simple and multifaceted.

One reason is memory. Ask any of the students about a story they have acted out and they can tell you all about it. It’s ‘isn’t that the one where John wore the red hat?’ ‘Oh yeah! Sarah got walled into the corner of the room.’ The students can recall with vivid detail the stories that we take the time and chaos to act out.

A second reason is the lessons that come from bringing order out of chaos. In Mark 4 Jesus calms the storm. “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm” (Mark 4:39). Jesus took the chaos of the storm, calmed it, and turned it into a lesson for his disciples. The Lord is a God of order, not of chaos; He has proved this again and again in Scripture from the very beginning of creation and all throughout the Bible.

Calming the chaos in my classroom after acting out a story may not be as miraculous as Jesus’ calming of the storm (although sometimes it does feel like a miracle), but I can use it just the same to teach lessons. I can use it to teach lessons about the story, yes, but also lessons about life, behavior, and spirituality. God presents so many opportunities to teach, and learn, about His nature through everything we do in the classroom, but I believe that the chaos and joy of acting out stories is a special one.