Virtues
Order
quick ideas about order. What is order and how to practice it? Order in space. Order in time. Order in ideals.
EspañolA. What is order?
1. What is order?
Order is the arrangement of things according to a plan. It is opposed to chance and chaos. Acting with order is proper to intelligent beings, who set goals and organize things appropriately to achieve them.
2. Must order be strict?
It depends on the person. Some prefer to plan in detail. Others defend giving more room to improvisation. Both attitudes are correct and help to fulfill goals well. Excessive order can be restrictive and ineffective. Barely any order leads to chaos. In both cases there may be obsessions and failures in charity toward those who prefer more or less order. It will be prudence that helps to determine the right point. Without forgetting that the goal is not order but what is achieved with it.
3. Advantages of order?
This virtue brings many benefits that we will see. In general, an orderly person tends to be a better professional. Chaos is good for nothing.
4. Do order and creativity oppose each other?
No, no. Both operate in different fields. Creativity contributes ideas; order seeks the best way to put them into practice.
5. Does order oppose freedom?
Order only opposes the freedom of those who seek chaos. On the other hand, intelligent and free persons make their decisions and carry them out in the way they consider best, with order in the execution. Only excessive order can become oppressive.
6. Where to exercise order?
There are many fields in which to act with order. Five may be mentioned: order in space and in time; order in art; mental order and order in ideals. Let us proceed in order:
B. Order in space
1. What is spatial order?
Order in space invites us to place things in the right place, in the position that belongs to them: everything in its place. If the place for things is established in advance, arranging them is easy and it is almost enough to remember it. Other times one will have to improvise, and in this case order consists in acting with logic and harmony.
2. Advantages of spatial order?
Order among objects has several advantages:
- Normally it is faster to find something if it is in its place.
- Also an orderly room is more pleasant to the eye and easy to clean. Hence mothers appreciate greatly that their children improve in this quality.
- Spatial order helps the other types of order.
- This outward order reflects the person's inner order, and helps give a good impression. For this reason, at job interviews one is advised to be well presented. An exception: There are people who take great care to present a careless image, because in some circles order is not well regarded.
3. Does spatial order apply only to objects?
It applies mainly to objects but extends to other fields, for example, in personal grooming — hair in its place, dirt in its place, appropriate clothing in its place (fashion) — etc.
4. Excesses of spatial order?
If order in space is excessive, it can give rise to obsessions and failures in charity. For example, it is advisable to leave the room tidy when the work is finished, but it may be excessive to leave the ashtray at the exact coordinates on the table. It makes no difference whether it is in one position or another, and it sounds exaggerated to obligate oneself or others to exhaustive order.
5. How to exercise order in space?
There are several ways:
- Presenting work well: adequate margins, distinction of chapters... This is a form of spatial order: in the space of the paper. Curiously, calligraphy and spelling exercises have something to do with this order: the writing well placed, the accents in their place, etc.
- Leaving things tidy (in their place). Helping to set the table (each utensil in its place).
- Caring for one's external presentation — hairstyle, correct clothing, etc. — improves human dignity and helps spatial order, as has been said.
- When assembling an object made up of several pieces, this spatial order is exercised (each piece in its place). Here one can appreciate that manual work also improves with order.
C. Order in time, in art and in mind
1. Order in art?
This may be surprising because of the bohemian aspect of some artists, but order is inseparable from art. Good music achieves a fitting order of sounds. Quality painting and sculpture arrange forms and colors skillfully. Even the less conventional art will be valuable when it organizes its bold tones with skill.
2. What is mental order?
It is a quality of thought that moves from one idea to another harmoniously. It helps with study and clarity of expression. It is noticeable in conversation, in writing, etc.
3. How to exercise mental order?
To develop this virtue there are several methods:
- Making outlines is a way to exercise mental order. In general, this order improves with study since this activity requires organizing thoughts.
- Mental order also improves by reading historical accounts or listening to stories, since both follow a logical structure. It likewise improves by writing essays or taking exams.
4. What is temporal order?
Everything in its time. Order in time invites us to have a schedule, a distribution of activities that allows making good use of available minutes, without forgetting that reasonable rest is part of a correct schedule. On the other hand, if temporal order is excessive, obsessions and difficulties in charity may arise, as in the case of spatial order.
5. An example of temporal order?
When distributing time it is useful to distinguish the urgent from the important. There are things that are urgent but not very important, and vice versa. A correct schedule pays greater attention to what is important, although sometimes what is urgent demands immediate attention. To avoid wearing oneself out with the anxiety of the urgent, it is advisable to be somewhat forward-looking, and to take order in ideals into account.
6. How to exercise temporal order?
There are several ways, all of them related to making a schedule:
- Following a schedule on weekends as well.
- Having a schedule for watching television or using the computer.
- Caring for a schedule at mealtimes.
- Making a schedule for the holidays.
D. Order in ideals
1. What is order in ideals?
It is about having a scale of values, a set of priorities in life, to focus attention and effort on the things that truly matter. This order has great repercussions. If one gets right the correct ordering among the various interests and activities, life will unfold along appropriate paths.
2. Examples of wrong order?
If a young person thinks that entertainment is the most important thing in their life, they will probably not orient their actions well, neglecting their work or family. The same can be said of those who place pleasures first among their interests. If work is most important, some family duties may be neglected; but if family is above everything, people outside the family may be mistreated... And it is bad business if comfort or selfishness are placed first among one's concerns.
3. How to find the correct order among ideals?
Some guidelines may be proposed:
- Goods of a higher category must have priority. This rule is very clear and is the basis of the following ones.
- Obligations must be placed before whims.
- The goods of the soul are superior to those of the body, so that when choosing between one action and another, it is worth giving precedence to the good of souls.
- The greatest good is God, so that what must be cared for most is the relationship with Him. The Judeo-Christian tradition sums this up in the principal commandment: You shall love God above all things.
4. What place do evil actions occupy?
Acting badly is something to be avoided and therefore should not be present in any scale of values. We want to act well and order priorities among the possible goods, without leaving room for evil.
5. Does the Bible establish any order in ideals?
This may be the name given to a phrase of our Lord Jesus Christ when he clarifies priorities: First to love God with one's whole heart, then to love one's neighbor and oneself. We thus have a guideline about what is primary in the scale of values. First to love God, to desire to please him, to serve him. Then love of one's neighbor. In any case, to seek the good, for to love is to desire good for someone. We are invited to seek the good.
6. How to exercise order in ideals?
There are several ways of doing this, always by finding priorities:
- Putting study before entertainment is a way of practicing order in ideals.
- Putting Mass or prayer before other activities is another exercise of this virtue.
- Respecting meal times is an exercise of order in time, and is also a way of showing appreciation to whoever has prepared the meal: their schedule is cared for above other things — order in ideals.
- Going to bed on time exercises order in time, and develops a priority: rest, health and the next day's work take precedence over entertainment — order in ideals. Likewise, staying at work longer one evening shows a preference: work ahead of rest.