By Jim Nichols

The first character we meet in the musical play Mary Poppins is Winifred Banks as she returns to her London home in 1910; she has been attending a Suffragette rally. She finds that her two children have run away from home again, and yet another unacceptable nanny has quit. The father in the house (George Banks) insists on hiring nannies that the children (Jane and Michael) drive away with their independence. The search begins for a new nanny and, of course, Mary Poppins shows up (actually she appears from the sky floating down with an umbrella).

George Banks is a precise man, strict, driven, and highly disciplined; he wishes his children to be trained in the same traits. His last name is not an accident since he works at Dawes Tomes Mouseley Grubbs Fidelity Fiduciary Bank. The bank operates in an orderly fashion, and his life is equally orderly. He wishes his children would be guided with a goal of financial prosperity; for instance, outings for the children should have a purpose, not for fun.

Mary Poppins and her varied friends, of course, have a different view of childhood growth. They can integrate discipline and responsibility with music and overall delight. A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down. 

As the show unfolds, of course, even George Banks realizes that he has taken the concept of “order” into the negative range. Mary Poppins and the children completely disorder his life, and he must re-order it in a healthier manner. By the end of the play, he sees life differently. In fact, he establishes a new (and more positive) order.

This is a display of what we have all learned, isn’t it? Our lives are packed with periods that display a reasonable amount of predictability. During those times, there is overall stability in health, finances, comfort, and location. We know where we are going tomorrow and probably who will be there when we get there. 

Often abruptly, however, something goes awry. The plan did not work; the project flopped; the pain did not go away by itself.

It is amazing that as common as this order-disorder-reorder pattern occurs in our lives, we still act surprised by it. 

Is it not reasonable that this is a major technique that God incorporates for our growth and maturity? I am not suggesting that God carefully manipulates our lives in this way, but if, indeed, “. . . all things work for good for those that love the Lord. . .” it makes sense that life will include periods of order that are periodically destroyed and a new order established. This would appear to be as God created it. 

Here at the beginning of a new school year, I alert students to expect this pattern. Last year’s study efforts might have worked fine last year, but they may need revision this year. Those friends and habits from just a few months ago probably need reassessment. Expect it.

The phenomenon of aging that some of us find ourselves in follows this predictable pattern. My mind in general thinks I am forty years old with young children in the home. There was a predictable order to that life. It no longer exists and that brings a certain amount of pain.

Now we sense rightly that it appears we will miss out on some of our aspirations. Some of those goals were not so logical after all, really. But we have discovered a simplification that is rewarding. We have life flexibility to a larger extent and can distribute our time and energy in new ways. I am not sure I am comfortable with poet T. S. Eliot’s description of me, but his words are challenging: “Old men ought to be explorers.” 

Our mistakes have taught us a lot. Perhaps as we age, we can share a bit of that if we encounter listening ears and hearts. Not all our wisdom will have value for others, but their responsibility is to sift through it and use it as they establish new orders for their lives. 

The movement from order to disorder and on to order again (a new order) seems to be the pattern of life. It is true academically, personally, and spiritually. 

Jim Nichols is a retired Abilene Christian University biology professor and current hospital chaplain