Thursday, June 18, 2009

Babel or babble?

I was just reading a great article in this month's Christian Science Journal. I love the Journal for its indepth articles and this one really made me think. The story of the tower of Babel is found in Genesis following Noah and the flood. This ties in with the second account of creation, the one where God creates man from the dust of the ground and woman from one of Adam's ribs. These children disobey and are punished, sent from the garden of Eden out into the world. This is not the loving Father who creates man and woman in His own image and likeness and gives them dominion.
A couple of hundred years later the earth is populated. The people are basing all their knowledge on the material sense of things. God is not among them but high up in the heavens. At least they were all of one speech. One section of the population decides to build a huge structure that will reach up to where God is. Jehovah visits the site and in anger, confuses their language so they cannot communicate. The people then scatter.
This allegory has many applications to our daily experience. We can choose which version of creation we believe to be true. This is what you base everything upon, this is what you understand about God and your relationship to Him. But if you choose that second version you accept that there is disobedience, anger, jealousy, hatred, ambition, cruelty all around you. And that God is an angry, punishing Father. You choose to accept as real what you can see with your eyes and hear with your eyes as realitly.
This picture of our world puts men and women at odds with one another. We find ourselves in situations where cooperation is needed and instead, those involved are not communicating. There is misunderstanding and mistrust. This is not dominion, this is not all things working together for good. Babble.
If you find yourself surrounded by babble, just take a step back and choose instead the first account of Genesis. God's beloved child has never left that account, but demonstrates dominion. All of divine Mind's ideas dwell together in harmony and progress is the law of God, good.
Babel or babble? It's your choice to make.