By Cathy Hird

In an ancient Hebrew story, we are told of a time when humankind had one language and few words. People moved to a wide plain and decided to build a massive city with a great tower in its centre. They wanted to make a name for themselves, to draw all people to this one place so that they would not be scattered over the whole world.

And so they worked together, making bricks and mortar, laying a foundation, drawing stones. Working as one, they built a massive city and a beautiful tower.

And God looked down and saw what people did and became concerned.God said, "Nothing will be impossible for them." God saw that all people were coming to this one place, and such a concentration of power would lead to abuse of each other and of this part of the earth.

(And if I may interpolate a little here based on what happens next) God saw all the empty places in the world that people were ignoring. God saw lands that needed tending, needed the care that humanity could provide if people chose. God saw a singleness of purpose that neglected so many dreams and possibilities. With all the focus on this one spot and this one project, so much was left out.

So God breathed on the people and confused their language. Suddenly, there were many, many words and different ways of putting the words together. In an instant, people who spoke to their neighbour could not be understood. Frustration erupted as orders were not followed because, although the voice was heard, most could not understand it. Confusion reigned so that this tower became known as Babel.

With the building project in disarray, people left the city and the plain. Humanity scattered over the face of the earth.

It was good for humanity to spread out, and for diversity to sprout. But there were challenges with this gift. People who could not understand each other built walls to keep the Other out. Conflict erupted from mis-communication. Some built oppressive empires to re-establish homogeneity. Humanity scattered yes, but became divided and disrespectful of difference.

There is a later story of recovery, a time when the curse of Babel was healed.

After Jesus died, his followers stayed in Jerusalem. He had instructed them to wait until the Spirit of God came upon them. On the day that commemorated the giving of the law to Moses, something happened to the disciples. An experience like the touch of fire and the pressure of gale force winds came to them. They were filled with understanding and a desire to share it.

They went out to the street and began to preach. But they did not speak only Aramaic, the common language of the land. In that instant, they were able to speak many languages. In the city, there lived people from all over, people who spoke languages of Mesopotamia, Arabia, Persia, and all the lands of Mediterranean region. Every one of those people heard the disciples speak in their mother tongue, the language of home. Every one of the multitude, people from different lands and different cultures, people who spoke different languages, every one of them heard the disciples speak and understood.

The important thing about this story is that the response to diversity was diversity. The Spirit did not make all the listeners understand Aramaic--presumably if they lived in Jerusalem they already had a working knowledge of that language and of Hebrew. What the Spirit did was enable the disciples to speak in many different tongues.

Where the building of the city called Babel sought to draw all people to one place, the gift of the Spirit was a gift of scattering: people reached out to others in their own tongue, with the languages of the places they came from.

Too often we seek to heal divisions with the tyranny of homogeneity. True healing comes when difference is respected and we learn to honour diversity and embody difference.

Cathy Hird is a farmer, minister, and writer living near Walter's Falls.