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The Forward Day by Day Meditation for January 20, 2022

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THURSDAY, January 20 Fabian

Genesis 11:5-6 The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the LORD said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

After the flood, scripture tells us that the whole earth had one language and the same words. The Lord came down to see the city and tower and then decided to disperse the people and “confuse their language.”

For years, I couldn’t understand why God would dismantle one singular language to make many languages, scattered across the world.

Today, though, I view this scripture passage through the dynamics of power and privilege. God saw that folks were building a city where everyone thought alike and spoke the same language. But God desires that we value diversity, not uniformity, that we understand that our strength comes from many voices and ideas and cultures. God dispersed the people to many places with many languages so that no single language or people would tower over the other.

MOVING FORWARD: Can you think of examples where we use language to make others feel less than? How can you speak up?

Pray for the Diocese of Kabba (Nigeria)

Ps 37:1-18 * 37:19-42 | Genesis 11:1-9 | Hebrews 6:13-20 | John 4:1-15