Article May 26, 2008 Issue

LOVE SPEAKS BETWEEN THE LINES

BY CARYL EMRA FARKAS

It's election year in the United States. The media are full of political speech, spin, and commentary. We hear of red states, blue states, and voting analyses that categorize us by race, gender, age, geography, and class. We are told what things divide us, and we are appealed to to unite over special interest issues.

Language can get us fired up, but to achieve anything meaningful, words have to be connected to a solid, dependable foundation. Genuine inspiration, full of honesty, intelligence, and compassion, comes from glimpses of what it is that unites us at the deepest level and naturally brings out what is best in us all.

One of the earliest accounts of human culture in the Bible illustrates this need. In the story of the Tower of Babel (see Gen. 11), the residents of that ancient city come to think of themselves as all-powerful self-creators, and lose touch with the spiritual basis of their gifts and abilities. The dominant language they start out with symbolizes blind arrogance and cluelessness about where real inspiration comes from and what it is that can unite people. By the end of the story, they have lost everything, including their ability to communicate. Mary Baker Eddy offered this insight on the subject in the Glossary of Science and Health, describing Babel as representative of "Self-destroying error; a kingdom divided against itself, which cannot stand; material knowledge" (p. 581).

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