[About the Tower of Babel:]
But God intervenes, not to punish them, but to disrupt their project of homogenization. God creates diversity where there was uniformity, scattering them with new languages, new cultures, and a plethora of voices. They wanted control, but God imposed chaos – a kind of holy chaos that prevents the concentration of power.
Walter Brueggemann speaks to this, noting that a human unity, when built outside God’s will, often ends in “oppressive conformity.” The people of Babel weren’t just unified; they were uniform. And in that uniformity was a desire to control what was different and unpredictable. But the Spirit of God is a Spirit of disruption, making space for the multitude of stories that refuse to stay silent.
— Kat Armas, Liturgies for Resisting Empire, p. 145
Photo: Burnside Farms, Nokesville, Virginia, April 7, 2026