There I was in my chair, reading the Christian Science Bible Lesson for that week, when I caught myself saying, “A ziggurat? What does this Bible story have to do with anything I’m dealing with?”
Prior to this particular day, I had found myself sometimes just reading the Lesson—but not praying it and really living it. Yet, as this week started, I promised myself I would not move past a section of the Lesson until I could glimpse some new concept from what I was reading that would help and heal, and bring me to a deeper, more spiritual level of thinking. And then I got to the ziggurat.
The ziggurat was the proper name for the tower mentioned in the story of Babel (see Genesis 11:1–9). A note about ziggurats that I came across in the my Bible Lesson notes for that week mentioned this fact: “Ziggurats resemble seven-story pyramids with each story slightly smaller than the one below it. The bases of these towers were as large as 300 feet x 300 feet, and they could be up to 300 feet tall. They would have been visible from anywhere inside the city.”
As I thought about the ziggurat of seven stories, it brought to mind the seven synonyms for God, which are biblically based and specifically defined in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: Principle, Life, Spirit, Soul, Mind, Love, and Truth (see p. 465). It occurred to me that the man-made tower, or ziggurat, could be understood as trying to simulate the true power of God. But because it is not made by God, it cannot manifest God’s power.
I dug into this study. At the time, I felt burdened with some caretaking responsibilities. They seemed to require all my attention and energy. I was confused and distracted—and I doubted from time to time that my sense of burden would ever be lifted.
When I read about the ziggurat, I honestly examined whether I was building a mental, man-made “tower” in my life that was getting all my attention, rather than God. I was entertaining thoughts of heredity, limits, organic and chronic health challenges, and other vague fears. I felt a lack of inspiration, trust, and joy in God, Spirit, Mind. I was letting all this “junk” build a tower in my thinking, rather than resorting to the real power of God that already was everywhere, and was good and freeing.
It occurred to me that the idea that a ziggurat could be visible everywhere in a city, seems potentially oppressive. Everywhere you’d turn, you’d see this big structure. Sometimes that is how confusion or pain can make us feel—everywhere in our thoughts and lives, we sense some oppressive big thing.
The Bible notes, however, that “the city of confusion is broken down” (Isaiah 24:10). I was grateful to accept with joy that from a spiritual perspective, any sense of confusion or oppression in my life was already broken down, and I didn’t need to feel burdened.
The study of the Lesson became rich and deep for the rest of that week. Confidence began to replace mere hope. I realized I could experience the truth that I live in Spirit. I felt a sense of joy and trust that God, Truth, does not need to make Truth true.
This lesson freed me from fear. The stress, anxiety, doubt, worry, and burden were released, and joy, comfort, and a greater peace took their place.
We don’t have to let anything dominate our lives and rob our inspiration and joy. Seeking a greater knowledge of God can free us from mental and emotional burdens. What a lesson I learned from the ziggurat!
Fort Collins, Colorado, US
