On the Way to Wonder

“Now Thank We All Our God” was a Thanksgiving hymn yet to be written at the time of Ruth.  But Ruth, like the author Martin Rinkart, lived in times of great difficulty, famine.  Rinkart, a Lutheran minister, lived in Eilenburg, Germany during political and military conflicts sending refugees to his town.  During a great plague he held as many as 50 funerals a day in 1637.  He was the only surviving pastor from the plague and did 4000 funerals that year!  I suspect that when he met Ruth in heaven, they had stories to swap of hard times endured and the exhaustion plus blessing of caring for people. 

         We have come almost to the end of Chapter 3 of Ruth.  She married the son of Naomi who fled famine in Bethlehem only to meet death, leaving her a young childless wife widowed.  She chose to risk returning to Bethlehem with Naomi but struggled to survive there.  Gleaning, “per chance” in the field of a distant relative, Boaz, the two women hatch a plan to offer Ruth to marry him.  The “match maker” role does not seem to have come into practice yet.  Boaz is flattered by Ruth’s offer to be married to him but realizes there is a relative who has stronger rights, so heads off to the city gate to settle the words.  Our “she-roe” waits.  I wonder if she would have found comfort in this tune, written centuries later, during those anxious hours as she, as he, and as we wait for the outcome of our prayers.

1 Now thank we all our God
with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things has done,
in whom his world rejoices;
who from our mothers’ arms
has blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.

2 O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessed peace to cheer us,
to keep us in his grace,
and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ills
of this world in the next.

3 All praise and thanks to God
the Father now be given,
the Son and Spirit blest,
who reign in highest heaven
the one eternal God,
whom heaven and earth adore;
for thus it was, is now,
and shall be evermore.

Perhaps take time this morning to listen to this modern rendition and may it strengthen you as you wait for your answers to this weeks prayers.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a6VmcfAJ3o  Blessings.

“The Glitch.”  Have you ever got into a project only to discover there is one more form to fill out, one more office to visit, or one more unanticipated thing to do?  It is so frustrating.  Prayers that are answered “no,” while disappointing give us a clear path.  We can grieve, eat a donut and move on.  It is the care-plans that require waiting for some unforeseen step that are challenging.  Ruth has done all that her mother-in-law has advised.  She has worked hard, gleaning in the fields, exposing herself to rejection at the threshing floor at night, and then she hears, “Wait.”  Boaz is appreciative, understands her proposal of marriage, says that all the townsmen know of what noble character Ruth is BUT there is a kinsman redeemer who has first opportunity to redeem Naomi’s property including Ruth.

         The questions must have swirled in Ruth’s mind.  Did Naomi not know there was another man who had first choice?  Will she be part of an agreement to someone she has not worked to know and whom she respects?  I can imagine that confidence in herself and in her relationships must have collapsed.  My daughter has been waiting for six months to cross into Canada for a job she accepted.  President Elect is waiting for the turnover to start.  Others wait by the bedside of a beloved with Covid.  We wait for the vaccine.  Waiting is hard work and challenging to our souls.  We live in a “now” generation.

         Ruth hears Boaz’s word that he will deal with the issue that day.  She returns home to Naomi and reports in and Naomi encourages her that Boaz will settle the words.  So frustrating!  Care plans take time to unfold.  It takes work to get everyone onboard for the action.  Getting the whole family to agree that a relative has Alzheimer’s and which facility to use is complicated. Waiting for the acceptance letter to the college of your choice is nerve racking.  In fact, we often spend time waiting for life to unfold.

         We do not read that Ruth kept her anxiety inside herself or resorted to eating donuts or drinking alcohol.  She just waited.  We can imagine how she filled the hours.  How do we wait when answers to prayers delay?  Do we accuse God of having a glass ceiling?  Do we get irritated with everyone around us?  Do we despair and resort to comfort escapes?  Sharing our situation with a friend often brings comfort and support. King David had to wait for God’s promise of kingship to materialize.  He wrote a lot of poetry, psalms, during that time.  Psalm 27:10-14 says

Teach me your way, O Lord,
    and lead me on a level path
    because of my enemies.
¹² Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,
    for false witnesses have risen against me,
    and they are breathing out violence.

¹³ I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord!

As we wait today for our care plans to be worked out, may we wait on the Lord.  Blessings.

“Spread the corner of your blanket over me, since you are a kinsman redeemer,” Ruth asks Boaz when he wakes up in the middle of the night at the threshing floor to find a woman sleeping at his feet.  Ruth identifies herself as “his servant” and proposes to Boaz invoking the cultural tradition of kinsman redeemer.  Ruth proposes.  I’ve never thought of it that way.  Ruth a “foreigner,” “widow,” powerless woman” in non-American culture has shown amazing proactive ability in the midst of circumstances that would make us think she is powerless.  She refuses to return home in Chapter 1 and align herself with the “same ole, same ole” but steps forward to align herself with Naomi.  It was a toss-up if this was better odds.  By Chapter 2 she has observed, listened and asked to glean grain in any ole field to stave off starvation.  Life is hard but she works hard, putting in long hours in back breaking labor.  Now in Chapter 3 Naomi advises her to break with tradition and go to the threshing floor at night and approach Boaz.  Interestingly, Naomi did not go to Boaz.  Naomi is not asserting her cultural rights but Naomi is healing from bitterness and grief – that is her story.  Ruth’s story is long-term care in a seemingly powerless situation.  How did she do it?

         I first note she self identifies as “servant” when Boaz asks who is sleeping at his feet.  Ruth does not raise her fist and demand her rights but coyly acknowledges “the system” and her need for help.  Perhaps we call that “meekness,” not the meekness that means you get beat-up by a bully but the meekness that signals internal strength and control. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth, (Matthew 5:5).”  With humility, Ruth approaches Boaz, acknowledging his status, acknowledging her need and relationship but I sense also acknowledging his power of decision over the outcome.  That does not seem to threaten her nor cower her into silence.  She has internal power to navigate life amidst the social realities.

         Secondly I note her request that Boaz lay “a corner of your garment.”  She does not request the whole pie, just a piece.  How often in our search for happiness and care, are we so focused on the goal that we discard and discredit the small steps along the way?  As I reflect on dating in my youth, I remember the interrogation by roommates after the date and always in the back ground was the question of love and proposal.  My husband would say while dating, “Wouldn’t you rather bicycle through the Redwoods?”  I had not studied Ruth then.

         We are reading Ruth through the lens of care relationships.  Someone in the relationship of caring is often struggling with feelings of powerlessness.  Today I ponder what titles I speak into those situations.  “Servant” is a gentle, respectful lens to see myself and the other.  It feels like love, concern and compassion as opposed to “duty.”  Also I must ask myself if I can be content with just a “corner” or am I demanding the whole blanket?  In Ezekiel 16:8 God speaks using the same imagery of discovering Israel abandon and helpless and that he spreads “the corner of his garment over her.”  Blankets have many corners.  God has many ways to come along side.  May you enjoy the journey in your care relationships today.  Blessings.

Words of Wisdom come in various forms.  For some, reading Scripture informs their thinking.  For others, culture teaches them.  For many, the teaching of family is foundational.  Do you remember as a child, chanting with friends as you walked to school, “Step on a crack, break your mother’s back.  Step on a line, break your mother’s spine”?  I can hear my mother saying, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you!” meaning I should treat my boss with respect.  Likewise, “The client is always right” were words of wisdom for dealing with cranky customers at Woolworths. 

         Naomi comes to Ruth in the book of Ruth with a plan to “catch a husband,” a possible “long-term care plan” to give Ruth a long-term home in Bethlehem and to provide security for Ruth’s future.  The rest of chapter 3 has intrigued readers.  Is Naomi suggesting Ruth enticing Boaz into a sexual encounter in the middle of the night after he has threshed, eaten, and is drunk?  My husband votes for this interpretation.  The modern day equivalent might be living together hoping for a proposal.  I find it incongruent with the tone of the whole book to boil this down to a sexual encounter. I would rather see the plan as a culturally acceptable way for Ruth to signal Boaz that she is open to a proposal.  Naomi suggests that Ruth go to the threshing floor and note where Boaz is working and then after dinner and drinking and when the men settle down to sleep, note where he is sleeping, “then go and uncover his feet and he will tell you what to do.”  That advice is cloaked in history and culture.

         Advice.  A possible question to ponder today is to reflect on our criteria for the people we listen to as we make long-term care plans.  Determining reliable advice for actions to be undertaken is a genuine challenge today.   Television and Internet ads certainly try to convince us who are the best lawyer to plead our case, the best insurance company to look after our car or health, and even the best products for whatever our concern.  Having just lived through the barrage of political lingo about who can insure our future, we may turn to government…as we hope to make it to Social Security age.  Friends and family counsel.  Having just moved to a new state, all the choices about care and all the words of advice are overwhelming.  Ruth did not have the advantage of modern media but she did have a concerned mother-in-law.  Ruth agrees to go to the threshing floor.

         Who do you turn to for advice when you need care? OR, if someone comes to you, are you an honest and reliable friend?  Take some time today to reflect on people who have been there for you, to help you chart your future. A note of gratitude to them might be considered.  Was there a specific incident or piece of advice that sticks in your mind?  In a different column you might list places where you need reliable advice at this point in your life as you look into the future seeing dimly.  Prayer is always part of the solution.  God answers but we must be listening. He does not always give the answer we are wanting or expecting.   Looking at the back of your Bible in the concordance for a key search word not only provides ideas to ponder but often stimulates creative thinking. “Lord speak into the silence today as we wait on you!”  Blessings.

“My safe place.” “Security.”  The NRSV translates Ruth 3:1 as Naomi saying to Ruth, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you.”  What is security or safety?  Where do you feel safe?

         As a child the rule was established that our beds were our “safe place.”  “You can’t touch me, I’m on my bed!” I would say to my sister.  When facing the decision to restart public worship with all the protective guidelines in place, a leader in the church said, “Church is my safe place.”  At home the person fell, received groceries on the doorstep and was isolated.  The risk of infection after following all the guidelines was worth the security this person felt by being in worship.  Naomi looked into the future and realized that as a widow with Ruth, a widow, something had to be done.  The “long-term care plan” we called it yesterday.

         Webster defines security as safety, free from anxiety, freedom from fear of loss like a job.  It involves a degree of surety or trust and protection.  Naomi presents a strategy for Ruth to alert Boaz that she is willing to remarry.  Nowadays when divorce is so common, marriage may not feel like a very safe plan but still we often long to see our children married, loved and appreciated.  Some people invest in insurance plans as financial security is always a question at the door.  Medical insurance works similarly.  As a youth in the 60s and the Cold War looming, there was a big push on Bible memorization so that in the case of nuclear war or if taken as a prisoner, the Word of God would be in our hearts.  Fears drive our search for security; fear of loneliness, of illness, of helplessness, of “the enemy.”           Psalm 91 speaks to my heart during fearful times.  The plans we create provide a sense of security but a true long-term plan lasts beyond marriage!  Psalm 91.

You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
    who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
² will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
    my God, in whom I trust.”
³ For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
    and from the deadly pestilence;
⁴ he will cover you with his pinions,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of the night,
    or the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
    or the destruction that wastes at noonday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only look with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹ Because you have made the Lord your refuge,^[b]
    the Most High your dwelling place,
¹⁰ no evil shall befall you,
    no scourge come near your tent.

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways.
¹² On their hands they will bear you up,
    so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the adder,
    the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

¹⁴ Those who love me, I will deliver;
    I will protect those who know my name.
¹⁵ When they call to me, I will answer them;
    I will be with them in trouble,
    I will rescue them and honor them.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy them,
    and show them my salvation.

Ruth 3:1, “One day Naomi her (Ruth’s) mother-in-law said to her, ‘My daughter, should I not try to find a home for you, where you will be provided for?’”  Naomi, the widowed wife in Chapter 1 who is overcome with grief at the death of her husband and two sons, who returns to Bethlehem bitter, and who in Chapter 2 passively gives Ruth permission to go out and glean in the harvest fields so they have food to eat, now takes an active role in caring for Ruth.  We cannot control contextual dramas like famine or perhaps election outcome or virus statistics.  We can take care of very basic needs like hunger through gleaning or food shelves or welfare but we as people have other emotional and even spiritual needs.  Naomi begins to wonder how she can help Ruth develop a “long term care plan.”  Food is for the moment but security is long term.  As we start Chapter 3 of Ruth, we start looking into the future.

         As Americans we hear about all the insurance policies we are encouraged to invest in for that day we hope will never come in the hospital or care facility.  We might even join groups that provide identity and community.  For youth that often means gangs but it can also mean church groups or other clubs where we can meet people and “network.”  Before we get into this chapter, let’s take a few minutes to think about our emotional, social, personal, or perhaps spiritual needs.  It seems to me that as we list needs, we can acknowledge how that need is met for example “I appreciate the love of my family.” Or that need might need a little tweeking, “I would like to start a conversation at the Y with that lady I always see.”  Lastly that need may need a repair plan, “I really need to call my sister and apologize for the rift and my part in it.”

         As I ponder a scriptural perspective on care plans, the sermon text for next Sunday, Matthew 25:31-45, comes to mind.  We will look at the return of Christ and the division of the sheep and goats.  People are arranged by care groups.  Those who reached out and became engaged with neighbors in need are put on one hand and those who did not care for others will be put on the other.  Interestingly neither realizes when they did or did not care.  Ponder, what are the basic security needs you have that need care and how can you help care for the needs of those in your life.  Blessings.  This is hard stuff.

“Be Still M Soul,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqKVFYD8Obc is my song for the end of chapter 2 of Ruth.  Life still is not easy for our main characters but a “care plan” has been initiated, gleaning to first meet Naomi and Ruth’s basic physical need, hunger.  Ruth asks to glean, to gather grain left by the side of the road or dropped by harvesters.  Hard work.   But….”as it turned out…”,  “just then….”  As Ruth patiently gleans, the events of her life are changing,

         Katharina von Schlegal wrote this hymn in German in 1752.  One hundred years later, it was translated into English by Jane L. Borthwick in Scotland and published in :Jymns from the Land of Luther Series 2”.  Jean Sibelius, a Finish composer wrote the tune that has stuck and blessed many.  Katharina von Schlegal was a product of the Pietistic Revival sweeping Europe, encouraging people to put emotions into song.  Jean Sibelius was a product of Finnish people seeking to finding voice  under the Russian Empire.  Germany, Scotland, Finland, are part of threads developing this hymn that has blessed many as they wait patiently in the midst of their trials on God.

Be still my soul the Lord is on thy side
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain
Leave to thy God to order and provide
In every change He faithful will remain
Be still my soul thy best, thy heavenly friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end

Be still my soul when dearest friends depart
And all is darkened in the vale of tears
Then shalt thou better know His love His heart
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears
Be still my soul the waves and winds shall know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below

Be still my soul the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord
When disappointment grief and fear are gone
Sorrow forgot love’s purest joys restored
Be still my soul when change and tears are past
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last

“You have given me comfort and have spoken kindly to me your servant – though I do not have the standing of one of your servant girls,” responds Ruth to Boaz’s invitation for her to continue gleaning in his field, safe and protected.  Ruth, a hungry widow “perchance” starts gleaning grain in the field of Boaz in ancient Israel.  She does not know that he is related to her late father-in-law.  He is kind to her.  Why?  What motivates us to kindness?

         Perhaps Boaz is a man of scripture and was raised being taught Proverbs 15:1, “A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger.”  While the timeline may not suggest that, common courtesy may have been taught by his mother. I can hear my doubtful thoughts, “he’s just being polite.”

         Perhaps Boaz was being kind to butter Ruth up because she was beautiful and he had ulterior motives.  Women had little defense in those days and a foreigner gleaning probably had no one to run to.  Ruth acknowledges her helplessness and her appreciation. “Thank you”-s means a lot.

         Let me suggest another thought.  Boaz, we learn in the genealogy of Matthew 1:5 is the son of Salmon who married Rehab.  Rehab is one of the women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus and was the woman who hid the spies checking out the Promised Land for Joshua.  Boaz’s mother was a foreigner!  How many times had Boaz heard his mother’s story was a child?  I suspect he had a soft spot in his heart for the plight of women coming into the Jewish story.

         Events in our lives may feel “random” and often we scratch our head and wonder why we had to go through a rough experience.  It is only later that we better understand the trajectory of our life.  As we are able to travel and care for others going through similar experiences, we gain perspective and can offer “gentle words,”  2 Corinthians 1:3-5 shares,

            ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father        of mercies and the God of all consolation, ⁴ who consoles us in all our          affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any          affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled   by God. ⁵ For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so        also our consolation is abundant through Christ.

As you care for others in your life today, may you if faced with exhaustion,  find that gentle answer that turns away anger, and may you reach into the experiences that God has carried you through to find the compassion to reach out to another.  Blessings.  Life is not random!

            “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of    wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it   was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the      season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of   despair, we had everything before us, we …”

are the famous words introducing Tale of Two Cities.  Classic.  Many of us had to read the book as youth.  These words seem to describe so many situations and the plight of our hero Ruth in the book of Ruth.  A foreigner, reduced by hunger to gleaning in a stranger’s field, she is working hard to just stay alive and keep her mother-in-law fed too.  It was the worst of times for Ruth and Naomi.  But…  It was the best of times because “as it turned out she found herself” in the field of Boaz, a relative of Naomi’s husband.  “Just then” Boaz visits his field and the plot thickens.  Introductions are so important.  How do I present myself and how do others present me?

         I note that Boaz first talks to his foreman to check out what’s happening.  Reliable care-giving requires reliable research.  Aid work drilled water holes in the desert in northern Kenya because people were hungry.  Communities formed around the water, schools were started, families were divided as some followed the herds and some stayed with civilization, and one result was broken families and desertification.  To go to school children needed clothes so lines formed at my door asking me to makes shorts.  Then the lines for soap to wash the shorts.  Then lines to mend the shorts that fell in the fire!  There is a ripple effect to care-giving.  Boaz checks with his foreman.  The foreman affirms Ruth’s character as a hard worker.

         Boaz then approaches Ruth, “My daughter, listen…”  What an interesting opener.  How do we see those we help?  “My client,” “my patient,” “my husband,” or perhaps our heart sees them as “my burden, my responsibility, or my good deed.”  Boaz calls Ruth “daughter.”  He establishes his authority and seniority in an inclusive, gentle title, “daughter.”  He then goes on to put boundaries, clearly explaining how she can safely glean.  Care-giving relationships can easily get murky if expectations and boundaries are not clear.  Motives can come into question or even abuse result.

         Interestingly Ruth humbly accepts his offering agreeing that she is “a foreigner.”  There are many applications possible from this text as we too live our lives in the midst of “good times” and “bad times.” I ponder the titles we use to greet others or to describe ourselves.  Titles so easily divide, establish hierarchy and authority.  Perhaps a spiritual exercise today is to list the titles you call yourself that establish relationship with others and to list the parameters you place around a couple of those care-giving situations.  God calls me “beloved,”  We can sing today that chorus, “I’m my beloveds and he is mine, his banner over me is love.”