(Ruth 1:1-19a)

Ruth 1:16-18 

But Ruth said, ‘Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die—there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!’

When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

The Book of Ruth, curiously, opens with not an introduction to Ruth but Elimelech and his wife Naomi, people of Judah living in Moab. We learn why they are in this foreign land, famine in Judah and see in theses verses this family building a life, a security of sons. These sons grow and marry and in what feels like the blink of an eye, Naomi loses the men in her life. She loses, what brought her not only security but also a full heart. So, she chooses to return to her land, a little more than a memory to heal, to rest. Is there a place in your life, one of your childhood or maybe a time in your life where you felt secure? Then are their people, who even when you say, “I want to be alone,” really hear, “help?” Surprisingly for Naomi, that person was Ruth. A second daughter-in-law, a young woman, maybe she didn’t think she had much in common with and maybe had dismissed. Yet, Ruth steps forward and travels along side and the book of Ruth isn’t an ending but a beginning.

Prayer

Constant Companion Christ, at those moments we see a chapter close, a door shut, an empty heart within, may we also experience the rush of your Holy Spirit through that blank space, an opening of another door, even just a crack; and our heart able to fill again. May there be people in our lives who truly understand what we need, and may we be gracious and thankful when they journey with us. Christ, as you have promised, Amen.