Ruth 2:15-18
New International Version (NIV)
15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her.16 Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”
17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.[a] 18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.
Footnotes:
- Ruth 2:17 That is, probably about 30 pounds or about 13 kilograms
My reflection: It has been said that all good stories have a beginning a middle and an end. For me this story of Ruth, when she meets Boaz, is starting to close to the middle for my liking. I think it is necessary to understand that Boaz was a "close kinsman" to Naomi's deceased husband, Elimelek. There is some ambiguity as to the exact relationship between Boaz and Elimelek, but I am not thinking they were brothers, because I think it would say "brothers" if that were the case. I am thinking Boaz could be a cousin, or a nephew...but nothing more distant than that. He was close enough in the family circle to hear all that family gossip that rolls around, and knew that Ruth (that foreign lady that married Naomi's son) had stayed with her mother-in-law and was helping to take care of her. So, I am not surprised that when Ruth accidentally ends up in his field, he is kind to her and offers her not only the opportunity to pick up the last of the fallen barley, but encourages her to take some grains straight from the stalk. None of this would have happened for Ruth, if she had not FIRST taken loving care of Naomi. I think that had she been cruel to Naomi, firstly she would have never been in that field to begin with because she would have stayed in her own homeland, or Boaz would have known she was an evil wench and sent her packing right away. This story, to me, is a good example of "karma" come around to pay it back. For me, the "real life lesson" here, is simply be kind to others when you can, because you just never know when you will be blessed in return, and it is simply the "right thing" to do. I don't know why, but this story always reminds me of my mother in law, and her sisters. She, like me, comes from a family of 4 girls. When her father was alive, he was domineering, headstrong, and often harsh. Yet, when he had a stroke, and had to be put in a care center, she would go almost daily, with her sisters, to make sure he was comfortable. They would take him reading materials, and would pick him up to take him to lunch, and sit with him through medical procedures. Usually their visits would result in him insulting them, or their husbands, or him saying some other mean thing that would make her cry. I once asked her why she continued to go visit him. He was habitually really cruel to her. She KNEW he was going to be mean to her, yet she continued to go visit him. I wanted to know why. She told me "He may be a mean old son-of-a-bitch, but I'm not." She went on to explain, that even though he was an ornery old cuss, he was in need of her assistance, whether he wanted it or not. It was HER CHOICE to determine her response. I have often thought of her answer when I am placed in situations I don't want to be in, and try to remember that even though I may not always be happy with my circumstances, I can still choose to conduct myself with kindness and grace, because I'm not a mean old S-of-a-B, either. My hope is, that like Ruth, if I am kind to others, kindness will come back to me.
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