Ruth Blazes

The man of valour responded 

To the woman of valour

As the baton got passed to the

Kinsman redeemer

He took the problem to the city gate

For resolution

Since there was a potential kinsman redeemer

Closer to the family

But once he knew the steep cost involved

He withdrew from redeeming the land

So Boaz married Ruth

And we think, 'Oh a romance!'

And miss God's contribution

To this holy endeavour

Raised through partnership

When Ruth, the barren widow no more,

Gave birth to a boy

Who she puts into the arms of Naomi

Leaving the curtain to close

On an exclamation,

"Naomi has a son

Ruth Again

Naomi was facing hunger and poverty

As a barren widow in Bethlehem

But Ruth stepped in to fill

The emptiness 

Gleaning became a way to find food

But it would be so little

So Ruth asked Boaz for permission

To work among the harvesters

Rather than the gleaners

His acceptance 

Sent food from the field

And food from the table home for Naomi

In bountiful amounts--

Naomi's joy in God

Began to emerge

As the emptiness began to fill

And soon Naomi noticed Ruth

Recognized her as a foreigner in Israel 

And wanted to find a home for her

A place of protection 

In a land where Moabites were distrusted

Naomi hatched a plan

To get Ruth married

In a time and place where widowhood and barrenness 

Meant misery and hardship 

But Ruth wouldn't leave Naomi behind

She'd accept a husband

Only if the result would elevate Naomi

From emptiness 

And so she must know

Would Boaz partner with her

In a scheme to return Naomi's land

To being a place of bread?

Ruth Begins

Ruth joined the family

The family of the visitors from Bethlehem

The strangers who arrived with stories

Of famine from the City of Bread

Ruth joined the family

When she married a son

And a new rhythm of life began

As she learned of new ways

And a new God

A God of love and miracles and rescue

And yet the sadness continued

As husband after husband after husband

Died

Leaving

Naomi, Orpah and Ruth 

Alone with Naomi's God

Then news of bread arrived

And Naomi packed to go home

She began her travels with two daughters

In tow

But why take them to more sadness

So she sent them to their fathers' homes

To find new husbands and old gods

Only Ruth refused

An old god

She strengthened her ties to Naomi and

This new God and threw herself

Into His hands with a fervent trust

Leaving them to travel on together

To Bethlehem

Where the barley harvest had begun

Arrival meant a new busyness for Ruth

As Naomi announced her emptiness

With a new name--Mara

And bitterness arrived at her old home

Without the comfort of husband or sons

Ruth

God embraced fully

Opens life to surrogate 

For Naomi's son

Boaz

Man of valour in 

The wonder of partnership:

For hesed revealed

Naomi

Pleasant to bitter

Brings emptiness into view

Until a son smiles