WAS I MAKING A MISTAKE STAYING WITH HER LIKE THAT?
Reading
But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.’ Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. They said to her, ‘No, we will return with you to your people.’ But Naomi said, ‘Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me.’ Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
So she said, ‘See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’ 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!’ Ruth 1:8-17
The meditation of Ruth
Was I making a mistake staying with her like that?
My sister thought so, plain enough,
Naomi too, mother-in-law or not.
And I could see why,
for I was a Moabite, not a Jew,
belonging, so they thought, with my own people,
my own family,
instead of a distant town in a foreign land.
What were my prospects there, you have to say?
What hope of finding a new husband,
starting a new home,
building a new life?
Precious little, there was no point denying it –
I would be a stranger with no place in their history,
their faith or their customs.
So when she told us to turn back,
I knew why she said it,
her only concern for our welfare,
thoughts all for us and none for her.
quite simply, she was exhausted,
mentally and spiritually –
life having dished out one heartbreak too many –
and though she tried to mask the sorrow with a smile,
I knew she’d given up,
ready now to suffer whatever fate might throw at her.
But for us it could be different –
that’s what she hoped anyway –
just because her future seemed grim
why should ours be too?
So yes, like my sister Orpah I could have left in good conscience,
gone back to the place of my birth.
There’d be a welcome there of sorts,
and no reason to feel guilty –
simply doing what was best for all.
Yet when I looked at her standing there,
so alone,
so helpless,
I couldn’t walk away,
not after all we’d shared together.
There were too many memories,
moments which bound us inseparably together –
triumphs and tragedies, pleasure and pain –
each uniting us in a way formal ties could never begin to.
So I stayed, hard though she tried to dissuade me;
I pledged my love,
my loyalty,
come what may.
It looked foolish, you’re quite right,
the wild impulse of a headstrong youngster,
but, you see, she wasn’t simply a mother-in-law to me,
she was a friend,
the one I’d turned to so often in time of need –
and this time she needed me.
I had a choice, in theory anyway,
but when it came to it there was no question,
none at all.
There was just one answer I could make,
one response which would do.
Could you have acted differently in my place?
I hope not.
Prayer
Lord,
we thank you today for family and friends,
those who have been part of our lives,
sharing significant moments with us.
We thank you for those we feel especially close to,
who we know will stand by us
even when life is difficult and our fortunes low.
We thank you for the fellowship we share in Christ,
the love we share together through him.
And, above all, we thank you for the friendship you bring,
watching over us every moment of every day
and working for good
through all the changing circumstances of our lives.
Teach us to put our trust in you always,
knowing that whatever we may face,
you will be by our side, to the end of time.
Amen.