Some thoughts about Ruth

I was thinking about Ruth yesterday, you know the your God will be my God Ruth, and did a little reading to get some interpretations of her story and what it means. I found this thoughtful, well written essay about what might happen if Ruth and Naomi came to America today.

http://www.shalomctr.org/node/884

Here's the beginning. If you're a person of the book you might want to read the whole thing.

In the biblical story, Ruth was welcomed onto the fields of Boaz, where she gleaned what the regular harvesters had left behind. Boaz made sure that even this despised foreigner had a decent job at decent pay. When she went one night to the barn where the barley crop was being threshed, he spent the night with her — and decided to marry her.

But — if Ruth came to America today, what would happen?

Would she be admitted at the border?

Or would she be detained for months without a lawyer, ripped from Naomi's arms while Naomi's protest brought her too under suspicion — detained because she was, after all, a Canaanite who spoke some variety of Arabic, possibly a terrorist, for sure an idolator?

If you're not so much a person of the book, or if you are but you only read bits and pieces, the gleaning refers to God's commands to not wring every last bit from your harvest, but to leave specific parts for those who in need. Especially named are the poor, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. The corners are my favorite part. The first time I remember being really pleased with God was when I was a kid and I learned he reserved the corners for the needy. Go God!

You can read more about that here. http://www.topical-bible-studies.org/03-0044.htm

Ruth is very important to Christians because David came from her line, and eventually both Mary and Joseph. That's right, she's the n-great grandmother of Jesus.