Ruth

Ruth 1:16-17New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

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!”

What I notice this time that I never paid attention before was the poetic form of Ruth's speech - which reminds me of both Hannah's song and Mary's magnificat.  

What it means, well, that's something I'm not sure about.  

But, it does make me think that somehow these women are connected.  Women who came from humble origins - from nowhere some would say.  Women who ended up being mothers who moved God's story forward in surprising ways.

Unlike Orpah from yesterday, Ruth does what isn't expected.  She breaks from tradition.  She remains loyal - fiercely loyal - to the woman who has become her family: a woman who has no blood ties to her.  A woman who isn't even of her tribe or country.  A woman who was an alien - refugee - to Ruth's land - and who brings Ruth now to be an alien - a refugee - to her land.  

It's hard not to read this story of a family created regardless of national boundaries and not think of the children who right now are refugees in our country.  Children who came either alone or with family they were separated from because they had no other place to turn.

I heard of a group of protesters in Arizona shouting at these children with signs that said "Not our children, not our problem" and I thought of Ruth - steadfastly staying by her mother-in-law's side.  Refusing to leave her alone.  Refusing to be defined by blood ties as family.

They are our children.  They are our problem.  And all I can hope is that someone fights as loyally and fiercely for them as Ruth did for Naomi.

God of the alien, remind us always that all boundaries are yours and your family is our family.  Amen.