An immigrant's tale

I remember Paul Harvey telling “the rest of the story…”  His catchphrase came to me after trying to read just the first chapter in the Book of Ruth today.  It ended rather abruptly, piquing my interest enough to read “the rest of the story” to see what else would happen, even though I’ve read it before.

Patterns of migration are commonplace throughout the contemporary world.  Most of these migrants think of their moves as temporary, allowing them enough time to earn some capital for themselves and their families, so that they can then return home, to lead a better life there.  Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way.  Many of them have a unique tale to tell.

In a nutshell the Book of Ruth is an “immigrant’s tale”. 

In the first chapter, Elimelech and his wife Naomi and sons, left Bethlehem for the plains of Moab because “there was a famine in the land”.

Sometime later, Naomi’s husband died, leaving her a widow.  And her two sons also died, leaving two daughters-in-law who were not of the house of Israel.  Naomi heard that the famine in Israel had broken and so advised Orpah and Ruth to stay in their own country.  That’s when Ruth professed her loyalty to her mother-in-law.

So not one, but two widows were all who were left in this family.  They were doubly defenseless, being widows without much of a bright future remaining to them.  That’s why when Naomi (whose name means “pleasant one”) returned to her village and her neighbors recognized her, she told them to call her Mara (“bitter one”) because she had suffered so much loss.

 Naomi’s pain was palpable.  In just a handful of verses in the second chapter, the Book of Ruth suggests so much.  In my reflection, it became difficult to tell whether her conniving to get Ruth married off was a ploy to simply get her out of the house or to actually act for the good of her daughter-in-law.  Nonetheless, Naomi counseled Ruth how to “get her man.”

 The rest of the story is that Boaz, a relative of Naomi, married Ruth. They had a son named Obed who was the father of Jesse who was the father of King David.

 What I find good and helpful about the rest of the story is to see how God continues to work in the midst of grief and loss.  The Lord isn’t put off by our bitterness.  Rather, God seems to turn things to the good through Naomi’s mourning and Ruth’s status as an immigrant / refugee.  What a great deal!

I pray that He is working out the same deal for the rest of us who have our own “immigrant tales”.