Affirming God's Desire

Ruth 2:1-2 [1] Now Naomi had a kinsman on her husband’s side, a prominent rich man, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.  [2] And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain, behind someone in whose sight I might find favor.”  [Naomi] said to her, “Go my daughter.”

I am struck by Ruth's courage to encounter a new community, a new field, a new culture, a new people...alone.  And in her seeking in this new place she might be found in favor.

And I am struck that she has also the courage to bring this thought and feeling to Naomi, a trusted family member, to affirm her desire.  And she waits for this affirmation before she acts upon her desire.  "Go my daughter," says Naomi.

As we spent our entire first class here at SFTS working on the Social Discernment Cycle [BethLiebert is the real queen of discernment!!], I notice here with Ruth a critical aspect of finding a tentative answer [gleaning in the fields to find favor of one] and affirming the answer with a trusted advisor [Go my daughter] in community.

This affirmation in communnity helps in the discernment question, "Is this desire of God?"

May God grant us the patience to be diligent and courageous in the process of discernment.