Today’s Reading: Ruth 1:1-18
It seems so appropriate that today (All Saints Sunday) we hear a portion of the story of Ruth – for I can’t think of anyone who embodies the quality of a saint better than Ruth.
So what qualities or characteristics make a saint?
Well, there are lots of ways to answer that question. One of the more obscure would be to say a saint is a person who helps you see the world differently. Let’s use the opening verses from the book of Ruth as an example.
In the world in which Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi lived, women were seen in one-dimensional terms. Their value lay in their ability to produce - and hopefully care for - a family. Apart from that, their value was minimal. That’s why when Naomi lost her two sons – she released her surviving daughters-in-law to move on. “Why would you come with me,” Naomi asked the women. She asked that question because she couldn’t see why any person in their right mind would stay with her!
Thankfully, Naomi had Ruth beside her: someone who could see the value and sacred worth within Naomi (despite the fact that she was well beyond her reproductive years). Because Ruth was able to see Naomi’s sacred value, eventually Naomi came to see her value as well. That’s one thing saints tend to do –help individuals see others (and perhaps even themselves) differently.
On this All Saints Sunday, I would invite you to look back over the course of your life and see if there are any Ruth-like figures in your life. As you remember those saints in your life, pause to give thanks for them and the ways they opened your eyes in new ways. Til next time…
Help support the vision of Woodland Hills Community Church!
For those of you who would like to support the vision & ministry of Woodland Hills Community Church (the faith community I serve that continues to encourage me to minister outside the box), please click on the link just above.
1 comment:
We have many saints within our own WHCC Community-, but as I am the only one commenting on your blog I do not want to hog it. I must mention Signe however who has been someone who will sit with us and listen-Signe has that wonderful quality of hearing us into words-a phrase I either heard from her or picked up somewhetre. Anne Gesserts Spiritual Deepening goup has been anothr oppurtunity for the women who attend to hear eachothr into words-a sort of witnessing without needing to fix -and sometimes it is is the act of sharing and being heard that is , maybe not "fixing, but in the chance to acknowledge and -the act of giving and receiving that comes to play in that is the practice that allows for at least momentary "sainthood." What is meant by saint-hood anyway-the word itself seems to require "perfectionism" yet perfectionism may be limiting-in that one would not take risks, not explore, for how would one ever be sure that something different or risk takign would turn out to be perfect? Betsy Noorzay
Post a Comment