“So [Naomi] set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah.” – Ruth 1:7 (NRSV)
I wonder if Naomi carries a treasure with her on the road.
Perhaps a Bethlehem heirloom, worn smooth from years of tender handling and poignant remembering while in the land of Moab. She and her husband and two young sons emigrated from Bethlehem to Moab in a time of famine.
Maybe she has her husband’s favourite t-shirt rolled up like a pillow
and smelling like himself,
or so she imagines as she lays down at night.
Not long after settling in Moab, Naomi’s husband died leaving her with two young sons.
Maybe she carries a homemade ball. It was their bit of play in a hard life where a widow with two small boys, and no family, had to fend for themselves.
The boys grow and marry Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth.
And then, more tragedy. Both boys die young. Sickness perhaps.
The three widows set out on the road to Bethlehem.
And together they walk.
Now you should know that Bethlehem and Moab were rival towns and didn’t get along.
And the people of Moab didn’t like the people of Bethlehem, and the people of Bethlehem didn’t like the people of Moab. They were enemies.
Perhaps Naomi remembers the inhospitality of her arrival in Moab, a stranger and a refugee. So, she sets her daughters-in-law free to return to their roots in Moab.
Go back, she says, and generously blesses them.
Orpah returns. No judgement unless you’ve walked her road.
Ruth stays on the road with Naomi, swearing a covenant of belonging.
Where you go, I will go;
Where you lodge, I will lodge.
Your people will be my people,
And your God, my God.
Where you die, I’ll die there too
And I will be buried there beside you.
I swear – may YHWH be my witness and my judge –
That not even death will keep us apart. (Ruth 1:16-17)
In a world still marked by borders and threat, by refugees and rivalries, by those who are forcefully returned and those who stay, Ruth’s words echo with quiet power. They remind us that love can cross what fear divides, that belonging can be chosen, and that faith is sometimes as simple — and as brave — as walking alongside another when the road is uncertain.
Love, loyal and fierce, makes a home wherever we walk.
We can imagine that Naomi may have carried small, tender treasures on her journey. What do you carry from your own story — objects, memories, or hopes — that remind you of love, loss, and survival?
Ruth chooses to bind her life to Naomi, crossing boundaries of culture, land, and religion, offering presence more than answers. Where might you be invited now to walk/journey alongside someone else with quiet faithfulness, offering your presence, listening, and steady love?
Create a “road prayer.” You might draw a path and write along it the names of those who have travelled with you, then write word-prayers for those seeking accompaniment in today’s world. Let your prayers move you.
0 Comments