worth waiting
As I have been writing about the Ruth story ... the characters in this wonderful little romance ... I find that as I look at each one of the different people, it is like shifting my view. When you scan a room, what you see depends on where you stand. If you come into my living room from the front door, for example, you will see primarily the back of a couch, a large mirror on a wall and the TV. But if you come in from the kitchen, you will see the red wall with the art work, the front of the couch, and off to the side, the front door. Same room ~ different views. That is what Ruth has been for me.
When I enter the story looking at Boaz I see the landscape of events from a very different viewpoint than when I look at Naomi. Here is a man who is rich. He, it seems, has a large estate with lots of fields. He is well established. But . . . he is old...or older...and he has no family ~ at least the story mentions no wife, no children. I wonder why. Marriages were arranged . . . surely as the years passed there was some young girl of marriageable age there in Bethlehem who the local matchmakers suggested to him as a match. Why is he single? Did he never marry? Did he have a wife who died, perhaps in childbirth ~ someone he loved so much and grieved so deeply that he could not consider remarriage? Whatever his back-story is, he is not a bitter man, in fact, he seems bright and exhilarated when we see him first in the story.
The actor I would choose if I were casting Ruth as a movie, would be Alan Rickman. Perhaps you know him from his role in the Harry Potter movies as Prof. Snape. Do not see him as Snape. He also played a role in the movie version of Jane Austin's Sense and Sensibility; he played Colonel Brandon, a middle-aged bachelor. That is who I see when I see Boaz in my mind's eye...OK, change the costumes and the hair style, but essentially ... that is how I see Boaz. He is a bit rough looking. He has a brow etched and wrinkled from age and emotion. His eyes are a bit squinty, as if he has a habit of looking off into the distance as he works.
Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, "The LORD be with you!"
"The LORD bless you!" they called back. (Ruth 2:4) Boaz stood looking over the fields. The air was full of the scent of the grain and the music of the harvest ~ the rhythm of the scythes and the songs of the men and women cutting and gathering the grain. He loved the first day, the bustling, the excitement, the wonderful exhaustion of the days full of hard work and laughter. 'It is going to be a good year. Even the poor will eat well.' he thought. He scanned the fields watching his harvesters and finally looking to the very edges of the field where the gleaning happened. 'What a wonderful God we serve.' The idea of gleaning had always fascinated him. He knew some of his friends resented the practice, grumbled about the rabble who stole the grain of the gleaning. But he saw it as a blessing. His harvest would yield more than enough grain, and the gleaners took the corners so his men did not have to go back and do the tedious work with the short scythes. Then the final bit of grain inadvertently dropped by his harvesters would be gathered by the poor of Bethlehem, winnowed and taken home to their families. The poor worked for the grain, without the indignity of begging ~ and his fields would be harvested. Yes, the wisdom of God!' As he scanned the fields, he noticed one worker, a young woman, alone back even from the gleaners. He stood watching for a moment...he wasn't sure why she so caught his attention. She worked efficiently and carefully...he knew the people of Bethlehem, but not this woman.
Then he noticed his foreman, Micah, was standing at his elbow a knowing smile on his face. Nodding toward the young woman, 'She is ... lovely, eh?
"Yes. Oh...what?"' Boaz chuckled ruefully, 'Yes, Micah, she is. She works hard, and seems to know what she is doing ~ who is she? I don't recognize her. Whose young woman is that?'
The foreman replied, 'She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, 'Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.' She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter. (Ruth 2:5-7)
Boaz found himself looking for her throughout the morning, always watching to see where she was, to see how she was doing. Boaz wandered the field until he found himself standing near this young woman. "My daughter, (he had said so she would know his intentions were . . . well, fatherly.) listen to me. Don't go and glean in another field and don't go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled."
At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, "Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me — a foreigner?"
"May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord," she said. "You have given me comfort and have spoken kindly to your servant — though I do not have the standing of one of your servant girls."
At mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar." When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain.
'It is right for me to look out for Naomi's daughter-in-law...we are kin, if somewhat distant,' he lied to himself. He chuckled realizing even to himself he sounded as if he were rehearsing the answer he would give to Micah later. He knew he would face Micah's good-natured teasing. And he did, 'Boaz, your are not so old as all that. Your eyesight is still good ~ and you are, no Boaz, you ARE still young enough to marry.' Boaz shook his head and added, 'She is a woman alone, Micah. Naomi has suffered so much and this young woman could have simply stayed in Moab and left Naomi to face life here alone. She knows what people think of her . . . a Moabite. Yet she braves the field that Naomi may eat. You tell the harvesters she is to be honored. And ... even if she gathers among the sheaves, don't embarrass her. Rather, pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don't rebuke her." (Ruth 2:15-16)
But even as he said this he sighed and he thought , 'Ah, you're an old fool, Boaz.' She is strong and healthy ... still young ~ lovely, yes, quite lovely. It will not be long until she has caught the eye of Terah, or Joseph perhaps. Their poverty will not deter her and they will gain a strong, pretty wife. Not much of a bride-price will be asked, though Naomi's kin, she is Moabite ... and she will marry ~ she will need a husband.'
When I enter the story looking at Boaz I see the landscape of events from a very different viewpoint than when I look at Naomi. Here is a man who is rich. He, it seems, has a large estate with lots of fields. He is well established. But . . . he is old...or older...and he has no family ~ at least the story mentions no wife, no children. I wonder why. Marriages were arranged . . . surely as the years passed there was some young girl of marriageable age there in Bethlehem who the local matchmakers suggested to him as a match. Why is he single? Did he never marry? Did he have a wife who died, perhaps in childbirth ~ someone he loved so much and grieved so deeply that he could not consider remarriage? Whatever his back-story is, he is not a bitter man, in fact, he seems bright and exhilarated when we see him first in the story.
Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, "The LORD be with you!"
"The LORD bless you!" they called back. (Ruth 2:4) Boaz stood looking over the fields. The air was full of the scent of the grain and the music of the harvest ~ the rhythm of the scythes and the songs of the men and women cutting and gathering the grain. He loved the first day, the bustling, the excitement, the wonderful exhaustion of the days full of hard work and laughter. 'It is going to be a good year. Even the poor will eat well.' he thought. He scanned the fields watching his harvesters and finally looking to the very edges of the field where the gleaning happened. 'What a wonderful God we serve.' The idea of gleaning had always fascinated him. He knew some of his friends resented the practice, grumbled about the rabble who stole the grain of the gleaning. But he saw it as a blessing. His harvest would yield more than enough grain, and the gleaners took the corners so his men did not have to go back and do the tedious work with the short scythes. Then the final bit of grain inadvertently dropped by his harvesters would be gathered by the poor of Bethlehem, winnowed and taken home to their families. The poor worked for the grain, without the indignity of begging ~ and his fields would be harvested. Yes, the wisdom of God!' As he scanned the fields, he noticed one worker, a young woman, alone back even from the gleaners. He stood watching for a moment...he wasn't sure why she so caught his attention. She worked efficiently and carefully...he knew the people of Bethlehem, but not this woman.
Then he noticed his foreman, Micah, was standing at his elbow a knowing smile on his face. Nodding toward the young woman, 'She is ... lovely, eh?
"Yes. Oh...what?"' Boaz chuckled ruefully, 'Yes, Micah, she is. She works hard, and seems to know what she is doing ~ who is she? I don't recognize her. Whose young woman is that?'
The foreman replied, 'She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, 'Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.' She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter. (Ruth 2:5-7)
Boaz found himself looking for her throughout the morning, always watching to see where she was, to see how she was doing. Boaz wandered the field until he found himself standing near this young woman. "My daughter, (he had said so she would know his intentions were . . . well, fatherly.) listen to me. Don't go and glean in another field and don't go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled."
At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, "Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me — a foreigner?"
"May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord," she said. "You have given me comfort and have spoken kindly to your servant — though I do not have the standing of one of your servant girls."
At mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar." When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain.
'It is right for me to look out for Naomi's daughter-in-law...we are kin, if somewhat distant,' he lied to himself. He chuckled realizing even to himself he sounded as if he were rehearsing the answer he would give to Micah later. He knew he would face Micah's good-natured teasing. And he did, 'Boaz, your are not so old as all that. Your eyesight is still good ~ and you are, no Boaz, you ARE still young enough to marry.' Boaz shook his head and added, 'She is a woman alone, Micah. Naomi has suffered so much and this young woman could have simply stayed in Moab and left Naomi to face life here alone. She knows what people think of her . . . a Moabite. Yet she braves the field that Naomi may eat. You tell the harvesters she is to be honored. And ... even if she gathers among the sheaves, don't embarrass her. Rather, pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don't rebuke her." (Ruth 2:15-16)
But even as he said this he sighed and he thought , 'Ah, you're an old fool, Boaz.' She is strong and healthy ... still young ~ lovely, yes, quite lovely. It will not be long until she has caught the eye of Terah, or Joseph perhaps. Their poverty will not deter her and they will gain a strong, pretty wife. Not much of a bride-price will be asked, though Naomi's kin, she is Moabite ... and she will marry ~ she will need a husband.'
You are doing a beautiful job of storytelling, Barb. Keep it up because I want to keep reading.
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