Mothers of Jesus - Ruth

I am the Moabitess. That’s what they called me – in different tones; accusing, insulting , patronising or maybe for the purposes of identification ! I was rarely Ruth. I’d always felt a bit on an outsider even at home but especially after I chose to marry into a refuge family. My family and friends couldn’t understand that – why I wanted to marry a stand offish “we’re the special people of God” man… but I loved him so much and we were happy. There were 5 of us after his father died. And we all worked hard and waited for the babies to come – but they didn’t – and I felt even more of an outcast and that I didn’t fit in.

And then my love died. My Mahlon. One moment we were planning how to make a little more from the very little we had and the next he was gone … and so was his brother. It was the end of everything – all our dreams. And Naomi was beyond devastated. And I couldn’t see how we were going to manage without a man – and my family wasn’t about to welcome me back. Naomi decided that she would return to her hometown and look to make some kind of life there – with more chance of family support. Orphir and I said we would go with her. At first it seemed as if she agreed to this but then on the road she had clearly been thinking this isn’t going to work for us even if it did for her. She pleaded with us to go back to our families and I was tempted but something happened as I considered it. I suddenly realised that with Naomi was the only time I felt less of an outsider – and that the God she and Mahlon had worshipped was somehow a more real, more approachable (even if incomprehensible) God than the ones I had served as a child. We neither of us knew why Mahlon had died – there was no good reason for it and it only seemed to bring pain and sorrow on us all … but still there was something there .. some reality.

So I went with Naomi to Bethlehem and was the Moabitess. And it was hard and sometimes I regretted not going back … but then through the struggle and the pain I met this man who treated me with respect and kindness and generosity. He saw me – not as a Moabitess but as a woman and he valued me. I didn’t love him at first – and I couldn’t love him as I had loved Mahlon … but he came to mean so much to me – and to my surprise I had a child. Suddenly I wasn’t an outsider any more . I felt more part of a family … of THE family than I had ever felt before . I was seen and known and loved.

By Alison Grieve