Gentleness Week1

Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you! ” Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said. “The LORD bless him! ” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers. ” Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’” Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”       Ruth 2.19-22

Naomi lived a life of sorrow and tragedy. She lost her husband while living in a strange land. Then both of her sons died. In chapter one of Ruth, Naomi begs her friends to call her Mara, or ‘Miss Bitter', for life’s circumstances had made Naomi feel empty, sad and bitter.

Cynicism and gentleness are opposite responses to the same hardships. Some sufferings and trials break and wound, and those who are broken and wound are made malleable, soft putty in the hands of God. These broken souls are gentle in every way. They become, because of all they have suffered, the best counsellors of God.

But others are made cynical and hard. They become characterised by bitterness and brooding, unkind and harsh in their treatment of others. Naomi confesses to such bitterness.

But Naomi is home again in Bethlehem. Everything looks better when you’re at home. Although she claims to be bitter, Naomi is gentle with Ruth. She advises Ruth to glean in Boaz’s fields ‘because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.’

And Boaz, too, is gentle and kind. He tells Ruth, ‘Don’t go and glean in another field.’ (Ruth 2.8) Each aspect of the story sees gentleness as the approachable life, treating others with kindness so that all may approach and not be afraid.