It's All In the Name-Ruth Study-week 3

Last night we discovered how important names are. For instance, ...

Ruthless-Week 2-Part 2

Ever wonder where the word Ruthless came from? You never hear someone described as being ruthful, but actually that would be an appropriate word for someone who was not ruthless--in other words, someone was being like Ruth.

Ruth was a loyal to her mother-in-law, taking care of her even when it might have been easier to leave her and only take care of herself. Ruth was a hard-worker, working diligently in the fields and not taking unnecessary breaks. She was humble, giving immediate thanks to Boaz when he offered her a safe place to work. She was thoughtful when she took her left-over lunch home to Naomi. She was honest as she told Naomi all that happened during her day. And she later proved to be trusting of the right people, when she listened to and followed Naomi's advice.

Always thinking past herself and considering others--that was Ruth. And that is about as far from Ruthless as you can get!

Ruth-Week 2-Part 1

Our study of Ruth this week brought to mind 2 points. So, yea to our Bible Study leader, it is worthy of 2 entries!

One point that we studied is the barley harvest and how that actually worked in "Bible times", without today's technology. It was actually a detailed process and I am again reminded of how the Bible often teaches with real world connections to everyday life.

Barley Harvest Step 1--Cutting the plants
This was done with a large scythe--you know that long, curved blade on the end of a long pole. The workers swung these in long arches to cut down the tall stalks. It made me think of the first thing you do when you meet people. You "swing out" in general questions to learn a little about them.

Barley Harvest Step 2--Bundling the Sheaths
Workers would come behind the cutters and grab up a bundle of the tall stalks. They would then wrap these into bundles. Isn't this what you mentally do when you meet someone? Once you get to know a little about them, you begin to bundle them to you and perhaps your friends that have a mutual interests or concerns.

Barley Harvest Step 3--Thrashing
The bundles of barley stalks would be taken to the thrashing floor and simply through shaking and beating them against something the grains are loosened from the stems. Relationships often go through a thrashing as well. As we get to know others better we find out about how they have been "thrashed" by life. In both cases, this takes alot of time and it is alot of work, leaving you very tired and worn!

Barley Harvest Step 4--Getting Rid of the Chaff
Once the grains are loose, it is important to get rid of the waste. The stems are often burned or recycled in other ways. Sometimes the stems, leaves, etc. were mixed with mud to make bricks. The seeds themselves are also covered in loose bits and "skins" that have to be separated. This separation is easily done by gathering the seeds in a flat basket and tossing the seeds in the air, letting the wind take away the light weight chaff. In our relationship scenario, this likens itself to support groups in which we gather and bounce ideas off of one another, getting rid of the bad thoughts and keeping the good. How awesome if we can actually reuse what we learn and make "bricks" of thoughts that help support us later.

Barley Harvest Step 5--Using the Barley
This is actually multiple steps as well that include roasting the seed, grinding the seed into flour, and then using it for baking bread. In other words, recognizing and celebrating why you went to all that hard work--in order to feed yourself and others and make bodies stronger so that they can go out and work some more.

As in so many areas, we see a cycle of work and relax, of effort and comfort--a cycle where each step is valuable and can't be skipped--the need to be thorough--and a never ending process.

So, what step of your harvest will you be working on today?

How Do You Like Your Mother-in-Law?

Monday night's discussion as the Women's Bible Study group began studying Ruth was very enlightening. Our faithful leader asked us, "How do you and your Mother-in-Law get along? and How do you get along with your daughter-in-laws?" It was alot of fun to hear each others' stories. Some of us were taken under our mother-in-law's wing right away. Some of us had to earn a place in the family. Some of us are still working on it! As for daughter-in-laws--that was a mixed bag as well. We even compared how different it can be to be a step-mother-in-law! Now that really could get a bad rap!

I was reminded again of what a blessing it is to study and share ideas with a group of women from many generations. From women who got married at 14 and started their family right away and now have "oodles" of grandchildren to brag on--to career women who waited awhile who are just getting started--to adopted, combined families of later marriages that take on a different dynamic as well--to women who are in the throes of raising a family. No matter what our current state, we all bring such richness to the discussions and make our Bible current and alive!

Naomi and Ruth have already become more real to me through our discussion of their relationship--the emotions of leaving home countries, returning to home countries, being left widowed and alone, clinging to other women for support. These are all very common experiences and ones that God blesses us through. I can't wait to talk about Chapter 2 this Monday! Come join us!

Poetic License?

Who else noticed that the movie "A Night with the King" took some poetic license? Now some of it, I understand. A movie is not good without some added drama--the running through the rain scene built suspense and could have happened that way. The dancing in the garden built character for Esther. And even the reading to Xerxes added depth to help us understand why Xerxes may have chosen her other than her beauty and performance when called upon. These aspects did not take away from my bible reading, but added some visuals that made my second reading more enjoyable.

But some of the changes actually changed some of the story. What about the timeline? I felt that leaving out one of the dinners really changed the mood and personality of Haman. In the movie, he seemed to be above and more in control than Esther. He knew more than the Bible version allowed. He seemed to have information to "hold over" Esther. The movie also did not portray Haman begging Esther for his life, but instead taunting her. That is a whole different feeling and mood, as well. Leaving out the first dinner, also changed the reason why the king couldn't sleep. I always thought that he was curious about Esther's request.

The biggest difference that I felt really changed the story was when Haman was so clear about the people being Jewish. In the Bible, this was always kept hidden so the king did not seem to understand the vastness of his decree. In the movie, parading through the streets, Mordecai was declared a Jew. It did make me wonder, how public this discrimination was in those times. It would make sense that Haman would have announced this because it was the reasoning behind Mordecai's "disrespect" and law-breaking behavior. But I thought it took away from Haman's justification against Mordecai because it gave him a very good reason to disobey the law and promoted the Jewish faith by honoring his actions and the reason for those actions.

I guess knowing the story from the Bible made the movie a little more confusing. I wonder how the movie appeared to those who had not studied this book before their viewing. All in all--it is still a good story and I enjoyed the movie's portrayal.
I guess the ultimate point of the Esther story is still that classic line--"Who knows whether you have not come...for such a time as this?"