Ruth 4

So many attractive things in life come with downsides or caveats. In the manga Usagi Drop (which translates to "Bunny Drop," and no, I have no idea what the title has to do with the story itself), a fellow named Daikichi attends his grandfather's funeral, only to find out that the old rascal had an affair and left behind a six-year-old daughter named Rin. All the family members want a piece of the inheritance, but no one wants to take care of the illegitimate child, whom they see as an ignominious disgrace. Daikichi, a single man with no parenting experience, decides to take the waif in. As you'd expect, Rin turns out to be a delightful child, which makes you wonder why the other relatives spurned her. (Admittedly, the second volume of the manga becomes downright creepy, evoking the thought, "Only the Japanese could come up with something like this." The manga was adopted into a live-action film that thankfully only focused on the comic's first volume.)

When Boaz holds an assembly with the unnamed guardian-redeemer, he presents the attractive part of his offer first, mentioning that Naomi's land needs to be redeemed. The guardian-redeemer readily agrees, probably imagining the vast flocks of sheep he can raise on this newfound land, until Boaz drops the other shoe. Yes, you can redeem the land, but there's this widow who comes with it. That's it for the guardian-redeemer, who makes a complete about-face, explaining, "I might endanger my own estate" (verse 6). To be fair, the guardian-redeemer may not have been averse to Ruth herself, but rather to the idea that the land would take the name of Ruth's dead husband (verse 5).

But Boaz understands that Ruth is not just "this widow" who comes with Naomi's land. She is a compassionate, selfless, godly, and downright awesome person. And I get the feeling that Boaz, in fact, had little doubt about how the guardian-redeemer would act. He deftly dangled a carrot in front of his nose, only to reveal that it came with a peanut--and knowing full well that the guardian-redeemer had a peanut allergy.

But from Ruth's point of view, the outcome wasn't so certain. I don't know if she was present at the town assembly--probably not, if the patriarchal nature of the Israelites was anything to go by--but just imagine the suspense she must have felt as she waited followed by the utter relief and rapture when Boaz returned triumphant. And not only does Ruth get a happy ending, but Naomi does also. She now has a "son" to raise and care for, a fact acknowledged by other Israelite women (verse 17).

Yes, Ruth's selflessness netted her a husband as well as happiness for her mother-in-law. But she couldn't have foreseen how her descendants would include King David and, eventually, Jesus Himself. Living in the here and now, it's sometimes hard to remember that some of my actions will have repercussions that I will never know in my lifetime. But the story of Ruth shows that no situation is too hopeless or dire for compassion. To appropriate a phrase from Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm character from Jurassic Park, love will find a way.