This is Mark's reflection on the story of Ruth and Naomi, which was much appreciated by those who gathered last Sunday at Eco-faith.
No-one can replace someone we’ve lost. When we lose someone close to us we know that that life, that spirit has been unique and irreplaceable. We learn then suddenly how facile the currently fashionable psychobabble is, with its chatter about ‘stages of grieving’ and ‘closure.’ Yet if we are lucky we may also learn that the source of love is infinite, that one love does not replace another, and that only love is capable of saving us from the bottomless pit of awfulness and despair that drags us under. Naomi lost her husband and her two sons; her entire family was wiped out and only she remained. Neither is this uncommon; all over the world in wars and disasters people’s families are killed, leaving sole survivors, many of whom must wish for only one thing: to join their families in death. My grandmother was one such; she lost her oldest son when she was 32 and she outlived her younger son and her husband. In grief God may become a luxury we once entertained when we were happy, but is now a useless, irrelevant and even mocking appendage. We learn that God is either not omnipotent, or if he is, he is very cruel; and who could be interested in a God that is either impotent or cruel or both? The fact that God made the world is not interesting to someone who’s child has died. The myth of divine omnipotence was born in ancient Judah, when Yahweh was forced to compete with other gods to prove his supremacy. The only way Yahweh could be stronger than everyone else’s gods; the only way his priests could dominate Solomon’s court, was for them to proclaim his invincibility, his omnipotence.
And yet, and yet: love is invincible. Love gives us courage we never knew we had. And only love, if we are very lucky or very devout, can save us from the bottomless pit of grief, despair
and death. The source of love is infinite: a parent does not love one of his or her children more than another. Naomi did not love Ruth more than her sons: she loved her as well as her sons. Ruth did not replace her sons, Naomi loved Ruth as well as her sons. Naomi was old, barren, bereaved. She had nothing to live for, all her family was dead, she had no hope. She was returning to Judah to die. But love saved her, only love was powerful enough to drag her up from the pit of despair and wretchedness and make her alive again. Perhaps God cannot or will not intervene in our lives on each occasion to save us from death or wretchedness. But love will save us, if we are lucky (or devout or open) enough to encounter it.
No-one can replace someone we’ve lost. When we lose someone close to us we know that that life, that spirit has been unique and irreplaceable. We learn then suddenly how facile the currently fashionable psychobabble is, with its chatter about ‘stages of grieving’ and ‘closure.’ Yet if we are lucky we may also learn that the source of love is infinite, that one love does not replace another, and that only love is capable of saving us from the bottomless pit of awfulness and despair that drags us under. Naomi lost her husband and her two sons; her entire family was wiped out and only she remained. Neither is this uncommon; all over the world in wars and disasters people’s families are killed, leaving sole survivors, many of whom must wish for only one thing: to join their families in death. My grandmother was one such; she lost her oldest son when she was 32 and she outlived her younger son and her husband. In grief God may become a luxury we once entertained when we were happy, but is now a useless, irrelevant and even mocking appendage. We learn that God is either not omnipotent, or if he is, he is very cruel; and who could be interested in a God that is either impotent or cruel or both? The fact that God made the world is not interesting to someone who’s child has died. The myth of divine omnipotence was born in ancient Judah, when Yahweh was forced to compete with other gods to prove his supremacy. The only way Yahweh could be stronger than everyone else’s gods; the only way his priests could dominate Solomon’s court, was for them to proclaim his invincibility, his omnipotence.
And yet, and yet: love is invincible. Love gives us courage we never knew we had. And only love, if we are very lucky or very devout, can save us from the bottomless pit of grief, despair
and death. The source of love is infinite: a parent does not love one of his or her children more than another. Naomi did not love Ruth more than her sons: she loved her as well as her sons. Ruth did not replace her sons, Naomi loved Ruth as well as her sons. Naomi was old, barren, bereaved. She had nothing to live for, all her family was dead, she had no hope. She was returning to Judah to die. But love saved her, only love was powerful enough to drag her up from the pit of despair and wretchedness and make her alive again. Perhaps God cannot or will not intervene in our lives on each occasion to save us from death or wretchedness. But love will save us, if we are lucky (or devout or open) enough to encounter it.
Reading: Book of Ruth, chapter 4:13-17
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