Deborah: Moving on in Faith

 We’ve seen how Deborah in the Book of Judges rescued the children of Israel from the oppression of the Canaanites by her leadership. Over this Pentecost series, we have seen how many Bible women and men lived their lives of faith. We have seen how each of them was fallible and yet loved by God. They, like us, struggled to make sense of the events in their lives—both personally and in the world of their time. Each of them met life's challenges with faith, however faltering. 

Their witness across the centuries can inspire us to live closer to God.

In the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah we see that God uses our talents no matter what our age is, and that our core ministry of living the Love of God doesn’t change, even if the appearance does.

Abraham and Sarah offer the hope of new birth in our lives and ministry, even when we are physically old. They discovered that God’s promise is always true.

The dysfunction of the family of Jacob, Leah and Rachel can help us look beyond comparisons and differences to find common ground.

The relationship of Naomi and Ruth teaches us that our seemingly insignificant decisions and actions can have ripple effects far beyond what we might imagine.

Simeon and Anna’s long wait for Messiah can inspire us in our darkest and loneliest times of waiting. Even if it doesn’t feel like it, God is acting.

The failings and sins of David and Bathsheba offer encouragement for our lives because despite their flaws, God loved the couple and blessed them.

Deborah, as we have seen, offers courage to those who might hesitate to take a stand against evil, violence, division, oppression or any other action that is counter to the Love of God.

Psalm 71 offers the reminder that God holds us at all ages. As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long—…Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.

How might you and I respond to the witness of these men and women?

Is there a way you can share this encouragement with others of all ages?

 Next week is Thanksgiving. I hope you can take time to rejoice in the blessings God has provided you and yours. Advent 1 on Nov. 30 starts a new church year as we anticipate the Incarnation of God in the Infant Jesus.

I have been doing this blog for nearly 20 years. A lot has changed in the world, and in my life and ministry over that time. God has called me to write over a dozen books, to present retreats, and to take the leadership of some women’s ministries. I have retired from my ‘day job’. Grandchildren have blessed my life and surprisingly, they are almost all adults themselves, now. In some ways, I am not the same woman I was two decades ago when I started this blog as a way to share what I hoped were helpful prayer and worship practices drawn from many diverse resources. My first series was about Spiritual Scrapbooking—a fun practice, but one that is not as popular anymore. God has worked in my soul as I’ve written these posts and made me aware of my own failing and privileges. A priest once told me that the sermon he preached was the one he needed to hear. I think that has been true of these posts. I hope they have inspired someone in the wider world, too.

All this is to say, I will not be doing an Advent series this year. Whether I resume posting, on a monthly basis, in 2026 is still in God’s hands. This Pentecost series about some of the older and less known men and women of the Bible has assured me that age is no barrier to what God has in store for each of us. I trust that there is something God is preparing me for and I wait to see what that may be.

May God bless the lives of each who reads any of these words of mine. 

Naomi and Ruth: Reaction or Prayer

 Last week we considered the idea that every person makes choices based on the information they have and the truths they believe. This information or truth may be false in the view of many people. It is, however, what the person believes. Of course, not everything we believe is true, either, to someone else… Something to pause and think about perhaps.

Because our truths are different from each other, we find ourselves in conflict with one another. We no longer take time to listen to each other. Too often, we simply react to a statement or to news or to an action. How, in this tumultuous and divisive time, might we meet with grace those whose ideology differs from ours? How can we accept and love one another as we are commanded by our Lord? How can we even face the daily news with its toll of death and destruction?

Listening instead of reacting is a start. It is not easy to stop and listen, though. We often need help to pause, help to listen, help to seek understanding and common ground. That’s where God is present. And we connect to God in prayer.

Looking at the story of Ruth and Naomi, we don’t hear that they prayed. In fact, there isn’t any overt mention of God in the entire book. However, we sense God working in and through the choices of the women. God honors the decision to go to Moab by giving the family a home and a community, including wives for the sons. God is with Ruth and Naomi as they return to Bethlehem. Despite Naomi’s assertion that the Almighty has made my life very bitter (Ruth 1:20), God provides a protector and husband for Ruth. The faithful choices made by the women lead to blessings. The women of Bethlehem note this and say, “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!” (Ruth 4:14)

It is easy to look back, after the fact, and see blessing. When you are in the middle of a troubling time in your personal life, or are concerned about external events, it is harder to see blessings. We can always, as the song says, “Take it to the Lord in prayer.” The hymn What a Friend we have in Jesus, by Joseph Scriven (1885) reminds us that it’s a “privilege to carry everything to God in prayer”! Scriven reminds us that we forfeit peace and needlessly bear pain because we forget to give our concerns to God. Even when there are “trials and temptations…[and] trouble anywhere” or when we are “weak and heavy-laden, cumbered with a load of care” we can “take it to the Lord in prayer.” The hymn ends with the promise from our “Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised Thou wilt all our burdens bear.” You can hear the hymn sung by Alan Jackson here.  

Ruth and Naomi probably didn’t see the hand of God while struggling to survive on the journey to Bethlehem or when seeking food in the edges of the fields, but God was every present. We often have trouble identifying God in our own troubles. We can trust however that God IS there and loving us through anything. Also, though it can be more difficult to identify, God is loving and working through the lives of those we don’t agree with.

Maybe this prayer by Rabbi Irwin Keller from 2016 can be of help when watching troubling news stories. Remembering that our soul, that each soul, is “pure and vulnerable” may open us to seeking healing for the “wounds of the world.”

Next week, we’ll look at the story of Anna and Simeon, who welcomed the Infant Christ in the Temple as inspiration for ways we might welcome Christ.

Naomi and Ruth: Decisions

In August, we began to look at the story of Ruth and Naomi from the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Scriptures. We noticed how each decision and action had a ripple effect on the people and communities they were in. It is the same with us. Last week, we thought about the choices men and women made to confront workplace safety and inequity, and the results of those decisions. 

Ruth and Naomi made many seemingly small decisions which changed the dynamic of their family and the community they were in. The decision to leave Bethlehem caused sorrow to their friends and other family members who remained. Deciding to cast their lot with the people of Moab by marriage was a big ripple that resonated among the local community. Death always causes many changes. The loss of her husband and both sons made Naomi rethink her life and decide to return to the familiarity of Bethlehem. The different decisions by Orpah and Ruth made differing impacts on their family and friends. Arriving in Bethlehem as destitute widows brings dramatic changes to the people in the town and to Ruth and Naomi. Ruth’s obedience to Naomi and Boaz’ response to her courage and faithfulness made a huge difference in the dynamic of the town. Their descendants continued to impact the history of Israel and the world generation after generation.

Every day we make choices that we don’t think make much difference to anyone but ourselves. We may decide to go to the grocery store or to the farmer’s market. One choice helps local growers, the other helps big business. We respond in haste to a Facebook post we disagree with or we scroll past without responding or perhaps take time to respond thoughtfully.  

The decision we make is neither right nor wrong. It is how we respond to the information we have. With slightly different information, we might make a different decision. Ruth and Naomi made the best decisions they could within the framework of their lives. God honored the choices. God honors our choices, too. We are given free will by our loving God, so God doesn’t force us to do this or that. If we make what seems, in hindsight, to be a poor decision, God still honors our action—even if we may have to live with the results.

In the news every night we see the results of decisions individuals and leaders make. Some are choices that lead to death and destruction. Others are actions that provide hope and joy. Each person or group makes their decision using the information they have and believe is true. Our perspective is often very different from the person who decides to start a fire or someone who has an idea to walk across the country to raise money and awareness for some cause. Neither may be something we would do. Yet, these are the choices made by those individuals and they result in consequences.

Might it make a difference to how you view the news if you remembered that each story is activated by someone’s decision, which is based on their information? We might not understand a mass shooter any better, but we might pause to consider that he was motivated by the truths he believed. 

Every decision we make has results. May we ask God to help us make helpful choices that will benefit those we are in contact with.

Labor Day Decisions

 A little pause from our visit to Naomi and Ruth and their decisions to remember Labor Day, and why we have a day off from work. Mostly, now, the day is simply an occasion to get together for end-of-summer picnics or to go camping “one last time this year”. The roots run much deeper and are important to remember. The roots of the holiday are set amid the choices made by business leaders at the end of the 19^th century, by laborers and other workers. The decisions each side made at this pivotal moment, changed the appearance of working conditions in factories, mines, and elsewhere and gave the normal working man rights they did not previously have.

Labor Day originated in the midst of a time of upheaval and turmoil in America. A lot of change was happening in the workforce because of the Industrial Revolution and the movement of workers from farms to factories. We may not remember that we learned in school how the late 1800s was a time of oppression for these workers. The average workday was 12 hours and most worked seven days a week to earn enough. Children as young as 5 worked alongside the adults to help bring home enough to sustain their family. Not only that, conditions were unsafe. Factories and mines were especially unsafe and offered little in the way of fresh air, restrooms, or breaks. In some cases, workers were locked into the workrooms for their shift.

In response to conditions, labor unions formed and gradually became more vocal and powerful. The leadership organized strikes to protest conditions and pay. There were riots in many places. Often people were killed on all sides. Police, striking workers, the replacement workers brought in by management to keep the factories and mines going all fell victim.

On September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers marched from City Hall to Union Square in NYC to protest conditions (see picture). Slowly the idea of a “workingmen’s holiday” gained momentum in many states. It wasn’t until the employees of the Pullman Car company went on strike on May 11, 1894, that it became truly a national issue. By June 26, a boycott of all Pullman cars caused railroad traffic to come to a standstill. This was catastrophic because people and goods moved nearly entirely on the railroads. The federal government sent troops to Chicago, which led to riots and deaths. Congress then passed an act making Labor Day an official holiday and President Grover Cleveland signed it on June 28, 1894.

The choices and actions of the unions and the decisions by the striking workers who were willing to risk their lives to protest conditions ultimately led to legislation mandating shorter work days as well as improved working conditions. It is still a work in progress as, too often, the business bottom line and not the workers get the priority. Recently, Air Canada flight attendants went on strike for better wages causing massive airline disruptions. They, like many workers before, made the decision to stand up for their rights.

If your working conditions are good, give thanks for the decisions and choices of the brave men and women who marched and spoke up and challenged those in power. However, there are also still groups of workers who are ignored and mistreated because of their poverty, education, ethnicity, or immigration status. What choices will we make to stand with and for these groups?

Naomi and Ruth: Ripples

 For the next couple weeks, we’ll look at the story of Naomi and Ruth as found in the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Scriptures. In this tale, we’ll see how supporting one another encourages the entire community, like ripples from a pebble in the water.

The story begins with Naomi and her husband Elimelek moving to Moab with their two sons during a famine time in Bethlehem. They settle in Moab which starts one set of ripples as the foreigners from Bethlehem learn to interact and live with the Moabite community. The boys grow up and marry Moabite girls: Ruth and Orpah. This is a new ripple in the pond caused by the integration of the foreigners more deeply into the community. Then tragedy strikes as Elimelek and his sons all die. This leaves the three women vulnerable as widows with no man to care for them. For Naomi and her daughters-in-law this is like a stone into the pond with huge ripples of consequences.

Naomi decides on the drastic step of returning to Bethlehem, telling her daughters-in-law to remain and find new husbands in Moab. Her decision resonates with multiple ripples. There is the goodbye and return to her family by Orpah. And there is the massive ripple when Ruth famously responds, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17) Ruth is willing to leave all she knows to remain in relationship with Naomi. This choice ripples across the ages.

The pair sets out on a long trek of somewhere between 60 and 100 miles. They must cross the Jordan River and traverse desert and hills. It is possible, even probable, that they would have joined a caravan heading in the right direction. It would be rare and very unsafe for two women to travel alone, but the Bible doesn’t say. We are simply told, the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?” “Don’t call me Naomi, she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter…” [arrived] in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning. (Ruth 1:19-20, 22) The return of Naomi with her Moabite daughter-in-law made ripples among the tight-knit community of Bethlehem.

The timing of getting to Bethlehem at the time of the harvest was fortuitous because the Law of Moses allowed widows and other destitute people to gather the grain from the edges of the field. Ruth offers to do this for herself and Naomi. She luckily entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters….in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek. (Ruth 2:3)

Boaz is impressed by Ruth’s support of her mother-in-law and tells her to stay with his workers throughout the barley harvest and into the next harvest as well. Naomi sees the opportunity in this and suggests a risky ploy to Ruth. She says, “Tonight [Boaz] will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor… note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.” (Ruth 3:2-4)

Ruth’s decision to glean and then to follow Naomi’s advice are intersecting ripples in the story. Her action results in Boaz meets with the elders, and another relative, at the city gate. As was the custom, he offers the other man a chance to buy land and wed Ruth. When he declines, Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown.” (Ruth 4:9-10)

Boaz marries the foreign woman leaving ripples of change in the wake. Ruth has a son. The Book of Ruth ends with the statement they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. (Ruth 4:17) The great King David of Israel is descended from the son of a foreign woman (Rahab) and the immigrant Moabite, Ruth. Because of her faithfulness, Ruth was welcomed into the community. Naomi supported Ruth just as Ruth supported Naomi. Together their courage and faithfulness led to the strengthening of the nation of Israel two generations later. Ruth’s insistence on going with Naomi dropped a pebble into the water. That pebble continued to eddy outward until it reached a stable in Bethlehem 1000+ years later.

Every choice we make and action we do has a ripple effect. These intersect with the actions and choices of others. Some actions cause large ripples or even waves and they join with other ripples. Some are barely noticeable. We never know where the ripples from our actions may lead.

Think about how your actions cause ripples that meet and cancel or build on other ripples around you. We’ll look more deeply at that next week.

Palm Sunday: Relationships

 This Sunday is Palm Sunday when we remember Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem in triumph and then in the next reading hear of his betrayal and crucifixion. Life can feel like that sort of teeter totter sometimes. One minute on top of the world, and the next crashing to the ground when your fellow teeter-er jumps off as a joke. Ruth and Naomi knew that sort of life experience. Naomi left Bethlehem for Moab during a famine. Things go well at first, then her husband and sons die. She crashes down to the reality of destitution as a widow, as do her daughters-in-law. We may not face quite as extreme a problem, but a surprise diagnosis or an unexpected accident can send us crashing to the ground and wondering where God is.

At the beginning of the Palm Sunday services, we hear of Jesus entry into Jerusalem to the Hosannas of the crowds. The Gospel reading for Palm Sunday states, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven! Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” (Luke19:37-40)

Even when we are faced with the unexpected tragedies of life caused by health or disaster or weather or other exterior forces, we are assured that God is in control. It often feels like God is distant and that is when we may listen for the stones to shout and tell of God’s presence and action.

Ruth and Naomi make the difficult decision to return to Bethlehem. They didn’t know what was going to happen when they arrived. Naomi hoped that they might be able to gather enough grain to survive. The women were not greeted with Hosannas when they got back to Bethlehem. However, Naomi was welcomed back into her community with the question “Can this be Naomi?” Ruth, though an outsider, found a welcome and new life in Bethlehem. God is in their lives and we can be assured God is in any tragedy and in all outcomes in our lives.

In my book, Sacred Story: Yours, Mine, Ours, I note, “Few of us have been refugees like Ruth and Naomi. However, we may have had to leave a job or home in a way that makes us feel bereft and hopeless. In telling and hearing one another’s Sacred Stories we come to a deeper understanding of each Sacred Story and build bridges instead of burning them. Donna Schindler says we “must begin with telling the truth, with telling stories….No sorrow is too great to endure if a story can be told about it.” (Donna Schindler, Flying Horse: Stories of Healing the Soul Wound, 2020) Deeply listening to the truth telling found in Sacred Story is the start of healing of ourselves, for our relationships, and within our communities…Acknowledging the image of God is an important way to connect with the stranger and foreigner in our midst. Hearing their Sacred Story with an open heart is how relationships are built.”

It is helpful to remember that each one of us is dealing with some current or past trauma. Pausing to acknowledge everyone’s woundedness can make us more compassionate and empathetic. If we can enter their ‘sacred story’ by hearing it from them, we can relate even more fully.

 The collect for Palm Sunday reminds us that Jesus, in love and humility, became human. We are called to “walk in the way of his suffering.” We can do that by recognizing the pain, woundedness, loss, and fear all around, and (yes) within, us. Then we can hold that deep hurt in prayer, with love, to God. We can strive to be a voice and action of Love in the hurting world. Perhaps that’s by small acts where we are. Teresa of Lisieux and Mother Teresa both noted, “we can do small things with great love” to make a meaningful change in the world.

In my book I ask, “What is grieving your heart about the world today? Perhaps that is where God wants you to act.”

We end with this prayer for Palm Sunday.

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

See you in Lent

 I'm taking Epiphany as a sabbatical from posting to the blog. 

See you in March for thoughts on the themes of Lent through the eyes of women of the Bible. You can join the Zoom study, or just read my thoughts here.  

Based on Cindy's book Sacred Story, Yours, Mine, Ours we'll explore the themes of Lent in our lives and through the eyes of women of the Bible. Thursday evenings at 6:30PM, on Zoom, starting March 6-April 10.

Temptation (Leah and Rachel: Wounds we Carry)
Covenant (Mary and Elizabeth: Saying Yes)
Call (Photini and Deborah: Unsung Leadership)
Repentence (Rahab and Magdalene: Misjudged and Maligned)
Worship (Mary and Martha: Prayer and Service)
Change (Ruth and Naomi: Exiles and Refugees)
Email Cindy for the link.

Pentecost: Photini

 Since the beginning of June, and the beginning of the church season of Pentecost (or Ordinary Time) we’ve been looking at the stories of some Bible women and how God met them in the ordinariness of their daily lives. God meets us there, too.

Today we'll meet the Samaritan Woman. Photini is the name given by the Orthodox Church to her. The story is in John 4. Most of us know the story. Jesus is going through Samaria on his way to Jerusalem and stops at Sychar. This is traditionally the site of a well which the patriarch Jacob dug centuries earlier. Jesus sits down near the well while the disciples go into the city to get food. All this is quite surprising and uncomfortable for the disciples. To say Jews and Samaritans disliked each other would be an understatement. There were deep differences in their worship and way of life. Each despised the other. But Jesus decides to travel through Samaria and pauses at a Samaritan town. I wonder if we sometimes find ourselves traveling through areas we don't really like and forget that God is there, too. 

Photini comes to draw water later in the day than most of the town’s women. We can speculate about her reasons and most likely it has to do with her lifestyle. She admits to having five husbands and to currently living with a man not her husband.

The act of getting water from the well was a daily necessity before running water. A lot of community building would happen as the women gathered, visited, and got their water. Photini was outside of that circle. She came later to the well. And because she did, in that very ordinary, daily task, her life was changed.

Jesus asks her for water and a conversation ensues with Photini challenging Jesus several times. She decides he is a prophet and continues, ‘I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.’ (John 4:25)

Jesus’ response changes everything. Even though he rarely admits the Messianic ‘secret,’ he tells Photini—a woman and a Samaritan, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you.’ (John 4:26) Amazed and transformed, Photini leaves her water jar and runs to tell everyone in Sychar the amazing news that Messiah is sitting at their well.

The rest of the people are impressed enough to ask Jesus to stay for a couple days. Then they agree with her saying, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.’ (John 4:42) I wonder how Photini felt when they dismissed her witness so cavalierly. Was she angry or resigned to ‘that’s the way it is’?

Photini had an unexpected encounter with God at the well and it changed her. God is always surprising God’s people. God meets Elizabeth in her barrenness, Bathsheba in her bath, Ruth and Naomi in their friendship…the list goes on and on.

Has there been a time in your life when you’ve felt the presence of God as you do some mundane, daily job?

Do you find it hard to recognize God in the day-to-day?

Pentecost: Naomi

 We continue our “Ordinary Time” look at women of the Bible who can help us see where God is present in our daily, ordinary, routine lives. Have you ever done a spiritual exercise where you chart out what amount of time you spend each day doing various things? It can be very illuminating. How much time do you spend in prayer or Bible reading? What percentage do you spend answering email (YIKES)? Do you find your time is taken up with mundane tasks like vacuuming or washing dishes? When do you find time to do things for others? Are there other categories you can think of? I did this just recently in response to my own questions above—and was a bit amazed at the amount of time email and social media consume… Makes you stop and think about where your day goes.

Naomi is the co-protagonist in the Book of Ruth in the Bible. We meet her as a young mother doing all the things relating to having growing boys. Even though she didn't have social media and email I'm sure she spent some daily time visiting with friends and neighbors. It's an important part of who we are. We need that human connection. 

We follow her to Moab where her sons grow up and get married. She likely took on new duties as they grew and when they brought home wives. New communities form around the new duties. Then, tragedy strikes when Naomi’s husband and both sons die. I’m sure that the daily duties seemed onerous in her grief. To add to her work and worry, a woman without male protector was likely to become impoverished. Therefore, she makes the difficult and frightening decision to travel back to Bethlehem. It seems that she retreated into herself in her grief and planned to cut ties with friends. 

As we saw last week, Ruth, one of the daughters-in-law, returns with her as a refugee and widow to glean in the fields. Upon their arrival in Bethlehem, Naomi is grieving and depressed. She doesn't seem to want to be welcomed even by old friends, saying, Call me Mara for the Lord has dealt harshly with me. However, God acts in the very ordinariness of her grief and despair to offer hope and remind us that faith isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes faith is a dark night of the soul when we think God is far away.

We know that Naomi trusted that the Law of Moses would provide for her and for Ruth. That was why she returned to Bethlehem. She seems to not have totally given up on God even though she is in despair. There can be times when we can simply hang onto the slightest bit of a string at the end of our rope. And God can use that to haul us back to the sunlight. Sometimes that thread is the love and outreach of a friend or family member. 

Naomi felt lost and alone and desolate except for Ruth’s companionship. She was like the lost sheep Jesus talks about. He explains that God is like a Shepherd who leaves 99 members of the flock to find the lost one and brings it back to the flock on his shoulder. Pause to think about the effort required to carry a sheep on your shoulders. The images we see in art are often of a sweet little lamb being cuddled, but Jesus says ‘sheep’ which can average around 200 pounds. Look at this image from Google and imagine carrying one of the animals over your shoulder. And, I suspect that the critter might be squirming, too. OOOF!

Naomi was like that sheep. She felt very alone and far from the fold. Deep inside she desperately wanted love. God uses barley and a farmer to bring Naomi back into the joy of God’s love. Boaz’s interest in Ruth sparks a glimmer of hope in Naomi who encourages a dangerous ploy by having Ruth go to the threshing floor and ask for Boaz to protect her.

It works, because God is in the tiniest of details. Naomi become a grandmother. Her friends rejoice with her! Her ordinary routine changed again with new grandmotherly tasks, which she no doubt rejoiced in. A life that seemed to stretch out hopeless is now filled with hope and love.

God acted in the despair of grief and destitution to bring new life and hope.

Think of times in your life when something similar has happened to you. 

Can you be a hand to help someone out of the chasm of their lonliness, loss, despair or fear?

Might you be the one to bring the sheep home to the fellowship of the rest of the flock? 

Is there time in your day to do that? 

Pentecost: Ruth

 We are in what is called “Ordinary Time,” the church season between Pentecost and Advent. If you think about it, most of our time is ‘ordinary’ or at least fits a routine. We can be so busy with our daily lives that we may miss it when God shows up. During this season, we are looking at the lives of women in the Bible who were met by God while going about their ordinary lives.

This week we consider Ruth, who has a whole Bible book. I’ve written about Ruth several times before on this blog. Footprints From the Bible: Cynthia Davis Author She is brave enough to leave her homeland and become a stranger in Bethlehem because of the affection she has for her mother-in-law, Naomi (who we’ll talk about next week).

Ruth the refugee followed her mother-in-law back to Bethlehem where Naomi believed they would be welcomed, if only as the poor and widowed who were allowed to glean the edges of fields. We know from the story that Ruth could have returned to her father’s home and let him care for her and find her another husband. Instead, she chose to be a refugee and befriend Naomi.

Ruth likely faced discrimination when she arrived in Bethlehem, although we don’t hear that in the story. She also found acceptance and love. The devotion of this Moabite woman caught the attention of Boaz who ultimately marries her. From that union comes King David and centuries later, Jesus of Nazareth.

Peter, the Jew, tells Cornelius, the Roman, I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism (Acts 10:34). Peter comes to the astonishing understanding that God doesn’t care if you are Jew or Roman as long as you seek God. Long before that Ruth of Moab learned that God can take a foreigner and create a dynasty.

Perhaps most surprising of all to those who like to label people—God LOVES each one, no matter their home, immigration status, or anything they have done. Ruth of Moab is a shining example of the inclusivity of God. In the middle of her new normal of gleaning in the fields, God steps in through the kindness of Boaz. In the middle of our daily routines, God can step in when someone offers friendship or a smile. We have the opportunity to be the face of God, too. 

Things haven’t changed much since  2017 when I wrote “Ruth: Foreign No More.” There is always talk about who is to be allowed into the country. We are often afraid of those who are different than we are or have had different experiences. It is easy to dismiss them with labels of ‘drug dealer,’ ‘terrorist,’ ‘thieves,’ etc. It is not so easy to sit and hear their story of a life filled with the horrors of war or poverty or failed crops. To hear of these things can make us vulnerable and remind us that we could be affected by similar disasters. We want to stay safely distanced in our comfy homes rather than ask what we might do to help either at the border, or in the places these refugees come from. Is there something we can do to help grow better and more crops? Could we work to stop war and oppression? Can we help provide better education?

What might you and I do to be a little more inclusive of those we currently exclude, for whatever reason, from our churches, neighborhoods, schools, relationships…?

Is there a simple something you can do to just be kind, and be the face of God to someone? 

Joseph of Arimathea at Pentecost

 During the 50 Days of Easter, my blog will be musings by Joseph of Arimathea on the amazing happenings of the time between Easter and Pentecost--between the Resurrection and the Coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. Enter with me into this imagined series of recollections by Joseph. (The image today is Pentecost by Canadian artist Gisele Bauche.) Religious Art Gallery - by Gisele Bauche (spiritualityandart.ca)

The streets of Jerusalem filled with foreigners over the days following the amazing Ascension of Jesus of Nazareth. They came for the major Jewish feast of Shavuot, 50 days after the Passover. Over the centuries it had become one of the important festivals of the faith when Jews from all over the world tried to come to Jerusalem. (Passover and Sukkot were the other feasts men were to attend in Jerusalem at least once in your life.) Shavuot is the celebration remembering, most importantly, the giving of Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai during the Exodus when we became the People of God. Many people celebrated by bringing the first fruits of their early wheat harvest as gifts to the Temple.

I had not really been counting the days since Passover because so many other new things had been revealed. Usually, I prepared by reading the Book of Ruth to commemorate the kingship of David and how his lineage traced back to the beginning. Then on the Eve of Shavout I would join the other leaders in a synagogue or in the Temple taking turns reading through the entire five books of Torah.

When I realized that Shavuot was near, I was surprised when Matthew mentioned that Jesus was of the lineage of David. He suggested that we read the Book of Ruth and then recite the Lord’s lineage until this time.

“Yes!” I didn’t usually speak first in the assembly because I felt rather like a late-comer to the group. “I am happy to take a turn at reading if someone else will recite the lineage forward to Jesus of Nazareth.”

And so it was that we began. The evening stretched into the dark night as we read the story of how a foreign woman became the grandmother of a King, and recited the names of the ancestors of David. Every so often someone would ask me to tell more about one of the men mentioned. I was glad to share what I knew. It made me feel more a part of the group than before.

Matthew took up the recitation of Jesus’ lineage from David to the present and I leaned forward to hear all the familiar names in a new light. 

"It is wonderful when we see how God's saving work stretched from the beginning of time until this new creation," I stated. 

Everyone nodded. As often happened Mary of Magdala began to chant a psalm. We all joined in. I felt closer to these men and women, and to God than I had felt in all my years serving on the Council and worshiping in the Temple.   

As we were praying and singing psalms, something amazing happened. There was suddenly a giant gust of wind that banged the shutters backward and rushed into the room. Before anyone could respond, we felt enveloped in warmth. In shock we all saw what looked like flickering flames dancing in the air over each person.

Our songs of praise in Hebrew became songs of praise in many other languages. I recognized Greek and Egyptian and heard myself speaking in the Celtic language, which had long eluded me despite my trading with the people in distant Britain.  

Each of us reacted in a different way to this amazing occurrence. Peter leaned out the window to shout into the street. The Mary’s were in tears and dancing together while singing in a trio of languages. James and John began laughing like boys, while Andrew and Matthew joined Peter at the window.

It was cacophony, but beautiful. I sat bemused, feeling wrapped in the warmth and surrounded by a love I had never experienced before. I wanted to run and dance and sing like a child and I wanted to just sit in the embrace of the love.

Eventually I heard shouts from the street.

“They are drunk.”

“Shame to be drunk so early on Shavout.”

Peter laughed and responded, “Men of Jerusalem, we are not drunk as you suppose. It is only nine in the morning! This is what was promised to our forefathers. The prophet Joel said, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young will see visions. Your elders will dream dreams. Even upon my servants, men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy."

Peter went on to tell the crowd about Jesus. I listened, astonished by the courage and clarity with which he spoke. Less than two moon rises ago, this man had been in hiding like a terrified rabbit. Now, he was not even intimidated by the glowering presence of members of the Council who appeared in the crowd.

Surely this was the work of God. I shook my head and took a deep breath, realizing I was part of that work, too. I wondered what I would do. Certainly, I was no longer an accepted member of the Sanhedrin. 

"Maybe I will take a more active role in my tin trading business with the Celts in far-off Britain," I mused to myself, content for now to just sit and feel the Love of God surrounding me and everyone in the room. 

Note from Cindy: Joseph of Arimathea has fascinated me for a long time. Legend says that he did indeed go to Britain, and so say that he took the Holy Grail (the chalice from the Last Supper) to Glastonbury. Thanks for coming along on this imaginary journey with Joseph of Arimathea through these 50 days of Easter. Next week, a new series will start.  

Bible Women and Wine

Here we are in mid-May. Probably there are gardens and plants blooming, depending on where you live. That’s certainly true here. Are you still staying at home? Or have you started to go places more frequently with new guidelines like face masks and getting your temperature taken? It’s an unsettling time, for sure.  

Since Easter, we’ve been looking at some of the ingredients Bible women had and used. We are applying stories and recipes from my book A Sampler of Bible Beauty as we consider what the women of centuries ago can teach us. Each week, we are thinking about ways to reach out to those affected by the COVID19 virus, too. So far we’ve considered milk, grains, fruit, and honey. All of these are staples that could have been gathered fairly easily.

Today we move to an ingredient that was not just found and collected. Wine and vinegar had to be processed. Someone had to learn how to take grapes and convert them into wine. (Beer was also an early, maybe even earlier, fermented drink using grains.) And as some of us know, wine left too long can become vinegar.

Fermenting products may have, like cheese or yeast, have been the result of a pleasant accident. Or some ingenious person may have experimented and discovered the benefit of adding sugar and yeast to crushed grapes or grains. Left alone for the right amount of time, this became a refreshing drink that made you feel good. An added advantage was that it could be drunk even when or if the water supply was tainted.

There are many references to wine in the Bible. The first instance is after the Flood. Noah drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent (Genesis 9:21). A few generations later, Lot’s daughters use wine to make their father drunk. (Genesis 19:32-35).

Wine was used for entertaining, just as it is today. Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house when they are killed. (Job 1:13) Esther invites the King and his advisor Haman to a banquet that included wine. At the banquet of wine the king said to Esther, "What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!" (Esther 5:6)

There are warnings against excesses of wine in Proverbs and other places. Some people made the choice not to partake of wine. For instance, when Daniel was taken into the king’s household as one of the young Jewish captives, the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of [that time] they might serve before the king. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. (Daniel 1:5-16)

In the New Testament, wine is important. The first miracle Jesus performs in changing water into wine at the wedding in Cana. It is the story I used in A Sampler of Bible Beauty to introduce wine as an ingredient. The miracle amazes the steward of the feast. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!" (John 2:9-10)

Jesus warns against putting new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved" (Matthew 9:17, Mark 2:22, Luke 5:37) Several of his parables relate to wine or the growing of grapes. During the Last Supper, the symbolism of the wine of Passover is changed. This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many, he says. (Matthew 26:28 and Mark 14:24)

When on the cross, Jesus is offered sour wine, mixed with myrrh, a standard pain killing remedy. When Pentecost occurs, some of the bystanders mocking said, "They are full of new wine." (Acts 2:13) Paul advises Timothy to use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities. (1 Timothy 5:23)

Vinegar is also mentioned in the Bible. Women of the Bible used it for flavoring. Ruth is urged, by Boaz, to “dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back. (Ruth 2:14)

Proverbs notes that vinegar can exacerbate pain or irritation. Like vinegar on a wound is one who sings songs to a heavy heart. (Proverbs 25:20 ) or As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the lazy man to those who send him. (Proverbs 10:26)

Whether accidental or planned, the fermentation of grapes, grains and other ingredients into an alcohol was a fortunate advance. Women (and men) soon found many uses for the new product. And when it soured to vinegar, it was still useful for seasoning and cleaning. It could even be flavored with fruit and herbs.

In this COVIDtide (a phrase coined by Mark VanKoevering, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington) some breweries have turned to making hand sanitizer rather than beer. From small local ones  to major giants like Anheuser Busch companies are stepping up to help produce this much needed product. It's yet another way individuals and companies are helping one another during this time.

You can even make your own sanitizer. All you need is rubbing alcohol and aloe vera gel (to make it the normal gel consistence). One recipe suggests a 2/1 ratio of alcohol to aloe vera. You can add essential oils for scent if you want. There are lots of other recipes online on sites like Pinterest if you are interested in trying this. (Note: You cannot use beer or wine or rum that you might have in your cupboard because the alcohol content has to be at least 60% according to the CDC.)

Meanwhile, you can make a facial with some wine, tea leaves, and honey, or flavor some vinegar for your salads.

Rhoda’s Red Wine Facial

1 tablespoon red wine
1 tablespoon green tea leaves, powdered
1 teaspoon honey

Grind tea leaves into a powder, stir in wine and honey. Apply to face, leave on for 15-20 minutes, rinse off.

Jemimah’s Flavored Vinegars

Marinate herbs or fruit in vinegar to make different flavors to augment salads. Whole raspberries, blueberries, figs, oranges, and pears make delicious vinegars. Herbs like thyme, tarragon, or oregano flavor vinegar nicely. Use the whole sprig of the herb, not the ground or leaf herb, which will result in cloudy vinegar.



More recipes and stories of women of the Bible are found in A Sampler of Bible Beauty by CynthiaDavis. 

Bible Women and Grains

For Easter-tide we’ll offer some thoughts, history, and recipes based on my book A Sampler of Bible Beauty. As we stay in our own homes, we can find solidarity with the women of centuries ago by creating some of the foods and beauty products they might have used. We’ll think about ways they flourished and were faithful in their time, which certainly didn’t have all the benefits we enjoy even in self-isolation.

Last week we looked at how milk might have been discovered and used. Today, we consider another basic food source: Grains. Even before ancient peoples started cultivating seed-bearing grasses, they gathered them for use in their diet. Bread was made from any grain that grew in the area. In my book, I use the familiar story of Ruth to illustrate the importance of grains. By the time of Ruth, grains had been cultivated and used for millennia.

In hunter-gatherer societies, the women would have been the ones seeking out the best grasses and grains to use. As ancient people became more settled, the women would have been part of the process of growing, harvesting, and milling the grain. Of course, they also would have been the ones who used the flour to make daily bread.

Women of the Bible were involved in all aspects of using grains. The barley and wheat harvest were some of the defining seasons of the year. As Ruth learned, the barley harvest came first, about the time of spring equinox. The wheat ripened later. 

Barley and wheat were important food crops in other nations. During the seventh plague on Egypt, Moses stretched out his staff towards heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire came down on the earth… (Now the flax and the barley were ruined, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for they are late in coming up.) (Exodus 9: 24-32)

Because grains were so important, Moses tells the Israelites “the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land… a land of wheat and barley…where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing…” (Deuteronomy 8:7-9).

Grain is important in the religious life of Bible men and women. Grain was part of the ‘wave offering’ commanded in Exodus 29, and in Leviticus. A sheaf of barley was presented to the priest who swung it up and down as an offering to God. This sheaf was then used by the priests for their own meals.

After the Babylonian Exile, King Cyrus of Babylon allows the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem. A few years later research by King Darius unearths the original decree of Cyrus. (Ezra 6:1-5) designating offerings to God from the people around Jerusalem. He then writes to Tattenai, governor of the Province Beyond the River…Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt-offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil…let that be given to them day by day without fail... (Ezra 6:9-10).

In the New Testament grain is important. We see Jesus and his disciples picking grain on the Sabbath because they were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat… (Matthew 12:1-4).  There is also the image of the end of the age when two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left (Mathew 24:41)

The grains in our groceries, whether flour or whole grains like rice and oats, are likely grown on large farms. This is now done by machinery, but until less than a century ago this wasn’t true. Families, or communities worked together. Large landowners used, and too often abused, workers whether they were serfs, slaves, or freedmen. We often think of cotton and tobacco plantations as locations where the enslaved people worked. There were also rice plantations which sought out men and women from specific areas in Africa because they knew how to grow rice.

Many women around the world are still closely involved in the planting, harvesting, processing, and cooking grains. Despite this, there are areas of the world, like India and Africa, that do not have enough food for the people. Droughts, floods, insects, and lack of land all contribute to this problem. Poverty and lack of education are also contributing factors. You may want to research organizations that help address the underlying poverty or lack of education. With Earth Day just past, you may want to consider the effect large scale farming has on the environment. 

We are most familiar with grains being used for cooking, but they can also be used in beauty products, as we saw last week and below. Try one of these recipes. You might even get some whole grain and grind it yourself. Remember that while you use a blender, many women are still grinding their wheat, oats, rice, or other grain in a mortar or even on a stone. 

Bernice’s Whole Wheat Flat Bread

2 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water or milk

Combine flour, oil, and water or milk until a stiff dough forms. Use your hands if it is too stiff to use a spoon. Knead until smooth. Cover with a towel and let rest for 20-30 minutes. Divide dough into 10 pieces. Roll or pat each piece into a round (as thin as possible) on flour dusted board. Heat a dry cast iron or non-stick griddle over medium-high heat. Toast one side until lightly browned, flip and cook other side until lightly browned.

Haggith’s Honey and Oat Mask (for all skin types)

¾ cup oatmeal, cooked and cooled
1/3 cup honey

Combine ingredients into a sticky paste. Spread evenly and thickly on damp skin, avoiding eye area. Leave on for 20-25 minutes. Rinse with warm water, and pat dry. Use immediately after mixing, discard unused portion.

More recipes and stories of women of the Bible are found in A Sampler of Bible Beauty by CynthiaDavis. 

Walk With Jesus: Holy Week 2020-Wednesday

This week, I'll be posting a study: Walk with Jesus: Holy Week 2020. You can download the entire study, or just visit this page every day. (If you download the pdf, you should be able to print it 2 pages to a sheet (8.5 x 11) if you set it to landscape.)
We'll journey through Israel, pausing to read and reflect at various events of His life and ministry. These events took place at specific locations, so you’ll learn a bit about Israel in 30AD, too. There are questions to inspire you to meditate on your response to Jesus’ ministry and how that may be different this year due to self-isolation and social distancing. After completing the daily study, take time to reflect and journal on the questions. If you are doing this study with friends, share you insights with each other. Each session has an activity to do as well to help you move faith into action.
Close each session with the prayer in the lesson.

Opening Prayer

Lord Jesus, walk with me and open my heart to what you would have me learn from these lessons. Amen.

Power of Christ (Wednesday): Bethlehem & Bethany

Power can have many meanings and connotations. The people of Israel in Jesus’ time had good reason to fear the powerful, esp. the Romans. A soldier could coerce anyone into working. The average person had no rights. Beatings and death were common ways power was exerted. Currently, the Coronavirus has a certain power over our actions. It is also causing us to try new ways of doing things, so it is both good and bad.

Power is also positive. We need electric power to run our homes. The power of nature can awe us, even though it can be destructive. Jesus had spiritual power, which he used to heal and also to confront the religious establishment. It got him into trouble.

Do you think of Power as mostly a positive or negative thing? How about the Coronavirus?

The southern part of Israel, called Judea, was under control of the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate. Rome had installed Pontius Pilate as procurator in 26CD to keep the fragile peace. His uses of power to keep order were hated by the Jews. It was in this area that Jesus performed his greatest works of power.

Read  Luke 13:1-9

Jesus uses the example of those killed by Pilate and by the disaster of the tower falling to urge repentance not revolt. How do you respond to evil in the world?

What good do you see could come from the current Coronavirus responses?

Bethlehem is a little town nestled in the hills five miles south of Jerusalem. It is closely linked to the capital. The name Bet Leven means House of Bread and the wheat grown here is used for the shewbread in the temple.

The nearby hills are home to the temple shepherds and their flocks. The little fat-tailed sheep that dot the hills provide lambs for the temple sacrifices. They must be entirely white, without any spot of another color. During lambing season, the numerous hill caves are used to shelter the ewes and newborn lambs from the chill spring winds.

Bethlehem is revered as the ancestral home of the family of David. No Hebrew child in Israel is unaware of the story of Ruth from Moab. This famous great-grandmother of King David came to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law, Naomi, after both women were widows. In obedience to the Law, she gleaned grain in the barley and wheat fields during the harvests. Here she met Boaz who offered her the protection of marriage.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem during the rule of Herod the Great. His birth caused a great tragedy in the area.

Read  Matthew 2:1-18

Being of the house of David was an honor to the ancient Jews. How much greater honor is it to be of the ‘house and lineage’ of Christ?

What harm do we do, knowingly or unknowingly, out of fear?

North of Bethlehem lies Bethany. This small village is almost a suburb of Jerusalem. The name means “House of Dates” because of the many date palm trees in the area. The branches are used to make the booths during the Feast of Booths (Succoth) every fall. The leaves are also used to make baskets and for thatching the roofs of the houses.

Scribes and some temple priests make their home in Bethany because it is so close to Jerusalem and the duties of the temple, without the dust and crowds of the larger city. Many wealthy families live in the estates in and around the town. 

Bethany was the home of Jesus’ friend Lazarus who he raised from the dead. This miracle was the catalyst that convinced the Jewish leaders that Jesus had to die.

Read  John 11:45-53

The priests were trying to protect the status quo. Is there something you are protecting?

Are you afraid, or do you have confidence in Christ at this time?

Take Action:

Prayer is a powerful activity. Use the Doxology and pray through the alphabet, adding 3 or 4 things for each letter that offer praise to God. For instance, for ‘A’:

Praise God from whom all blessing flow, praise God all [anteaters, anglers, angels, and albatross].

Praise God above you heavenly host, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

(Then continue with ‘B’, ‘C’, etc.)

Prayer Today

 Lord Christ, I want you to be in charge of my life, but I can become fearful that you will ask too much of me, so I try to save my life just like the Roman and Jewish leaders did. Help me to trust you with my life. Amen.

Prayer for Wednesday of Holy Week

Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.