And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. – Ruth 3:11

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 5, 2019): Ruth 3

We are all on a search for our legends, even if we don’t really believe that the legend exists. We want to believe. I want to believe in King Arthur, who ruled over his people with a benevolence unknown in his day, and yet was still powerful enough to defend the weak for no other reason than it was the right thing to do. We want to believe that Arthur existed somewhere in history, even if Excalibur, his legendary magical sword, does not.

I want to believe that Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men actually walked in their own version of the Sherwood Forest. These were average people who were willing to speak truth to power. These men possessed the character to stand up and protect the weak from those who wanted to take advantage of them, giving to them what they deserved or needed to live, in the absence of the good King Richard. We need our heroes and our legends, even if we don’t believe that they could exist.

The Bible is filled with heroes. Many are not without their faults, but they are united by the idea that they want to do what is right. And many are described as possessing “chayil,” a word that means valour and a moral strength of character, traits our legends, like King Arthur and Robin Hood, also possessed.

Biblically, “chayil” is a character trait predominately possessed by men, but there are a few women who are also said to have possessed this attribute. And one of these women is Ruth. In spite of the sexual innuendo present in the story of Ruth and Boaz, and Boaz insistence that Ruth leave the threshing floor before anyone finds out that she had visited him there, he insists that she is a woman of noble character, and the word he uses here is “chayil.” We have no idea what Ruth might have looked liked, but part of what attracted Boaz to her was her valour and the moral strength of her character. Everyone knew the story of Ruth and Naomi. And while Naomi seems to have been loved by the people, Ruth’s defense of her earned her the respect of everyone who had heard her story, including Boaz.

In the story of Naomi, the wife of Elimelek, the hero is Ruth. When Naomi needed a Robin Hood, Ruth appeared and filled that role. She possessed no power, but that did not stop her from doing what she could to protect Naomi. She put her life on hold, and on the line, to help her mother-in-law survive.

We all want to believe that legends and heroes exist. But maybe what we need to understand is that they do exist. They live inside of us, clamoring to get out. We can be the hero that we need, and all we have to do is follow the example of Ruth, and in the midst of darkness, step up and do the right thing.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ruth 4