Heavenly Father be with us during this season of change,
Help us to remember our community of faith is our family.
We are daughters, mothers, sons, and fathers.
Just as Ruth devoted herself to Naomi, help us to be devoted to this community.
It is our prayer that we will take Ruth’s words into our hearts;
“Your people will be my people..”
May we, as a community, seek security so that we may be well with You.
Amen
It is a season of change.
In New England the weather can change fast and it can be a challenge at times to keep up with the changes. I watched the trees turn vibrant with color and then become covered in an inch of white snow. Despite the unpredictability and rapid changes I love it none the less.
Ruth is one of my most favorite books in the bible. It is one of the shortest books, but full of powerful messages of devotion and hope. The reading starts like this - Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you.” Naomi has lost her husband and her two sons and is returning home. She tells her two daughters-in-law to go back to their mothers’ homes. One of her daughters-in-law, Ruth, refuses and tells Naomi:- ―Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.”
We pick up the story in Bethlehem where the two women are getting by on the scraps left in the fields after the harvest. Naomi seeks security for the future of Ruth whom she loves so much she calls her daughter; not daughter-in-law, but daughter.
We, at North, are facing another season of change. There is uncertainty in our future. We are not sure what will happen in the upcoming year. We are much like these two women and we are seeking security so that it may be well with us too.
In the NCD profile we scored highest in Loving Relationships. I encourage you all to read this short book as part of your prayer practice and see where it speaks to you about your relationship with North and this community of faith.
Best, Vickie