Character Matters: The Book of Ruth: Steadfast Kindness, Hope and Redemption

Leadership has a proclivity to go off ethical and moral rails. Too often ethical issues are passed over or lapses excused if the leader seems to bring value to the group. In times of great moral confusion or corruption, when anything goes to get ahead, there is great temptation to short circuit moral concerns. The time of the book of Ruth was just such a time. What we are shown in this marvelous story are people who swim against the tide of corruption surrounding them. The virtues of kindness and loyalty, the moral courage and strength of character brought the best out of Ruth and Boaz. It is a tale of the triumph of people who were faithful to their God and to the need to care for the desperately poor. It echoes in our day with the millions of refugees and asylum seekers. It is the story of how a wealthy man decided to care for an alien immigrant and an impoverished widow from his wider family. It raises issues of what role stories play in informing and inspiring our own ethical character.