Feminine Mysteries in the Bible by Ruth Rusca

Author:Ruth Rusca
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion/Women’s Studies
ISBN: 9781591439226
Publisher: Inner Traditions / Bear & Company
Published: 2011-04-23T00:00:00+00:00

SEVEN

Ruth

Redeeming the Soul

I read the Book of Ruth at the age of sixteen, when my godmother gave me a Bible as a confirmation present. I remember not liking Ruth’s pledge to Naomi, finding it too dramatically sentimental and too threatening to my sense of freedom. It is quite significant that much later my godmother’s gift urged me to search for the lost “God-Mother” in the Old Testament and that the sense of a threat to my freedom engendered a deep life commitment, which is what Ruth’s pledge really is. I once read that a first name holds power and it is not given to you by chance. As a young girl I was not fond of my name, which means “companion,” but later I felt a strong bond with my namesake. I often feel her at my side as an invisible friend, especially in those moments when I find it difficult to be truthful to my innermost self. The result is a feeling of returning home, to the home of the heart. And indeed, Ruth’s story is about just that.

The Book of Ruth is inserted between Judges and I Samuel. It is called the jewel of the Old Testament. The book is divided in four chapters, reminding us of the fourfold structure of our soul: 1) the devoted daughter-in- law and returning home, 2) the gleaning, 3) the night on the threshing floor, and 4) the wedding of Ruth and Boaz.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.