In the Field of Grace by Tessa Afshar is the romantic
retelling of the story of Ruth and Boaz. Their story appears in the small but
powerful Bible book of Ruth. Ruth is a Moabite who is the youngest and
forgotten daughter when she befriends Naomi and catches the eye of her son,
Mahlon. The two marry and set up house with Naomi, his older brother Chilion
and his young bride, Orpah. The small family is very happy until suddenly
Mahlon and Chilion become ill and die. Naomi is left with one option, to return
to her home in Bethlehem. Ruth is determined to follow her beloved mother in
law to the ends of the earth if she had to and refuses to return to her parents
even after Naomi pleads with her. When the two arrive in Bethlehem, they have
very little to their name. Naomi tells Ruth about gleaning in the fields.
Gleaning is when the poor pick up the shafts of wheat and barley that the
harvesters drop. In order to keep them from starvation, Ruth decides to join
the gleaners in the fields. The one she chooses belongs to Boaz, a distant cousin
of Naomi, a kind and gentle man who all he can to help the less fortunate. He
is immediately drawn to Ruth and finds himself making sure Ruth and Naomi have
all they need to survive. He tells himself that his interest in Ruth is nothing
more than repaying her love and kindness to his cousin, but will he open
himself up to the truth? Will he and Ruth surrender to God’s will and plan for
their lives?
I have always loved the book of Ruth. I love the love story
between Ruth and Boaz. A woman from a nation who was a hated enemy of Israel
and a man with a strong stance in the community. God brings them together and
from their son, Obed, comes King David and from David’s line is the Messiah,
Jesus. Ms. Afshar once again brings a simple but magical story on its own and
fills it with even more wonderful. In In the Field of Grace, the human
sides of Ruth and Boaz become more real. Readers can see them as we are today,
filled with doubts, pain, grief and uncertainty. Often you read a Bible story
and it seems so obvious that the people in these stories would follow God and
rewarded. But we do not realize that Ruth and Boaz had their own doubts,
insecurities about their self-worth and God’s love for them. Ms. Afshar’s story
opens the human side to these Biblical figures in a powerful way. I highly
recommend In the Field of Grace.
In the Field of
Grace
is available in
paperback, eBook and audiobook
No comments:
Post a Comment