Better Together
I love the Old Testament story of Ruth and Naomi. It’s a reminder that our story isn’t over when loss occurs. Naomi suffers the loss of her husband and both sons. One of those sons was married to Ruth. Both women are faced with the plight of being alone in a culture and land where widows are the least of the least. In Ruth chapter 1, verse 16, (CSB) Ruth expresses her strong desire to stay with Naomi, her mother-in-law, and return to Bethlehem: “Don’t plead with me to abandon you or to return and not follow you. For where you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” Ruth defiantly declares her loyalty to Naomi and refuses to let her go home alone. Together they form a bond that opened their hearts to hope. They had each other and God did not abandon them.
It just takes one person to remind us we are not alone in our grief journey. While grief is a journey only we can take by ourselves, we can find other traveling companions on the path. In the book, A Grace Disguised, author Jerry Sittser says, “My loss joined brokenness and love together. Brokenness drove me to love, and I found a source of love that I could not find in myself. I found it in community, and in the God who creates and sustains community for broken people like me.”
The latest research says that one in five Americans feel lonely or socially isolated. We are not meant to do life alone. There’s much healing that happens when we share our pain and walk alongside one another. Ruth and Naomi give us a beautiful example of love, support and the power of togetherness. Their losses were not the end of their stories. Same for us. Our stories are continuing to unfold as we find others to walk alongside us on the journey.