Son of Salmon

If you ask me which one is the most beautiful love story in the Bible, I will say it is the story of Boaz and Ruth (rather than Jacob and Rachael). When a lady of virtue met a gentleman of standing.

However, we cannot make such a story into a movie today. Why? Because it may not be popular. We did not see any "sexy" descriptions of Ruth saying that she had silky hair, smooth complexion, charming eyes, or Venus like figure. Also we did not see Boaz appeared as Brad Pitt or David Beckham. Of course, Boaz did not stand behind Ruth and open her arms on top of the windy trashing floor like the movie Titanic. At the end of the day, the failure of this story is because it is rated as G, not even MC16 or PG, namely, no sex, no violence, and not even a kiss.

Well, you can see this is an extraordinary ordinary story. Ruth has a caring heart, humble and diligent attitudes. Most of all, it is her trust in God. What I can learn from her is that she is willing to take up a burden for the good of others, a commitment for "whenever, whatever, whoever, for-ever". On one hand, this humility and obedience is extinguishing in this modern world, but, if Ruth can show such kind of virtues in that terrible chaotic period of time, why can't we do that also? Yes, we are incapable. However, there is no excuse for us for not doing so to those we love, especially for God by God's power. We always said that we are not 'ready' for certain commitment; however, if we said so and did not make a choice to take the risk and responsibility, there will be never a time to be ready. Because, only those who admit they are weak and insufficient will rely and trust on God.

When we pan our camera to Boaz, what can we say? He is rich, but this is not the valuable eligibility of Boaz. He is a kind man, gentle to his servant and others. Most importantly, again, he is a man of standing in God's eyes. He may not be a handsome or smart guy, but he definitely has a 'soft' heart to care for those who are in need and he did not look down on his servants. In the mist of all these, his integrity and submission to God popped up when he handle the redemption of Ruth. He likes Ruth, but he didn't violate any laws or God's commands for his own desire. I will doubt myself of what I will do when I was facing the princess I love, in the middle of the field when there is no body around. It is dark and the world is just me and her. At least I will have the impulse to hold her hands, or an "innocent" hug, or of course I want to kiss her. However, in that moment, Boaz had a clear conscience and did the right thing, namely, mentioning about the nearer kinsman-redeemer.

What an anti-climax! However, this is the time to show how to claim God's promises provided that we need to:

1. Fit into God's holy livings
2. consider others' good, not selfish thoughts
3. change our lives for eternal good

To follow these, I need to trust God. How much we trust God? It is not only a feeling of security, but also shown by our behaviors. For myself, I fear the future, so I dare not to plan. That's my weakness because I know my limitations. There was a period of time in my life that I dare not to get up from my bed because I was stressed by the many decisions I need to make in the office. However, I figured out that I did not trust God much and that caused my fear. I did not believe that God has a plan already and God's love is far more than I can imagine. If Ruth and Boaz is the beautiful love story, God is the director of this movie and the author who wrote the scripts with His gentle hands.

At the end of the day, what did we learn? Did we learn that we should find a husband who is rich and gentle? Or a wife who is hardworking and submissive? I guess these might be true but it is not the most important part. We should live a life of 'standing' and 'virtue' ourselves. Trust in God when we make commitments for others' good. Even in the situation that we will make 'die-hard' decisions which make us suffer loss. We should trust in His plan that when we submit to His will, He will take care of our plans.

At last, God is faithful to everyone, even Naomi is comforted. And the genealogy at the end of the book of Ruth rings the postlude. If I am going to name this piece of music, the name should be "My plan will go on".

Heroism

I guess, every boy has the feeling of being a hero in their hearts. Some people admire those 'heroic' heros, like Hercules, muscular and bravo.. Some will admire those who sacrifise such as Yue Fei (岳飛). Some heros are calm and intellectual, like Zhuge Liang (諸葛亮) who was talented but served his master until his last breath of his life. Some heros are romantic as well, such as Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings.

In Chinese, there are a few words related to "hero". Of course, the most common one is yīng xióng, which is known by the movie. Another word is xiá (俠), some English translation is the 'chivalrous warrior'. For me, it seems like the two terms have some differences in the meaning. I guess the former focuses on the archeivement that a yīng xióng has done. On the contrast, the later focuses on the virture of the person.

For being a "xiá", he can be a great "xiá" (or a small one?). In Jin Yung (金庸)'s Wu Xia (Martial Arts) novels. One of the most famous characters, Gwor Zhin (郭靖), said this before:

"為國為民,俠之大者"

It means "For the man has a heart for his people and his country, he is the great one among the heros". To be a great hero (大俠), he has to have a heart of sacrificial love for others, and virtues to persist. These are the great heros for full respects.

For us, "how should we then live?" Where and which are our country and our people? We are in God's kingdom. Our lives should also focus in "為國為民" (for our 'country', for our people) "For our people", it does not mean only for the people who are Christians already. We should also live for people who are not Christian yet. To show our 'virtues' that are transformed by our Saviour, and to persist and resist the evil of the world. Evil does not always come in horrible ways. Sometime evil sneaks in by an attravtive appearance and tempts us when we are unguarded. For a hero, he may not afraid of a dragon. However, if there is no dragon to kill and no princess to be rescued, or a friend to be protected, the hero may 'decay' by himself (That is the story of Caramon in Dragonlance series). This is one of the very handy tricks of Satan, instead of percecuting us, just give us a good life so we will be 'soften'.

For us, we should keep alert, and keep our eyes fixed on our ultimate Great Hero. The one who defeat evil by His own sacrificial love. For He is our King and our Lord, we should mimic Him and live for our Lord, our kingdom and our people.