Blog

And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” Ruth 2:22 It’s late winter in Minnesota and though we haven’t had a ton of snow, we’ve had our share of cold and ice, which means patients slipping,…
Read more

When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.” Ruth 2:15-16 The other day, my wife asked me if…
Read more

But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.” Ruth 2:11-12 When I first met my wife,…
Read more

I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me? Ruth 1:21   Every morning, I spend the first half-hour of my day praying for a long list of people whom I know to…
Read more

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” Ruth 1:16 I grew up watching the Minnesota Vikings and I now love watching…
Read more

“Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.” Ruth 1:20 I snapped at a guy a while back. I won’t go into specific details, except to say that I’d not eaten enough and found myself hungry, impatient, and a little crabby. As this guy droned…
Read more

“Now therefore give up the men, the worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and purge evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the people of Israel. Judges 20:13 Like most of us, I’m pretty good at identifying bad behavior in others, often…
Read more

And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was light. Judges 19:26 In my opioid addiction, I became someone I didn’t much like or even recognize. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that it was me who lied, cheated, and…
Read more

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 17:6 I’ve often said that drug use hasn’t been my primary life problem. Drugs have just the most obvious manifestation of my primary problem which is this – I do what I want. This has always…
Read more

And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. Judges 16:30 When I went off to treatment for my drug addiction, I left a disaster at home, and I honestly wasn’t sure…
Read more