As we continue in the midst of Covid-19 I recall a wonderful line from the novel Secrets of a Charmed Life, most of which is set in London during World War II. In the novel, the author Susan Meissner describes two of the main characters as follows “They were just two women trying to chisel a happy life out of a giant hulk of rough-edged circumstances”. We all seem to be chiseling at the moment, yet this rock of rough-edged circumstances seems only to grow bigger not smaller!
Think for a moment of two women in the Old Testament, Naomi and Ruth. The book that bears Ruth’s name could well bear Naomi’s. Both women bear a remarkable testimony to human fortitude, goodness and courage.
“Do not press me to leave you
or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.” Ruth 1:16
No matter the journey we undertake, no matter the challenge, no matter the circumstance, we can be encouraged by these two women. Ruth’s determination to follow Naomi, her determination to commit to Naomi’s God, moved them both into new futures.
What of you and your circumstances? What are you chiseling? May God be with you in your future as well as the present.
Prayer: Lord God today is not easy, The road is uphill, The clouds gather, Come to my aid, Hear my prayer. The challenges are many, The choices are hard. I feel desperately alone, Come to my aid, Hear my prayer. Amen.
Edward Thompson
