Ruth 1:16-17
“Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people will be my people, and your God my God; where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.””
This passage comes from the book of Ruth, a story set during the time of the Judges in ancient Israel. Ruth, a woman from Moab, has lost her husband and father-in-law, both Israelites. Her mother-in-law, Naomi, urges her to return to her own family in Moab, but Ruth makes this heartfelt declaration of loyalty.
What does it mean to commit to a new way of life and a new community, especially when it means leaving behind what is familiar?