Decision Making: Ruth in Bethlehem (Part 2)

Former New York Mayor, Rudolph W. Giuliani in his book Leadership says that a sound decision require both statistical analysis and intuition. Analysis only works well when combined with intuition gathered from your own experiences which makes the decision personal. Many times we come to a crossroads where we have to make an important decision in the shortest time possible. We may not have had experiences to build our intuition, but then, the decision has to be made.

Four people in the book of Ruth had to make a decision whose stake was higher than they knew at the time. Orpah turned back and went to Moab while Ruth recited her now famous ‘your God will be my God’ and followed Naomi to Bethlehem. Boaz went to meet the man (his name is not even known) who was a closer relative to Naomi than him. The man forfeited his responsibility to redeem Ruth to preserve his children and missed on eternity. 

You do not just wake up and start making such wise decisions. Boaz tells Ruth he has heard about how she has been loyal to Naomi. The way he treats Ruth clearly shows that he is a man worth his weight in gold. Yes, Giuliani is right, analysis of current situation is good but who we are really determines the decisions we make. If the situation to gain experiences does not show up, work on who you are- your character.

Knowing Christ is one step towards learning to make sound decisions. Because slowly you start realizing that there is the common, fair, good, better and best option in everything. Sacrificing the good now for the best later becomes easy and you end up a better person. Life is not black and white; Orpah and ‘the man’ lived their lives not knowing what they had missed. Christ simplifies it for us, connect yourself to him.

©26^th April 2011

Mentorship in ‘Ruth in Bethlehem’

It pays to stand in the shoulders of giants, you see far and you are able to learn and achieve more. Ruth hanged onto Naomi even after hearing a list of reason why she should go back to her people. Opah decided to go back to while Ruth accompanied Naomi into a land she did not know.

In her beauty of form and character she distinguished herself as an obedient student of Naomi. Her reputation preceded her; Boaz tells her she has heard how she has treated her mother in-law well. She earns favor with Boaz and probably many other relatives in Bethlehem. Transitions are tricky and I can imagine, they experienced lean times as they had to rely on well wishers. Ruth relied on Naomi to learn the ropes of Bethlehem and she obediently obeyed.

She had the freedom to reject Boaz; he praises Ruth for not going for young men. She had the option of riding on the favour they had to get more from their relatives but she chose to heed Naomi’s word. Her obedience paid off when she got married to Boaz, a man who redeemed her. She gave birth to Obed, restoring Naomi’s joy (I am sure she asked to drop the tag of bitterness (Marah) from her life. Good mentorship is satisfying to both parties. I am not good at maintaining mentorship relationships but this soap opera reminds me to take it seriously.

© 24^th April 2011: kenyatta otieno

African Culture and Christianity

I had the privilege of doing a common course in Law and one of the core things I learned is that the law is made for man and man is not made for the law. This fundamental principle means that the law is made to serve man and correct a wrong that is for the good of society. Any piece of law that fails to serve this purpose is either repealed or abolished. 

I am a Luo from Western Kenya and we have a strong attachment to our culture and customs. When speaking to my people about living a holistic Christian life, I am always met with objection regarding observing our customs. The argument always is that Christ came to fulfill the law and not to abolish it. To them this text of scripture allows them to observe the tenets of our culture and still be Christians. This is a product of misrepresentation of the gospel by the missionaries who did not take time to understand our culture. Africans ended up becoming Christians because of the goodies that was associated with it rather than its true essence. I do not have a problem with the whole of Luo culture but the few which involves rituals, slaughter of animals and engaging in sex as a cleansing ritual. these culture was made for us, and it is good to the extend which it serves us.

In this regard I always refer to the book of Ruth where this Moabite widow decided to go and worship the God of her mother in law and forgot all about Moab. She ended up inheriting an inheritance that all Israelite women would desire; being a grandmother of Christ. The word of God (James 1:8) says that a double minded person is unstable in all his ways. Christianity is about living life in its abundance and having the freedom that the friendship with Jesus brings. The law is burdensome and image oriented where as a relationship is all about Love which is basis of Christianity.

To my people it may be our customs; to you it may be a way of life that you still cling on to even after accepting Christ just because that is how you have been doing it.  The next four weeks I will be sharing on the gems in the soap opera ‘Ruth in Bethlehem.’

© 19th April, 2011: kenyatta otieno

The dog will bark

A story is told of a time in Kigali Rwanda immediately after the genocide when there was no single dog in the whole of city. The dogs had fed on human carcass during the genocide and fell in love with human blood. After the bodies were cleared and life slowly returned to normal they started attacking people as they went around their business. The dogs had to be exterminated, they were all cleared and Kigali remained dog less for a while.

Then one night as someone was asleep he heard a dog bark. It felt strange and out of place, the dog did not even know that it had sounded the beginning of a new season. The dog must have lived a lonely life without seeing other dogs so it decided to call out if there was ‘someone’ out there. Post genocide Rwanda was scary and lonely, it was good for dogs to be absent as their barks could scare the wits out of survivors. Yet when this dog barked, it felt like the crow of a cock, awakening and reassuring that a new day is here. It signified that Rwanda had walked through the dark season of genocide and it was time to forge ahead and build a new nation.

In our valley times, we sometimes fail to hear the bark of the dog as we dwell on the dark hurts of the past. we are used to being woken up by a cock's crow or an alarm or a sunrise, a dog is one animal you never imagine can herald a new beginning. Watch out for the unlikely signs that God is still on the throne for such a time as this. No matter what you are going through, keep your ears on the ground for that out of place, rare sound of a dog barking. A new day is here, get up, dust yourself and rebuild your nation, it is time. 

PEACE