This article was originally published by The Mennonite

Advent day 12: Choosing life over death

Lynn Parks is Associate Pastor at Oxford Circle Mennonite Church, Philadelphia, where she is abundantly blessed with children and youth. She and her husband, Vandy, live in Philadelphia with their dog Belle, and cat, Arwen. Their daughter, Bethannie, and son-in-law, Kevin, are seniors at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Advent is the time of waiting with excitement and anticipation for the arrival of our Savior. We read the prophecies of his coming and the messages of the angel to Zechariah and Mary that God was sending both the Messiah and the prophet who would prepare his way. Two miraculous births will take place and through this miracle child that Mary will birth, new life will come to many.  This is the story that brings us joy and wonder every year.

Yet there were two years in my life when this story did not bring joy or wonder, but only served to magnify feelings of grief, hopelessness, and worthlessness as I mourned for babies lost to miscarriage. I had never noticed before how much the holiday season focused on babies and children until I miscarried my first pregnancy. Suddenly babies and pregnant women were everywhere! Yet my womb and arms were empty and my heart ached.

Advent became a time to endure, rather than a time of joyful anticipation. Where is comfort to be found in such a time for those who are empty?

The story of Ruth and Naomi was much more relevant for me at that time than the story of Mary and Elizabeth. Ruth and Naomi were also empty. Naomi’s sons had died and Ruth had never had a child. Both were widowed so their grief was more compounded than mine, giving hope that if they could move forward in life, so could I. Naomi is the one who reflects the feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness that I felt. She was ready to send her daughters-in-law away and return home to die. Ruth is the one with the spark. She isn’t ready to give up. She will move forward with hope because she is not just following Naomi, she is also following Naomi’s God.

Ruth was from Moab. Her people worshiped Chemosh, the god of war to whom was made human sacrifices. Behind Ruth was the death of her husband, the years of barrenness, the fear of a god of war who demanded human sacrifice. Ahead of her was food, a new community, and this God who has done things that no other god does, a God who is capable of compassion and reaches out to his people.

Her choice came down to life or death: to go back to the land of the god of destruction or forward to the land of the God who saves.

This is the same choice that faces anyone who feels empty, hopeless, worthless, alone. We can stay in the place of death or we can move towards the God of life. Ruth’s situation didn’t change once she reached Bethlehem. She was still barren, widowed and viewed by the community as a foreigner. But she had made a move towards the God of life and she kept moving. She got to work gleaning in the fields and God worked in those circumstances to bring into her life the man she would marry and have children with.

Ruth’s story gives hope. Ruth, the barren widow, the poor, foreign idol worshiper became the ancestress of the Messiah. Ruth chose Yahweh over Chemosh, life over death, and eventually, through her, the giver of eternal life came into the world.

In moving towards the God of life, in a time when my vision was clouded by death, I eventually came out of the gloom and saw hope again.

May all who are burdened this Advent season find hope in the Lord of life and be able to say: “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them – the Lord, who remains faithful forever.”

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