When I was doing a character study on Ruth of the Bible, I started investigating the affects that labels can have on her self-image. Did the labels assigned to Ruth in her early life leave scars in adulthood? Did they affect her as she married into an Hebrew family and as she was introduced to Yahweh? This musing prompted my study, Disable the Label, from which these blogs are drawn.
The first time we meet Ruth in the Bible (Ruth 1:4), she is a new bride. In the historical novel, Less Than a Widow, we meet her as a young child. In both the Biblical and my fictional account, Less Than a Widow.The outsiders of birth, culture, traditions, and circumstances labelled Ruth a LOSER. She is given this designation due to situations over which she has no control.
An abusive childhood such as the one I suggest Ruth experienced in Less Than a Widow would certainly leave emotional, physical, and spiritual scars. As an adult, the stares, jeers, and insinuations from Ruth’s peers in both Moab and Bethlehem could act as further affirmation in her mind that her LOSER label is actually the truth, that she truly is worth LESS THAN everyone around her.
Even though we live in a time thousands of years after Ruth, the truths of humanity haven’t changed. Many of us have experienced a dead-end in our lives, been caught up in an impossible situations, been afraid, felt hopeless, or wondered where we would find the strength to continue?
Where do labels come from? Generally speaking, there are three human avenues from which a
negative label might attach to a person:
from OUTSIDERS
(culture, tradition, circumstances).
from INSIDERS
(family, friends, acquaintances).
from OURSELVES
(our belief of the labels given to us).
Ruth was labeled a loser by the OUTSIDERS of culture, tradition, and circumstances:
- Ruth’s looks—a blending of races—set her apart as different in both Moab and Bethlehem.
- As the child of a slave in Moab, Ruth was property, not a person. Later, as a member of a Hebrew household in Kir Hareseth, Moab, she was a misfit in her own country. Ruth was also not welcomed in Bethlehem because she was an immigrant from an unfriendly nation. (See: Less
Than a Widow, pages 49-54). - In the patriarchal times in which she lived, Ruth was labeled LOSER because she did not bear any children—more importantly, any sons—in the ten years of her marriage to Mahlon. (See: Less Than a Widow, pages 131-133)
With so many strikes against Ruth, the loser label may seem appropriate, at least in the culture and time in which she lived. What chance did she have to be anything else? Ruth refused to accept the hopelessness of LOSER. Instead, she chooses to believe the replacement label that Elimelech and Naomi affixed to her: You are a CHILD OF YAHWEH. Later when Naomi lost hope, Ruth persevered.
“Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” (Ruth 1:16, NLT)
Kathleen S Evenhouse 