"No more ask me to leave you," was Ruth's impassioned plea. "Where you go I will follow, your home is home to me. Where you life finds its ending, there I shall make my grave. Your God shall be my own God, and both our lives shall save." And so the two together left Moab's life behind to seek Naomi's homeland, another life to find. Their loss and sorrow sharing, the stony road they trod; through hunger, thirst and danger they walked with trust in God. In Judah no sure welcome would greet them as they came; no friends were there to help them, no near kin they could claim. Yet God's good grace through Boaz soon made their lives secure: he took them as his family to love forevermore. God, still we seek our refuge beneath your sheltering wing, and find the strength and courage that trusting faith can bring. May we in all our living reflect your way, your truth, and live toward friend and neighbor the faithfulness of Ruth.