Ruth and the Big Picture

The book of Ruth has been described as the most beautiful short story ever written. And while it’s short, less than 2500 words in English, its beauty is obvious in multiple ways. It is a story of family, it’s a love story, and more than anything, Ruth reveals the invisible hand of a sovereign God who works His will in the seemingly random events of people’s lives.

One of the great values of God’s word in general, and of a book like Ruth in particular, is that is enables us to see the “Big Picture” – how the Lord does in fact work all things together for good for those who love Him.

We cannot see The Big Picture in our own lives. We operate from day to day, a step at a time. If our recent days have been hard, full of toil or heartache or grief, it’s very difficult to convince ourselves that tomorrow will be any different.

Sobering Lessons from Meriwether Lewis and the Lewis and Clark Expedition of Discovery

I just finished Stephen E. Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West.

I don’t believe I’ve read anything about the Louisiana Purchase or the Lewis and Clark expedition since grade school. (Which of course was only a couple years after Lewis and Clark returned from their trip.)

Anyhow, I was amazed by the sheer heroism of this expedition, undertaken because of Thomas Jefferson’s vision to find an overland route to the Pacific Ocean.

Meriwether Lewis was a Renaissance man. Son and step-son of military men, he was an Army officer personally selected by Thomas Jefferson as his own right-hand man. Lewis was like a son to the President.