Speaking at an Easter sunrise service at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland brought me into contact with a number of military persons. I had dinner in the home of a retired colonel, a West Point graduate whose two sons also graduated from West Point. What struck me was their commitment to Christ and their zeal for a positive witness in the armed forces. It is good to be reminded that there are thousands of fine Christians in the military serving God and the nation around the world.
My son John’s engagement to Stephanie Larson of Minneapolis was announced recently. Their wedding this summer will be a milestone in the lives of friend wife and myself: we will have no more unmarried children (and no more college expenses!). As I wrote this we are awaiting also the imminent arrival of a third grandchild to crown our blessings. All this led me to reflect that the story of Ruth and Boaz comes from the period of Judges, which was characterized by savagery, lust, strife, and lawlessness. But the Book of Ruth is marked by love and marriage, the birth of babies, simple faith, and the tilling of the land: the common activities of ordinary people as they lived and died quietly amid the turbulence of their age. It still has a familiar sound, doesn’t it?
