Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 134 · May 14
Sit Still
“Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day.”
A woman in a doorway at first light, six measures of barley knotted into her shawl, and nothing whatever to do. Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall.
Ruth has worked every day since she arrived in Bethlehem, gleaning behind the reapers in another country's field. Now Naomi tells her to sit. There is a nearer kinsman, the claim has to be settled between men at the town gate, and Ruth has no standing in that conversation at all.
The reason given for her stillness is somebody else's motion. For the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day. Boaz had said it under oath in the dark: as the LORD liveth, lie down until the morning. By the time the sun was properly up he was at the gate with ten elders, doing the kinsman's part. She sat because he would not.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 134 is Morning Prayer (Psalm 5:3).