Article June 18, 1984 Issue

Journey to the land of promise

HELEN M. NANNEY

Two women lost their husbands. In fact, their mother-in-law was all they had left of their family by marriage. The two women finally had to make a choice. They could return to their own people, where they would have a home, family, and security, or they could travel with the mother-in-law to a new land and a strange people. One chose the former. The mother-in-law then said to the remaining widow, "Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law." The woman replied, "Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God."^{Ruth 1:15, 16.} The daughter-in-law was, of course, the Bible's Ruth.

Many of us, like Ruth, may be taking a brave journey into an unknown land—the land of Spirit. We may have just discovered the light of Truth in Christian Science. We may be at a point of having to decide whether we will return to our "people"—materialistic traditions, ecclesiastical dogma, creeds, and rituals—or whether we will pursue our Spiritward journey and let the light of Truth lead us into the land of promise.

Like Ruth, we may have to leave behind all that is familiar to us. Even our present friends may turn away from us, for our journey will lead us away from frivolity, self-indulgence, social cliques, religious formalism, perhaps even some family ties.

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