April 10, 2026

Business by the Book

Ruth 4:9  And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi.

Handle things in an above board and open manner, Boaz did. This mighty man of wealth did not hide his transactions in a corner, nor did he skirt the darkness to hide his intentions. He straightforwardly and single-mindedly performed that which he said he would do. In a manner suitable to the custom of the day, Boaz gathered appropriate witnesses to observe the legal transaction that he was about to carry out with Ruth’s nearest kinsman redeemer.

Upon review, the details of redeeming all that was Elimelech’s (father of Chilion and Mahlon and husband to Naomi) the nearest kinsman forfeited his rights. Therefore, allowing Boaz to redeem all that was Elimelech’s included the privilege of marrying Ruth. One result of that marriage was a son named Obed. Obed is the grandfather of King David and the great grandfather of King Solomon. When Solomon built the great temple he named one of the pillars “Boaz,” probably after this mighty man of wealth.

Handling things in an above board and open manner is a good way of life. It lessens stress, fear, confusion, misunderstanding, anxiety, fretfulness and many other adjectives of like meaning. I remember a time when I did not operate by this principle and to this day I regret it.

Christmas was just a few days away, I was in 6^th grade and school was out for the holidays. Our school had a program in which students who were having difficulty could get help so they would not fail the class. The first step of this program was to send home a wonderful document called a “deficiency slip.”  If you obtained one of these it basically meant that your grade was deficient and unless something changed you would fail the class. It also contained information about the areas that needed improvement, suggestions for concentrated study, and other pertinent information the parent of the student needed. I thought it was unwise, unfair, and uncool for these deficiency slips to be handed out just a few days before Christmas. “Don’t these teachers understand how this news would affect the Christmas spirit?” I thought to myself.

I did not receive one of these awful reports, nor two, or three, but I did receive four. I was failing four classes. How could I bring these deficiencies home to mom and dad? So, I hid them. Yep, I put them on a clip board, under a bunch of other papers, and placed that clip board on a bookshelf in my room, where it would rest until sometime in the future, like never. On a certain day, my dad needed a piece of paper, where do you think he came to find one. In my room! He picked up that clip board, and started thumbing through the papers to find a blank page. He and I were discussing my train set and he wanted to diagram something for me. I still remember it, he was moving in slow motion, and he stopped on a certain page, read it, turned to the next page, read it, turned…well you get the picture. Christmas was in serious jeopardy there for a while.

Believe me it would have been so much better to have handled those deficiency slips in an open and above board manner, but it taught me a lesson that has helped me throughout life. Hopefully you can learn it without living through it like I did. Learn from Boaz, learn from a sixth grader, and deal with things openly. It’s just better that way.

Dr. William Howe