A LOVING LIFE
in a world of broken relationships
By Paul E. Miller
IVP. 172 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978 1 783 590 902
It is a bird? Is it a plane? Or the book of Ruth, but not as I knew it, Jim! Not a commentary, though there is careful observation of Hebrew words and helpful explanation of Jewish societal background. Nor a free-form ‘devotional’ book, although the 23 chapters could easily be used as daily readings.
Maybe it would be better viewed as a guided meditation on the practicalities of hesed, ‘covenant-love’. The well-known story is recounted, but we are held and asked to consider the effects of those facts on the characters. What might they be feeling? What would be the natural reaction? Why, sometimes, don’t they react ‘naturally’? Could it be hesed ?
