It seems that there is some faithfulness in the land still, even if it takes someone like Ruth to bring it out. Boaz makes sure that she's looked after and protected and at the end of the day she returns to Naomi with a good sized sack of grain. And the first part of our story finishes with Ruth living with Naomi, safe and to some extent provided for. When you think about it, the world we live in isn't so different from the world of the Old Testament. Human relationships are far from happy far too much of the time.
People find it hard to make lasting friendships.
Erich Fromm in a book called 'The Sane Society' observed that 'There is not much love to be found in the world today. Now, whether we're any different from past generations is hard to tell but the reality is that lasting friendships, even lasting marriages are hard to achieve. People feel isolated, tensions in relationships are commonplace. Ethnic tension, divorce, suicide, are all on the increase. More and more people are living alone, whether by choice or by circumstances.