Be a barley field.
This was my personal motto as I prepared to leave for Europe a couple summers ago. My 20-somethings women’s group had been studying the book of Ruth, and I was struck by the intuitive biblical welfare system – gleaning.
As Ruth followed the other workers in the field, she picked up the barley stalks they left behind. It couldn’t have been easy work, but it gave this far-from-home widow something.
Something to carry home. Something that she could use to make a meal for her and her mourning mother-in-law Naomi. Something that would give her hope and a future when Boaz took note of her and later redeemed her.
Leaving grain to glean wasn’t extravagant. It didn’t even involve much effort. But it made a difference.
I haven’t seen any barley fields here in Berlin, but I have seen plenty of bottles. Bottles like these ones, lined up in front of trashcans and recycling bins.
And I have seen plenty of people, who are down and out, roaming the streets, picking up the abandoned bottles and putting them in plastic bags.
On most beverages, there is a Pfand or deposit. When you buy a drink at the supermarket, you pay this deposit up front. When you turn the bottle back in, you receive the deposit back. It is a small but practical incentive to recycle.
Leaving bottles to be collected isn’t extravagant. It doesn’t involve much effort. But, I do believe, in the lives of some of the “least-of-these” in Berlin, it is making a difference.
This was my personal motto as I prepared to leave for Europe a couple summers ago. My 20-somethings women’s group had been studying the book of Ruth, and I was struck by the intuitive biblical welfare system – gleaning.
As Ruth followed the other workers in the field, she picked up the barley stalks they left behind. It couldn’t have been easy work, but it gave this far-from-home widow something.
Something to carry home. Something that she could use to make a meal for her and her mourning mother-in-law Naomi. Something that would give her hope and a future when Boaz took note of her and later redeemed her.
Leaving grain to glean wasn’t extravagant. It didn’t even involve much effort. But it made a difference.
I haven’t seen any barley fields here in Berlin, but I have seen plenty of bottles. Bottles like these ones, lined up in front of trashcans and recycling bins.
And I have seen plenty of people, who are down and out, roaming the streets, picking up the abandoned bottles and putting them in plastic bags.
On most beverages, there is a Pfand or deposit. When you buy a drink at the supermarket, you pay this deposit up front. When you turn the bottle back in, you receive the deposit back. It is a small but practical incentive to recycle.
Leaving bottles to be collected isn’t extravagant. It doesn’t involve much effort. But, I do believe, in the lives of some of the “least-of-these” in Berlin, it is making a difference.
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