Ruth: A Life of Witness

            Today we celebrated the life of a woman who inspired many in our small town. I only knew Ruth Brown for about three years, but I always walked away from her feeling challenged, uplifted, and encouraged.

            She suffered greatly in her battle with COPD and cancer. Even so, she did not harbor bitterness or anger toward God or anyone else. Neither did she wallow in self-pity or self-condemnation. This is not to say she never struggled, but she always came back to the peace of knowing her Savior. I remember leaving the hospital in awe once after Jon and I had visited her. She told us very matter-of-factly that her condition was a result of poor choices she had made growing up and she just had to live with those consequences. The way she said it has lingered with me. She spoke as a woman who understood her own sin but who also knew and rested in complete forgiveness. She didn’t play the blame games. She knew how to live with the reality of her circumstances without letting it eat away her spirit, her kindness, her faith, or her hope.

            Her love was so evident and so far-reaching. It ran in deep rivers over her husband, her children, her church, and especially her Jesus. While she cherished her time here, she eagerly looked forward to the day when she could be with Him – when she could be in her true home. In the meantime, she worshipped with abandon, she set her attention on the needs and well-being of others, she walked alongside her husband of over forty years with both fierce affection and snappy humor, she prayed fervently for her children, she served others however she could, and she kept living with dignity and strength until the end of her days here. In spite of knowing full well that her time was short, she continued genuinely loving and truly living.

            Ruth has given me a whole new understanding of the meaning of longsuffering and how to walk well through pain. Having to fight to breathe is something that is completely foreign to most of us. We may remember as children the panic that started welling up when we tried to see how long we could hold our breath underwater at the swimming pool. That childhood memory is only a small glimpse of what Ruth experienced over and over. Yet, I don’t remember ever hearing her complain. She was not above asking for prayer, but she did not use her plight to turn everyone’s attention to herself. And despite the difficulty, she made the effort to come to church every Sunday that she could, not out of rote obligation but because she wanted to be with God’s people and worship together with them regardless of what it cost her. What a powerful testimony.

            The life she lived witnessed magnificently to the grace and love of God. She desired desperately for people to know a genuine, thriving relationship with Jesus like the one she enjoyed with Him. She wanted people to know Him not just as a hero who could rescue them out of trouble but as a loving companion and Lord who would walk with them through the fire and on into glory. She longed for others to know and believe that Jesus died for their sins and that He offers forgiveness and an abundant life for those who will trust Him. She wanted people to know the peace and freedom of living a life surrendered and submitted to one’s Creator.

            Ruth is home now. She is breathing freely and basking in the warmth of heaven. She continues to worship with lifted arms and a humble heart. The reflection she could only see dimly before she now sees clearly, face to face. I have no doubt she is dancing with joy in the presence of her Savior. If she were still here, she would invite you, plead with you, to open your heart to Jesus, and she would tell you without reservation that it is worth it.