Just Being Ruthful

BY Ruth McDonald

I never did like my name when I was growing up. As soon as I said, “Hi, I’m Ruth,” the response was inevitable. “Oh! My grandma’s (great aunt’s, spinster English teacher’s) name was Ruth.” I was a young girl with an old lady’s name.

Of course, kids will take any name and turn it into a taunt. I was called Babe Ruth, Baby Ruth, and Goofus Rufus. People also loved to call me Ruthless, which never made much sense to me. How can someone named Ruth ever be ruthless?

I tried the KonMari method of tidying up a couple of years ago and discovered why I’ve never been able to achieve minimalism. She says you must be ruthless in decluttering—a thing I, by my very essence, can never be! That’s my excuse from now on, and I’m sticking with it.

Got me wondering, though… if ruthless is a legitimate word, why does it not have an antonym? Can a person be ruthful? I did a little research, and guess what? Ruthful used to be a commonly used word in our beautiful, ever-evolving language. It meant “full of compassion, loyalty, empathy.”

I love to uncover things in the English language that hearken back to the Bible, and this is obviously one of them. The Old Testament character I was named after was a woman who exhibited those admirable qualities. My appreciation for the name my mom gave me grew. While I don’t recommend widowhood or living with your mother-in-law, I do want to be known as compassionate, loyal, and empathetic.

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While living in a Tokyo suburb, our open windows brought us frequent private concerts. Sections of classical pieces, folk songs, and pop songs came floating into our home, performed by an amazing whistler. It turned out that our elderly neighbor was the virtuoso, and he whistled outside our window when his wife kicked him out of the house to smoke.

As I got to know Mr. Whistler, he asked my name. I told him I was named after a Bible character, and he said he would look her up. A few days later, he told me he had bought a Bible and read the book of Ruth. He said he admired her devotion to her family and enjoyed reading about her life. I’d never liked my name as much as I did at that moment. My mom never dreamed the name she chose for me would cause a Japanese man to open the Bible for the very first time. We are focusing this year on living out our faith in culture. God loves to use what we have—our name, background, story, strengths, and weaknesses—to point others to His truth. You have been custom created for the opportunities He has for you. About the Colunnist:

Ruth McDonald has served as the Director of FWB Women’s Ministries since November 2022. She comes to this position after 38 years of ministry with her husband Donnie as a missionary with IM, Inc. (Free Will Baptist International Mission) in Japan.

Born to church planters in the Pacific Northwest, Ruth has also lived in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Arizona, South Carolina and, of course, Japan.

During her years in Japan, Ruth actively participated in church planting, music, children’s ministry, evangelism, and discipleship. She enjoyed using her varied interests as a platform for connecting with Japanese people. Crafting, gospel choir, English conversation, sewing, and thrifting were (and are) some of her favorite hobbies.

Ruth’s passion is for encouraging women in their faith through writing, speaking, and counseling. She is excited about coming alongside Free Will Baptist women as they find and fulfill their role in the Great Commission.