Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down. Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.
- from Ruth 4:1-2
 
One curious feature of the narrative in Ruth is the presence of a broader community. 
 
Ruth works the fields in the presence of the other serving women and the harvesters. Naomi’s friends in the village celebrate with her with Obed is born (spoiler alert). And, in today’s passage, Boaz brings in the elders of the town to witness his interaction with the guardian-redeemer.
 
Our pursuit of faithfulness takes place in the midst of a great cloud of witnesses.
 
We each have our own private sins and faithfulness. But our lives are intertwined with the vast web of people with whom he’s connected us. They see some of the consequences of our foolishness and some of the fruit of our faithfulness. They complicated and beautify the story.
 
We operate for much of the time as if we’re the main character in the story. This makes sense. As one author said, you’re the only character on stage in every scene of the story of your life. 
 
What this means in the story of Ruth is that the serving women and the harvesters, the friends, the town elders … they all might have thought of themselves as the main characters in the story. 
 
But we don’t even know their names.
 
What do you think it will take to become a remarkable supporting character in the story of the lives of others?