We Can’t Go Alone

READ Ruth 1

FROM THE ARTIST | Nicolette Peñaranda

When I was a child, my mother used to give my older sister and I a unibraid down our backs. She was never particularly good at doing our hair. We always had flyaways and little bits of frizz at our edges accompanying our bright big smiles on picture day. It wasn’t long until I started braiding my own hair. At the tender age of nine I would spend hours in the bathroom staring at myself in the mirror with two hands to heaven. The more I did my own, the more I noticed others’ braids as well. I would learn to appreciate our shared kinship. Our braids were our ancestors, our heritage, and our culture. Our designs were our creativity and our individuality. Braids bind us in ways that go beyond the physical—we are forever entwined.

Ruth and Naomi find themselves bound by their widowhood and familial grief. And while Orpah made the choice to return to her village, Ruth bound herself to her mother-in-law: “Where you go, I will go.” They too have spiritual connections that are deeper than the surface.