Boaz Effect
How do you help someone in need?
At mealtime Boaz said to her, ‘Come here, and eat some of this bread, and dip your morsel in the sour wine.’ So she sat beside the reapers, and he heaped up for her some parched grain. She ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, ‘Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.’ So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. She picked it up and came into the town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. Then she took out and gave her what was left over after she herself had been satisfied. Her mother-in-law said to her, ‘Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.’ So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, ‘The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.’ - Ruth 2:14-19
In today's reading, Boaz wants to help Ruth, so he offers her some food and then tells his reapers to let her take from the harvest. But he doesn't just let her take what falls to the ground naturally, but tells them to pull some barley and leave it for her to glean.
He could have just given her money, but instead he gave her a job. She could work the field with his workers and what she gathered would be hers.
I am a strong believer in helping people this way, creating work for them so they can make a living. Ruth was able to maintain her self-respect while being helped.
A new model for socially responsible businesses is emerging where the goal is to create jobs for those in need. The products created by the workers are viewed as a means of job creation. The more they sell, the more jobs they can create.
Rather than looking for ways to cut labor through automation, these businesses look to add labor by meeting greater demands for their goods and services. I guess we can call that the Boaz Effect: help by providing opportunity.
What if every business thought that way?
We might not need as many non-profit organizations.
More to come...