Reading one of my favorite books of the Bible this morning, the idea of picking up what others dropped was highlighted. Ruth follows behind the other harvesters, dependent on what she gathers. She also provided for her mother-in-law from her supply. It would have been counterproductive for her to pick up weeds. They would have added weight and at the end of the day been discarded. She could not feed herself or anyone else with what is worthless.

This concept of picking up made me think of offenses. Everywhere we turn, these “weeds” are available and we get to choose to gather them or leave them. If we pick them up, they weight us down and provide nothing beneficial for anyone else. May we all be mindful of what we are gathering.