The Throne of Humility
Rus's humble words before Boaz lifted up her ancestors' offerings and earned her the throne of the mother of the king.
When Boaz comforted her, Rus answered that she was not even like one of his maidservants. The Bas Ayin teaches that these words reveal her inner trait of humility and submission. Chazal say that the offerings of her royal forebears in Moav, which were brought for the sake of reward, earned them the merit that Rus would descend from them. Through Rus's humility, the Bas Ayin explains, those offerings were finally lifted up and repaired. That is why Shlomo set a throne for the mother of the king, whom the Gemara identifies as Rus, the mother of royalty. The throne, through which holiness is drawn down, belongs to the mother of the king, and the Hebrew words em melech share their numerical value with anavah, humility. This, he adds, is why Megillas Rus is read on Shavuos, a festival bound up with humility.
Source: Bas Ayin, Shavuos (on Rus 2:13 and Melachim I 2:19)
Rus was a princess who spoke of herself as less than a maidservant, and it was her humility that earned the throne. This week, choose one place where you usually claim your due: the front of the line, the last word in an argument, the credit for a shared success. Let it go once, quietly and without comment. If you are thanked or praised, answer simply that you were glad to help. Notice afterward how much lighter it feels not to need the seat.