● Naomi lamented: “The Almighty has made it very bitter for me. I was full when I went, and it is empty-handed that Jehovah has made me return. Why should you call me Naomi, when it is Jehovah that has humiliated me and the Almighty that has caused me calamity?”​—Ruth 1:20, 21.

Widowed Naomi did not allow distress to immobilize her in Moab when her husband and two sons died. There is indication, however, that for a time she did have bitter feelings with regard to herself and her two daughters-in-law. In sending them away, Naomi said: “It is very bitter to me because of you, that the hand of Jehovah has gone out against me.” Again, when she reached Bethlehem, she insisted: “Do not call me Naomi [“My Pleasantness”]. Call me Mara [“Bitter”], for the Almighty has made it very bitter for me.”​—Ruth 1:13, 20.

Naomi, however, did not isolate herself in tents of bereavement​—away from Jehovah and his people. In Moab she had heard that “Jehovah had turned his attention to his people by giving them bread.” (Ruth 1:6) She understood that the best place for her was with Jehovah’s people. Together with her daughter-in-law Ruth, Naomi thereafter returned to Judah and skillfully guided Ruth as to how she should act toward their kinsman Boaz, her repurchaser.

Similarly today, loyal ones who have lost their mates in death are coping successfully with the emotional stress by keeping busy within the Christian congregation. Like Naomi, they keep applying themselves to spiritual matters, daily reading God’s Word.