The story begins with loss and grief. Naomi, a widowed Israelite, living in a foreign land stands with her daughters-in-law as they bury her sons and their husbands. All seems hopeless as they set out towards Israel, however, on the way, they run into hope. Naomi, in an act of selflessness, urges the two younger women to go back to their own land, but Ruth refuses to leave her and chooses loyalty. What does it mean to be loyal? How might we learn to respond like Ruth?
