What to Do in Times of Adversity

Like an instruction manual, the First Reading opened my eyes to how I should respond to adversity:

Cry out to the Lord;
moan, O daughter Zion!
Let your tears flow like a torrent
day and night;
Let there be no respite for you,
no repose for your eyes.

Rise up, shrill in the night,
at the beginning of every watch;
Pour out your heart like water
in the presence of the Lord;
Lift up your hands to him
for the lives of your little ones
Who faint from hunger
at the corner of every street.

 (Lamentations 2: 18-19)

To rejoice and to praise God in all circumstances, to be grateful and cheerful in times of distress - these are my lessons for this chapter.