Self-Care Part 4
January 14, 2026
Self-Care Part 4: Soul Care in the Face of Inhumanity
Oppression, dehumanization, genocide, and persecution have brought humanity to its lowest forms. Imagine being so stripped of hope that you would dig a hole in the earth and wait there to die. Such despair was absolute for many in history’s darkest hours
We can look at the people of the Holocaust, the enslaved Africans in America, the Native Americans facing genocide, and the prisoners of war… each enduring terror, humiliation, and the constant threat of death, and ask:
What made some give up, and what helped others survive?
How did some care for their souls in such unbearable times?
Across these four collectives—Jews of the Holocaust, Native Americans, enslaved African Americans, and American prisoners of war—there were common ways of sustaining the soul. Despite their different histories, all held four forms of spiritual self-care:
Remembering Who They Were
Helping One Another
Holding Onto Meaning
Sustaining Faith, Even in Secrecy
These four are divine, transcendent qualities of the human soul.
Remembering Who They Were
No oppressor could erase their true identity—their divine origin. Through ritual, prayer, and meditation, they kept alive the awareness that they belonged to something sacred. In their stories and songs, they preserved the wisdom of their ancestors, affirmed their spiritual lineage, and passed those remembrances on to the next generations.
Helping One Another
Sacred kinship and benevolent compassion became lifelines. Even in separation, and the absence of loved ones, they found ways to be mother, father, sister, brother, and protect one another. This was soul care expressed through love in action—an unbreakable human connection that no cruelty could destroy.
Holding Onto Meaning
No act of brutality could rob them of their inner purpose. Even in suffering, they sought meaning and alignment with something greater than themselves. In the midst of persecution, they found sacred power and dignity, which was living proof that the soul’s purpose cannot be extinguished by oppression and dehumanization.
Sustaining Faith, Even in Secrecy
When open worship or expressions of their faith were forbidden, faith went underground, but it did not die. Through whispered prayers, hidden rituals, or the silent knowing of the heart, they remained connected to the Divine. This was sacred creativity, sacred joy, and sacred peace. Their hope endured because they touched a power beyond themselves.
In every age of horror and loss, the human soul has found ways to rise, survive, and thrive by remembering, helping, believing, and holding on to meaning. These are not just survival strategies; they are sacred acts of resistance and evidence of the divine spark in us which will always be alive!
Spiritual practice: Read Viktor Frankl’s, Man’s Search for Meaning. How does it speak to you about self-care?
Self-inquiry: Of the four shared methods of self-care of the soul, which do you feel is the most vital and why?
Prayer:
Dear God, For the divine spark you placed in all of us, I am thankful. If someone is forgetting their divinity right now, I pray that they, in some inestimable way, will be reminded of who they really are. Amen
