Soul Qualities Part 1
March 22, 2026
Soul Qualities Part 1
Join us for this week’s reflections on “Soul Qualities.”
Some decisions do not feel like choices at all. They can be terrifying, yet sacred moments when whatever we do changes us forever.
My brother and I stood at such a threshold when our mother was critically ill and struggling to breathe. Though she was in her early nineties and hospitalized with end-of-life complications, without the ventilator, she would not survive more than a few hours. She was alert, frightened, and utterly exhausted—her arms restrained, her lungs failing her. The doctor told my brother, Trevor, and me that the most humane course was to extubate her and allow her to die with the aid of medication to ease her passing.
What nearly undid us was not the medical reality, but the unbearable feeling that we were deciding what only God could decide. But for some reason, God had given the decision to us. What were we to learn from that predicament that squeezed us between love and fear?
She had given us life. She had loved us fiercely and faithfully. She had attended to so many details of our lives. She was part of our hearts and souls. Just yesterday at the gym while tying the laces on my athletic shoes, Mama’s instructions came into my heart. I heard her words as if she were telling me how to tie my shoes. Tying laces is a detail, but together with all the small teachings she gave us, we emerged well-equipped for life. This precious mother was in every corner and thought of our lives. How could we now choose when she would die? Should we keep her alive in fear and discomfort, or let her go forever? The unspeakable weight of that decision paralyzed us with relentless self-doubt and fear.
Self-doubt plagues many of us, whether the decision is small or life-altering, because we fear any unwanted consequences. We wonder if we will be able to live with ourselves afterward. This is a deeply human struggle, because every life demands that we take stands—public or private, ordinary or once in a lifetime. Sooner or later we are painted into a corner, and we must move forward—we must decide. When doubt tightens its grip, where do we turn?
We turn toward the soul.
In the quiet place within, there is a still, small voice. It does not shout. It does not bargain. It does not promise comfort. But it speaks truth. Trevor and I, each in our own way, listened for that voice. And when we found it, we found a place of peace. Together, we made the hardest decision of our lives.
We let our mother go while holding her warm hands which tightly held ours until there was no more life in her precious body. These were the same hands that had once held us. We were with her as she crossed into the next realm, trusting that love, not fear, was guiding us. This was a sacred moment— letting go of the very person, soul, and body from whom we were born.
Spiritual practice: In meditation, go into the source of light in your heart that draws you inward. In that receptivity, can you hear the Still, Small Voice? Listen to that voice’s answer to any question you ask it.
Self-inquiry: Why would you trust your Still, Small Voice?
Prayer:
Dear God, I hear it—the Still, Small Voice. Amen
