The Soulkeepers

The hardest thing you will ever do in life is to know for sure what is true.

...in the presence of God, it is less important who is right than what is right.

Home meant a sanctuary, as common and taken for granted as the sun rising in the morning.

What if believing was not about the good in the world? What if people had faith not because of what some superior being could do for them but what they could do when the light of something bigger than any one individual awakened within them--for the sake of others? If evil had been here since the dawn of time, maybe goodness was also here. Maybe, his mistake was thinking it was about him, his own future, his own soul, and not about this: the world needed the good that was in him.

He'd survived by following two very important rules: don't feel anything and don't expect anything from anyone.

When you didn't have the ocean or mountain to keep you busy, he supposed you hurled pumpkins.

In every drop of water live over one hundred thousand microbes, so, it is quite literally alive. It is the universal solvent, required for all life. It is the beginning of all things. Water is strong enough to wear down mountains but agile enough to move through the tiniest crevice. Your body is two-thirds water and every cell in it responds to that water.

His arm wrapped around her back in a way that was instinctual for him now. She was a puzzle piece, fitting into his side where there had always been an empty space.

The world outside was a rolling sea and he was on a raft without a paddle. There was nothing to anchor him and no way to shore.

Just like osmosis, the goodness in you will always attract evil.

What if believing was not about the good in the world? What if people had faith not because of what some superior being could do for them but what they could do when the light of something bigger than any one individual awakened within them—for the sake of others? If evil had been here since the dawn of time, maybe goodness was also here. Maybe, his mistake was thinking it was about him, his own future, his own soul, and not about this: the world needed the good that was in him.

Death lived up to Jacob’s expectations. The day he died was sunny, as it was most days on the island of Oahu where he lived. Only a few miles away, bikini-clad tourists stretched out on the sand

that you don’t. The doc says people often block out extreme circumstances. It’s your brain’s

There have been abductions in the area. Nine women went missing in the last year; six were found dead. Murdered. There were signs of a struggle where they found you.” Jacob’s blood froze in his veins. “Are you

It was a point of pain, of looking out from his loathing as if it were a cocoon that had served its purpose.

answered. “There have been abductions in the area. Nine women went missing in the last year; six were found dead. Murdered. There were signs of a struggle where they found you.” Jacob’s blood froze in his veins. “Are you saying, my mom might have been abducted, or worse,

combing through Manoa Falls.” “I want to help.” Only the irritating tug of Jacob’s IV kept him from bounding out of bed. “There’s nothing you can do, Jacob. The doctor says you’ll be in here for another week and then…” “And then what?

in our apartment. I don’t even remember getting into the car with her.” “She’s missing, Jacob.” “Missing?” he said, sitting up in bed despite the pain. “But she must’ve been in the car with me. How could they have rescued me and not her?” “You were inside the car when they found it. She wasn’t.” “But that doesn’t make any sense.

flipped open. A stranger sat in the uncomfortable-looking chair next to his hospital bed, the pads of his fingers pressed together under his chin. “Who are you?” Jacob asked. “I’m your Uncle John. John Laudner,” the man said. He leaned forward and extended a calloused palm. Jacob did not take the man’s

The world outside was a rolling sea and he was on a raft without a paddle. There was nothing to anchor him and no way to shore. He

when a person died they saw a tunnel that ended in a bright light.

Do you think a person is only as good as the worst thing they've ever done?" John turned to face him as he said it, shifting the car into park.

Since the devil became the lord of illusions. It's very easy to do evil deeds when you are trying to do good.

1 The Boy Who Died Death lived up to Jacob’s expectations. The day he died was sunny, as it was most days on the island of Oahu where he lived. Only a few miles away, bikini-clad tourists stretched out on the sand of Waikiki beach. While they toasted themselves golden brown, Jacob lay on a steel surgical table, broken and bleeding. He’d heard that when a person died they saw a tunnel that ended in a bright light. If the person moved toward the light, God or some already deceased loved one like a great-grandmother would meet them on the other side. Jacob didn’t believe it. He’d accepted that everything would end in black nothingness and, for him, it did. What

But he died, as all men do.

There were only so many things a person could lose before they clung to what they had left.

We are talking about the Lord of Illusions. They are deceivers, tellers of lies. I could be one of them right now and you would never know.