“Mommy, What’s a Soul?”

“Soul carried to Heaven” by artist William Bouguereau

Not long ago, I began a series called "Mommy, What's That?" - which give secular parents quick and easy ways to describe complicated (or potentially disturbing!) religious concepts to young children. So far, we've covered angels, catechism, confession and everybody's favorite dude, Satan. Today, we'll cover souls. Because, really, what the heck are those things anyway?

The Short Answer:

A soul refers to everything about you that's not your actual body. Your body includes your eyes, ears, arms, legs, bones and heart. Your soul includes everything that you feel and think and remember. It's the part of you that you can't touch. Possibly because it does not exsist.

The Long Answer:

"Soul" is a religious word, and many religious people believe that their souls live on forever. They believe their bodies will decompose, as all bodies do, but that the part of them that makes up their inner lives - the "essence" of who they are - won't ever die. Not everyone believes that. Many nonreligious people believe that when people die, they just go back to how they were before they were born: no thoughts, feelings, memories, pain or anything. No one can know for sure what happens after we die because no one has ever come back from the dead. Sometimes when people talk about souls, they are talking about all the things that make people good and kind and moral. If you hear your aunt say, "That man doesn't have a soul," she isn't saying that the man doesn't have an inner life; she is saying that he doesn't seem to be a good person. Other times, people use "soul" to refer to their deepest emotional state. If you hear your uncle say, "That music was good for my soul," it means that the music made him feel really good and happy.

Wendy Thomas Russell is a journalist, author and blogger. Her book, "Relax, It's Just God: How and Why to Talk to Your Kids About Religion When You're Not Religious" is due out this winter.