The pedant in me can’t help pointing out, though, that the pre-existence of the soul is not a Christian doctrine but a Platonic one. Poor old Wordsy; he loved Jesus but he was mixed up about a few things.

Be that as it may, kids are amazing and their insights about God frequently put me to shame, pre-existent souls or not.

My husbands cousin lost his wife to cancer. She left behind a husband, a young set of twins (a boy and a girl) and another small daughter. At her funeral, someone spoke of the loss that we were all feeling, but she compared it to the moment the twins were born. She talked about how terrifying it must have been for the twin that was left in the womb after the first twin was born and how badly he must have wanted to hold onto her and not let her go. Yet she was born into a bright new world full of things she had never imagined, where people welcomed her and loved her, and she couldn’t wait for him to be born and join her there. The person speaking said that it was the same for our loss. We were all mouring that our loved on had left us, but she is celebrating in a new world, full of things we can never imagine, and can’t wait for us to join her there.

* * *
Hmmm. I’ve always understood the word “ruach” (prounounced roo-ark for some reason) to be of Hebrew origin. And that later it was translated into the Greek “pneuma” — obviously both closely associated with the idea of wind and breath. But then again, my knowledge of Greek and Hebrew is rudimentary at best.