We focus on where the soul will end up. Those that believe in the soul anyway. But for those that do, maybe we care so much for where the soul will end up because that is where it dwells for the longest amount of time. "We" are in our bodies for only so long, a flicker of time compared to the amount of time it is nonexistent or beyond in some other plane.
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Then again, maybe we care so much about where the soul ends up because that is the continuation for those that die and leave their bodies. We want the solace and peace of mind that the individual we knew is still existing somewhere. We like to tell ourselves that the deceased person, their soul, is in a better place if they were good. Some like to imagine that those who were evil are in torment. That even though their bodies are dead, their soul is somewhere suffering and paying for what they did in that flicker of time here among the living.
I wonder if the soul can do good or evil after it has left the body...it's hard for me to imagine not. The choices and actions of good only seem to be as such because there is an experience of evil and bad. I have no answers though. I'm not sure what to think about the soul. I believe in its existence, but I don't know when it is born. When it enters the body is a mystery, and it may not even matter. Some say it is once the egg is fertilized. Some say the heartbeat. Some say when the body opens its eyes. I've even read in some places it is not present until the individual has a name or can speak.
If the soul is associated with the afterlife so much, I wonder what its role is here and now. Again, we focus on where the soul will end up. What about now? Are our bodies more than vessels that carry the soul to the next place? Do our bodies mean anything at all? Should I focus more now on my soul while I'm here? Heavens! How do I focus on it? I don't even know how to reach it! I could be reaching it now and not know.
