The Soul of the Child: Nurturing the Divine Identity of Our Children

Therapist and best-selling author of The Wonder of Boys and The Wonder of Girls Gurian focuses here on the spiritual nature of children, warning parents not to treat their children as ""economic interns, whose primary goal as adults is to make money,"" but to spend time tending to their souls. Mingling scientific analysis with religious philosophy, he argues that the soul and the body are one entity-that the soul is part of our neurological makeup. Understanding this can help parents raise their child to become what he calls a ""new human,"" a healthy, secure person empowered to follow his or her own divine destiny. Gurian argues that most children are robbed of their right (and indeed, their innate inclination) to live a life of meaning and spiritual purpose; he blames the overstimulation of mass culture and the breakdown of the family (including the extended family) for the many problems and psychological disorders of today's children. Gurian dances quickly over the neuroscience of the soul, however, and for some, his connection between electrical impulses that run us and the light in our eyes that he says is our souls shining through will be hard to swallow. But his vision for a healthy world and nurturing family life for children is a crucial one, and will no doubt be welcomed by his many fans.