@boxcarblue, your post is a profound one. It caught my eye, because as a Christian, it is also not easy to explain death to a child. I agree with so many of your notions, except of course that I believe that I will one day be resurrected in a glorified form before my Father. However, I have huge respect for the way that you keep on explaining to your child. In fact, your post is so profound for me, that I will print it for myself, reread it, and maybe make a separate post, also referring to yours, of course.

My first experience of having to try to explain was when a random pigeon was found dead on the roof. I used the idea of the soul moving to another place, an afterlife, if you will, and that is the reason that there is a lifeless body on the roof. Dead. My son immediately summarized it as follows: So, it is the eyes' "look and see", the ears' "hear and listen", and the body's "do" that is gone to another plane, even though the eyes and ears and body are still there.

As the pigeon was inaccessible on the roof, we all watched it slowly disintegrating until there was nothing left.

Sadly, my children grew up and became non-believers for now. Now my comment is almost becoming a post in itself. You did ask some uncomfortable questions, even for me as a Christian. I wish we could have the opportunity to discuss this whole issue around a fire and a glass of wine. (South Africans, you see, do deep discussions around a fire...!)