More than material:

I was arguing with a friend of mine, Portillo, about whether or not God exists, and I think we got to talking about the soul. Portillo is an ardent atheist, and the biggest fan of Nietszche that I have ever met. He even has his name on the main screen of his mobile. We were in the university dining hall, and he was sitting across the table from me. To my right was Uli, a somewhat easy-going Catholic, and to Portillo's right, Mejillon. Portillo and Mejillon were being kind of mocking about this whole idea of a 'soul', and Mejillon was saying, 'where is it then? Where is my soul?'. Then he started prodding different parts of his body, saying, 'Is it here? Is it here?'. I explained, in faltering Spanish, that the whole point about the soul is that it is not something physical or material, but something spiritual. For that reason you cannot see it or locate it. I imagine that they thought that was pretty stupid. They wanted to know why I believe that I have a soul, if I can't see it. How can I believe in something 'spiritual' like that?

My answer was that I believe I have a non-physical part to my being because I also feel needs and desires that are not strictly physical, and are not satisfied by material things. Often I try and quench those yearnings with physical sensations or stimulation, without success. The writer of Ecclesiastes, part of the Old Testament wisdom literature, exerienced the same. He recounted:

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for my labour.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.

This man had material riches, earthly success, power, and many women, yet found it all to be empty. After it all, he was not satisfied. Personally, I have felt the same, and I am confident that everyone who is reading this has also done so at some time. You have pursued your desires, but after it all just experienced an incredible emptiness. And you are still looking for something more.

If we are just physical beings - an atomic accident - why do we yearn for things that are more than material? Why, for instance, do we search for love, and not just sex, if our only purpose here is to reproduce our genes. Why are we not just satisfied to play our part in the great atomic march? Why, in fact, do we even talk about satisfaction as something transcendent at all? Somebody probably has an explanation. Nevertheless, I know that I long for something that cell-stimulation cannot provide - I am not a biological accident.

I didn't explain all this to Portillo. He would have fallen asleep in his soup. I just told him that I believe I have a soul because I have non-physical needs and desires. I highlighted love as one of those. At this point, my friend explained that although he is an atheist (like I said, a big fan of Nietszche), he does actually believe in some kind of spiritual Being or Force - though not a creator. I think that's because some things just don't quite make sense without God.

In case you are interested, I offer you the conclusion reached by the writer of Ecclesiastes. The book is a search for meaning in life, and these are the final lines. I hope they will help you:

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.