"And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to
every creeper on the earth which has in it a living soul..." Genesis 1:30
DO PETS GO TO HEAVEN?
The question of animals in Heaven has been a constant area of discussion and
debate between religions and denominations and interpretation of scripture for as
long as there has been spiritual doctrine. For those of us that have known that
special and very real unconditional love, loyalty and companionship of a beloved
pet, we are less apt to even ask the question, "Do animals have souls?" or "Do
animals go to Heaven?"
When we have known such love and such joy as they have brought into our lives,
and when we have witnessed first hand the light leaving their eyes at death and
cloud over in stillness, we know that "they have gone." To watch that light go out
in the eyes of a human being at the moment of death is exactly the same as the
light going out in the eyes of one of God's creatures.
That living spirit is what gives the body - any body - life! The living soul that
inhabits each and every living creature and emanates directly from the Father! As
human beings, we have been given by our Father FREE WILL. He has given us
the free will to choose good from evil, to choose right from wrong and to choose
HIM.
The animals in God's kingdom live within a different role than we have been given.
They remain in balance and live by the divine laws that God has set into place -
so perfectly that every equation in nature is mathematically perfect! God has not
left out any details! The rotation of the earth, the seasons, the earth's place in the
solar system - the role that each living thing plays in the balance of God's
harmonious creation is so perfect in its wonder, that I wonder how anyone could
even imagine how it could simply be random bunch of gases and chemical mixes.
When people ask where is the proof that there is a God, I ask them to look in the
mirror and tell me how they came to consciousness and even into existence at all
and tell me that there is no intelligence greater than our tiny selves.
When we talk about the "soul" we are talking about the essence of being, the
spirit that moves us and brings us to life. Without the soul, such as after death
occurs, our bodies turn to a cold stone. Within hours after death, the body is
hard as a rock and begins to decay rapidly, for the soul has fled. That essence of
life that breathed and lived and kept that heart beating has fled the body. The
soul has returned to spirit and to heaven from which it came.
How could a living creature look at you and feel and love you and communicate
with you, if you were no more than chemicals. Chemicals are just properties and
have no conscious awareness. Even fish have awareness, even if it is only in a
limited way. God needs them to play the part that they play in His creation, so
He has given them just the right sized brains and the right kind of awareness to
participate in the way that He has called them, so that this beautiful world has
come to life and be sustained. Without each plant, mammal, bird, fish, reptile,
insect or human being playing their part, God's creation would not be sustained.
So He gives each of His creations their part to play within the environment that
they live. Where they LIVE! They are living - and life comes from the spirit.
Without spirit there is no life, as we see when the body turns to stone after death
and quickly vanishes into nothingness as it decays. Spirit, however is eternal and
ever-living and does not die. Spirit is outside the confines of physical space and
lives eternally in the realm of Heaven, which is our true home. We are no more
than visitors here and when we return to our real home - with God in our true
body, which is of Living Spirit.
Can we truly imagine a Heaven that is only clouds and harps? Would Heaven not
be rather filled with more beautiful, more radiant colors than our earthly rainbow
can even hold? When we go to beautiful places or look upon a beautiful sunset
or pastoral vista, we are moved and inspired. We often remark "Oh, how
heavenly is this," and we are reminded of God. I believe that this is because
something in us knows intuitively that Heaven is not a place void of beauty and
only filled with the souls of people.
Even here on earth, we could not imagine a place that has only human beings.
We reach for ALL life in all of the forms that God created - we love animals and
we something in them that is divine and gentle, kind and good and sweet and
innocent, and we know in our hearts that this is God's hand at work.
My answer to the question, "Do animals go to Heaven?" is this: Would it be
Heaven if your pets were not there? We don't even like to go to places on earth
where our pets are not welcome. Such living expressions of unconditional love
that have come and gone from this world, able to touch our hearts and souls and
change us from inside out, can only be from God's living love.
There are several passages in the Bible that I always refer to when people ask me
about animals in heaven.
Genesis 1:30
And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to
every creeper on the earth which has in it a Living Soul.
Revelation 19:11
I saw Heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose
rider is called Faithful and True...
The rider is our Beloved Lord Jesus, and He rides a white horse coming out of
Heaven. So we see that God's creatures are important to Him, both here and in
Heaven. They are living spirit and come into our lives not too different from little
angels here on earth. They bless our lives in countless ways and change us for the
better from within. Only Living Love can do that, and Living Love has the ability
to bless us in such dear ways, healing our hearts and invoking from us such
innocent and gentle love that we might not otherwise express.
These are companions that the Father sends us through His grace and mercy that
we might know and learn from their example about the spiritual qualities that we
hold in such high regard. Our pets already know them and show them, for they
are that living spirit and come directly from God without malice, without hatred
and without greed. If there was no soul and if animals were not from Heaven,
then our pets would be nor more than inanimate rocks that lack the ability to
express the qualities so divine in nature.
We learn from the example of Saint Francis of Assisi how to look at all life in the
way Jesus taught us. God has given us instruction in Genesis to take care of His
world, and has given us dominion over His animals. But He gave us intelligence in
order that we would know how to do that and He expects us to use it to take
care of ALL of His children - the 2-footed, the 4-footed, the winged, the finned,
the feathered and the ones with no legs or feet or wings at all. He has given us
that responsibility. God did not say, "Here are my creatures. They do not matter,
so destroy them. We see with the story of Noah that God took great care to
make sure that all of His animals would be safe and cared for in the ark. He gave
Noah the most important job in that moment in time - to care for His creatures.
Whether we personally interpret the Bible literally or metaphorically, the lesson is
the same: God's creatures are in our care and He expects us to be good
Shepherds and diligent stewards.
In the story of Noah's Ark, God did not instruct Noah to go around and gather
married couples that provided different skills in the community. God wanted His
animals saved and protected so that they could again live and thrive on the land
and renew the balance once the storm had passed. God saved all His creatures
great and small.
Jesus taught us to love and to live by compassion. Through examples such as
Saint Francis, we learn humility and kindness towards all living creatures. We
learn that through this humility and humble service, we become better human
beings, living as God has instructed. Again and again, Jesus uses the analogy of
lambs and the Shepherd to describe and explain so many divine principles.
Would the little lamb be merely a walking ball of wool without any feeling, Jesus
would not have chosen this little example of gentleness and innocence to teach us
so many things.
From Heaven God's creatures have come. God has instructed us that we have
dominion over them, which is an awesome and holy responsibility. We must
become better stewards for His creatures and watch over His kingdom and His
creation through our own expanding compassion, understanding and diligence and
make sure that when we enter Heaven's gate, where all of God's creatures run
and play in beautiful fields of heavenly flowers, that our Lord reaches out with the
animals looking on, and says,
"Well done, good and faithful servant."
Rev. Sandra Lynn Shaw
Chaplain of the Pets
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