Loss of a canine family member

[N80]

Here's the thing to avoid: in the end, they are NOT people, do NOT have souls, and there is no "doggie heaven". But our Heaven will be a place of eternal joy, so if the Lord thinks we need them to be joyful, He'll let them be there too.

My Lab, whose name is Dash, gets real pouty and down in the dumps when the whole family leaves for church. (He hates being alone). And each time I tell him that if he had a soul we'd take him.

Oddly enough, in his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis speculates that pets could be endowed with souls through us. They learn basic concepts of right and wrong, they develop obvious emotions, their actions are often clearly premeditated. Lewis feels that such animals might have a place in heaven. He admits that this is obviously not Biblical, but at the same time, it could be true since we do not know God's providence. I think it is fine to hope.

Also, James Dickey (a man's man if there ever was one) wrote a poem called The Heaven of Animals. It is a simple but brilliant poem about where animals go. Dickey was very much a pantheist and the poem is pure fantasy, but brilliant and comforting nevertheless. One has to suspect that any diety might have an eternal plan for its own creatures. If you'd like to read the poem it is here and I highly recommend it:

Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Project