
Poetry
Pets and the Afterlife
Is there life after life for the pets we love and who pass on?
Is there a heaven for our pets?
Where do they go when they die?
How do we know they are all right?
These are the questions that vex our souls. These are the questions I'm asked, often through the tears of the heartbroken.
It all has to do with what one believes deep down about death. What applies to humans and their spirits and soul applies equally to our animals.
If one believes death is the absolute end of life. Period. Then it is so for people and pets.
But as an animal chaplain and pastor, I say this: the great and total love we give our animals, our beloved pets, and the total and great love they give us, do not end with death.
The love lives on in them and in us.
Their spirits are with us forever, and we know that.
We carry them in our hearts forever.
They do reach out to us, and we need to learn how to be still and receive what they are telling us.
Is “forever love” heaven? is “forever love” a hereafter?
Yes, I believe so
It does not lessen the deep pain. Nor stop the longing to hold and feel them again.
But what a comfort to know they are alive still!
They are just in a different form
Amen