Okay. I was on another forum, and this question came up! So, what do you think? Do you beleive that one day when we hit the great out doors, and the clouds in the sky will our beloved pets be their too greet us?
This seems like, and is, an interesting question to garner discussion among philosophers...but can I tell you about something that happened back in the mid-90s that might make you think twice about off-handed remarks that may be made in response to such a question? I'll try the Reader's Digest version.
I used to moderate a board for a no-kill shelter where I volunteered back in the mid-90s. One day a mother approached me on-line with a terrible problem. It wasn't in my field, but she approached all the moderators and asked for help. She had a 10-year old daughter who was terminally ill with cancer (the little girl was aware of her illness and that soon she would be in heaven). The little girl had a young kitten that she loved very much. One day while watching the other kids playing outside, sitting with her kitten the little girl witnessed something awful, her kitten suddenly darted from her side into the street in front of an on-coming car and was struck and killed. The little girl was devasted, so her mother, trying to help told her daughter to talk to their minister or her Sunday School teacher about how she was feeling. And that's what the little girl did. Her Sunday School teacher dismissed the child's grief so the little girl went to the minister and asked if her kitten was in heaven waiting for her. The minister struck out at the child telling her animals don't have souls and can't go to heaven. As her mother wrote me (words I'll never forget) "you can't image how angry I was at him and how hopeless I feel not able to help my baby".
We asked the mother to let her daugher email us about her feelings (sometimes just "verbalizing" helps). The little girl was still devasted even after nearly 6 weeks and asked us basically the same question she had asked her minister. For 3 weeks we exchanged emails and gave her all the reasons she should know her kitten was not in heaven yet, she was at Rainbow Bridge waiting for the little girl. It seemed to help and we were all feeling good until the email we all dreaded arrived. Ginny had been rushed to the hospital late the night before and had passed away early in the morning. The last email any of us received from the mother came less than a month after her first, her little angel had gone to the Bridge and now was no longer in pain from the cancer and happy to be reunited with her beloved pet. She thanked us for helping her daughter find some peace and hope for those three weeks. We all wanted to thank her in a way words couldn't. And we were all so thankful for having met Ginny and her mother.
So, please, while I love these discussions as much as the next person, thnk about the effects your words can have on others. BTW, my answer to the question posed...how can it be heaven without our beloved pets??
Thanks for letting me vent.