A-musing midrashim
A bright day awakens me this second day in September. I turn off the cassock filter, lower the bed, turn off the portable AC and plod into the bathroom for the morning ritual. It was empty, and I knew it would be. Annie always waited in there for her morning breakfast and would greet me as I came in to share her space with her. But I had steeled myself and knew she would not be there this morning. Still, the daylight was a bit bleaker, and I paused to let the moment wash over me.
And such is life. As it is for the pets I have loved, so it is with us humans. Dogs don’t sit around like I do and muse over the fate of their kind. Each day is each day, and unlike me, they greet the day as it comes. They don’t tick off the days as they pass. Some of the Holy writs mention that the animals know God, and they thank him for every act of kindness. Even in the meanest of circumstances, they never complain to God that life is unfair.
Do pets go to heaven? Frankly, I don’t know. The writs are silent on that point, but I have my doubts that they do. We have them while we have them, and when they are gone, they are gone. And Heaven mourns their passing just as we do.
Mankind suffered the same fate as animals after Adam’s poor choice. And I believe that is why God clothed Adam and Eve in animal skins. Adam became equal to the creatures he once ruled over. To the animals, Adam was the same as God. They didn’t know the difference between Adam and God when they looked upon Adam. But now Adam was like them, and they didn’t see God when they looked at him. He was just another animal to be feared. Man’s life was transferred to blood, and blood returned to the ground. And so did man, just as the animals.
But there is a deep and arcane mystery in all that, and it is a musing for another time.
Maybe.
Rusty's Armory 
September 2, 2021 at 5:30 pm
It was a year before I stopped seeing Sneakers curled up in the corner of the couch.
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September 3, 2021 at 5:44 am
The house always feels horribly empty after the loss of a pet. As do our hearts…
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September 3, 2021 at 10:41 am
It does. We lost a parakeet some time back that I kept in my studio. Before I entered the room I would call out her name and she would shriek in greeting and then do some beak petting. I still start to call out when I start down the hall with my morning coffee … they do weave their way in …
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September 3, 2021 at 12:45 pm
After we list our last one, my husband said no more. Ostensibly because he wanted to travel. Then came Covid…. and another pet. He loves them so much, their passings are sometimes too much to bear.
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September 3, 2021 at 8:10 am
This might sound selfish, but I can’t bring myself to get another pet because I don’t want to once again lose a pet I loved.
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September 3, 2021 at 10:32 am
I don’t think it is selfish at all … we have stopped getting new pets because they will likely outlive us …
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September 3, 2021 at 11:03 am
Pets go to heaven.
There is NO way they go to hell or purgatory.
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September 3, 2021 at 1:21 pm
Hell is living apart from the presence of God. So, I doubt that animals could go to hell.
Purgatory is a place where those who are going to dwell in the presence of God later are instructed in righteousness. Animals weren’t given the right to choose good or evil, so they don’t need to be taught righteousness.
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September 3, 2021 at 2:43 pm
The word says a man’s animals know if he is righteous. It says he treats them well. There will be animals in the eternal world. We are told of them in different ways. That shows us God’s love for them. So much about animals in holy writing. I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it when I got a pet in the past. This time with Willow I have thought about it a lot. I don’t know the answer to the old questions, but I do know that God loves animals and they will be with us through eternity and I think because everything will be new and right, that they will live and not die. But here it is still a fact of life and we miss.
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October 26, 2021 at 12:32 am
You know, I meant to comment here but…apparently, I didn’t. I’m so sorry. I’ve lost and put down way too many fur babies. It is awful to lose them. They fill your hearts and when they are gone, you are sure you will die without them.
I hope you are doing OK.
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October 29, 2021 at 7:14 pm
I think there will be animals in eternity. I just don’t think they will be the pets we had here on earth while we were alive. But who really knows until one day we find out and I am not quite there yet.
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October 30, 2021 at 4:42 pm
There are animals in the world to come, and ferocity done away with. A straw eating lion to me is not even a lion!. Not to mention letting a kid play with an adder … 😛
I wouldn’t mind seeing some of my furry friends again …
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