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Such an eloquent tribute to the Creator's "birds of the air" from beloved 19th century Scottish author George MacDonald, who pays special attention to the humble sparrow in the closing stanzas ...
O Lord, I cannot but believe
The birds do sing thy praises then, when they sing to one another,
And they are lying seed-sown land when the winter makes them grieve,
Their little bosoms breeding songs for the summer to unsmother!
A fundamental post, rich with biblical references to God's concern for animals, from Dean Ohlman of The Wonder of Creation ...
One of the many key indications of the reliability of the Bible is its addressing the broad span of the reality of life on earth. I’m only vaguely knowledgeable of the scriptures of other religions, but I think it’s safe to say that the Bible is unparalleled in its “heart” for animals—from their origin to their destiny. They were created by God before mankind (Gen. 1), they were put under man’s authority and responsibility (Gen. 1:20-30; Psalm 8:4-8), they were saved from destruction in the flood (Gen. 7:6-10), and they are remembered by their Creator who covenanted with them that they would continue under His protection and in His care (Gen. 9:8-16).
The last post in our animal death and grief series is a deeply touching tribute to a scarred dog who became the most loyal companion and protector, sent by personal message from our dear friend Cherie Sindall of Bravehearts Horse Haven & Animal Shelter in South Africa ...
One of my beloved rescued dogs died of cancer 2 weeks ago. I knew he had a tumour and that it was inoperable, so I let him 'be' to live, love and be loved, and have quality of life. He was abandoned when he was about 3 or 4 years old, and was taken to Animal Welfare. At the time, I had just relocated to the farm I live on and the only dog I had was a rescued miniature doberman! The neighbour farmers told me I need additional security reinforcements or I would become another South African farm statistic.
Last Summer I bumped into Susan Isaacs on Twitter, an actor, comedian and author of Angry Conversations with God: A Snarky but Authentic Spiritual Memoir (FaithWords '09) who hails from the Lutheran tradition of faith. Having written a rather vulnerable memoir of my own, I can relate a bit to the title, and like Susan believe that God can handle our honesty and even anger with Him in difficult questions and seasons; in fact, they can help our faith and relationship with Him develop and become more authentic over the long run.
When we e-met, Susan sent me a link to a blog post she'd written earlier that Summer about the death of her dear cat Honey, whom she spent the last 12 years of her life with - through some very awkward and difficult years (and human relationships), and some happier and redemptive experiences as well. Honey was adopted from a kitten rescue, at a time when Susan says she "was trying to heal from some behaviors, like smoking, drinking and dating awful men," and in need of a companion to love and "be responsible for." She writes endearingly of finding Honey:
As promised in our introduction to the question of whether animals have souls, following is a re-post of Dean Ohlman's thoughtful and balanced reflection from The Wonder of Creation. "Do Animals Have Souls?" was originally shared following two posts ("Losing a Good, Good Dog" and "A Pet Grief Observed") which in part wrestled with the haunting uncertainty of whether we'll be reunited with the animals we've loved and lost in heaven. Dean presents a very biblically grounded take on the question, with some perhaps surprising possibilities ...
We're starting our second-to-last FAQ blog series this week with a question which many of us have wrestled with in a deeply personal way. If you've ever loved a companion animal, or even admired another animal from any distance, and you share in the Christian hope of heaven, you can't help but wonder if you'll have a chance to see those animals again. In fact, many of us find ourselves longing for that to be the case, we miss them so much, and can't imagine their unique personalities and the special relationship we had with them being lost forever.
It would be hard to imagine an author which the last few generations of Christians in the U.S. and U.K., and no doubt beyond, have loved and appreciated more than C. S. Lewis. I know my own journey of faith would be far less rich, and quite possibly much less developed, without him. He was a humble professor of classical English literature whose undeniable gift for prose and vivid allegory extended to his passion for a wide spectrum of matters of Christian life and theology.
A few years ago, as I was just starting to lay a theological foundation for working on not one sparrow, I happily discovered that, as much as I had read Lewis previously, I had overlooked just how meaningfully he wrote on several occasions regarding animals. During my last Fall of classes, I had an opportunity to take a class on C. S. Lewis exclusively, for which I read and reviewed an excellent overview of his theology of animals by Andrew Linzey. While I disagreed with Linzey on a few points, and wished Lewis had naturally fleshed out his perspective a bit further, I came away from the article even more grateful for what Lewis had to say about animals in his various writings, and to Linzey for reminding us of that legacy.
Updated on January 12, 2010 by
Ben DeVries
If you've followed along with Bubba's tribute to this point, both the happy memories and the tragic, thank you sincerely. I know it was a difficult read at points, and I'm sorry it ran even longer than expected. Thank you for reading, and for identifying with the pain and the loss. So many of you have experienced the same, in some cases many times over, and I'm so sorry for that.
There was even more about the moments before and after Bubba's death I'd wanted to share, but I found a journal entry from a couple days later which sums up the experience up fairly well. I hope sharing this doesn't seem self-serving, but that it helps normalize the depths which the loss of a companion animal can take us to, in agony and emptiness, and in brokenhearted faith ...
Updated on February 8, 2010 by
Ben DeVries
Much of the recent grief theme has been feline-intensive, given that Bubba happened to be a cat, and a good, good one at that. But I know there are so many other companion animal losses to be mourned as well. I remember how griefstricken I was when my first boyhood hamsters met their demise in a series of mini-tragedies, and my personal story "Me and 'Aminals'" mentions a few others. (Please feel free to share your own below, or on our Facebook page).