A recent email from my friend Karen prompts me to write this post. First, the email.

Hi Marty,

I would appreciate your input on a situation happening with our granddaughters and would like a few verses to comfort the 8 year old.  The two girls attend a Christian school… I am going to copy a letter I got from our daughter in law about an upsetting issue…

“… She came home 2 weeks in a row very upset by something one of leaders said.  Last week she said the leader told them dogs don’t go to heaven because they don’t have a soul.  If that is really what she said, that makes me very angry because we love our dogs so much and losing Harley was so tough on everyone.  We always told the kids he is in heaven now with Doogan and Billy.  I just thought that was inappropriate.”

My response:

Hi Karen:

Of COURSE animals go to heaven! What a silly thought spoken by that teacher. Why, if animals and other creatures don’t have souls, there would be no butterflies, birds, or even flowers in heaven! What kind of heaven would THAT be?

The first picture of heaven in the Bible is in Genesis – Paradise – in the Garden where God dwells and where the Tree of Life is located. Adam is there and guess what his job is? “Naming the animals!” Of COURSE there are animals in heaven.

Another picture of heaven is given in Isaiah 65. It is described as God’s holy mountain where God and His people dwell and it says, “…the lion and the lamb ( or the wolf and the kid in some translations) shall lie down together.”

When the Bible describes heaven, it is described as a beautiful place with trees, and streams, and even fruit! Isn’t it true that fruit can only grow when there is pollination by bees and other insects? So that beautiful scene of heaven in Revelation 22 proves that all creatures – great and small – belong to heaven!

Because Christians believe that God loves animals too, an anonymous author wrote a poem called “The Rainbow Bridge.” I hope you’ll share this poem with your family:

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together….

Blessings to you and your grandchildren, Karen, and to all who know the presence of God in their pets.