The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”

— Will Rogers

If you have ever loved and lost a Scottie or any other pet you can undoubtedly understand Will Rogers’ quotation. The pain you felt about the loss of that pet had a foundation in the idea that you didn’t expect to ever see it again.

More than four years ago I was given a diagnoses of stage-four breast cancer. While driving home after that doctor’s appointment all I could think about was how terrible it would be for my husband, my son, and my Scotties if I couldn’t be there to share their love and joy.

Fortunately, all three doctors were wrong. The cancer had not metastasized as they thought. But that initial diagnoses did change my life.

I’ve spent the years since on a quest for a deeper understanding of God. I began by going back to books I loved when I was young and searching for meaning. Classics like “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis, “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran and, of course, the Holy Bible became my daily reading. I then added books on near-death experiences, reincarnation, and a host of metaphysical and spiritual topics.

The book “Life Before Life” by Jim B. Tucker, M.D. was an eye-opener. For more than 40 years the University of Virginia has been researching over 4,000 cases of children who spontaneously began speaking about having lived before. Many have given specific names, places and times of their before-life experiences that have been verified by the University’s research. When I finished the book I had a whole new perspective on life and death.

My Scotties mean the world to me. As my faith in a higher Spirit has deepened and as I’ve learned more about the wonders of the unseen world, one thing has begun to jell in my mind. Our pets will be there in life-after-life. How can that be true? Pets have a spirit but not a soul. Having a spirit means they have God-given life. We humans have a spirit and a soul, which means we have God-given eternal life.

From Egypt to China to the Americas, horses, dogs and cats have been found in ancient graves. Clearly, we are not the only people who have loved our pets.

A close reading of many of the sayings of Jesus Christ tells me that we will eventually attain the height and depth of spiritual learning that He had and be able to create miracles. That means to me that somewhere, sometime, somehow in life after death each of us will have the God-given capability to re-materialize the spirits of our lost pet friends. We will get to drink up again that wonderful unselfish love they gave us here on earth.

Confirming this thought is what some of the children have said to Jim B. Tucker’s researchers. Some have remembered bits of the time before they returned to earth, and they remembered having their pets in that heavenly dimension.

Doesn’t it make sense? Our pets are some of the most unselfish, loving creatures we know. If God is Love, our pets’ love comes from Him. A loving God must understand the depth of our love for our pets. Jesus reminded us that His love is far greater than ours. It makes sense, then, that a loving God will let us rejoin those loving spirits in another time and place.

I don’t know if I’m correct, but this is what my search shows me. What do you think?