Pets and endless life

Anyone who has pets knows what a wonderful feeling it is to arrive home and be greeted with wagging tails and welcoming purrs. The companionship, loyalty, and love shown by pets is indeed one of life’s great treasures. But what do we do when one of our dear pets passes on?

Several months ago our small 16-year-old dog, Hudson, passed away. He had experienced many wonderful healings in his life through our family’s total reliance on Christian Science. For example, when my wife and I were traveling in another state, our daughter called to inform us that she thought Hudson was passing on. My wife flew home, and we were both praying for Hudson. Through prayer alone, Hudson was healed. Years later, Hudson stopped eating and drinking. Again, it looked as if he might pass on. Through prayer alone, Hudson was healed and went back to eating and drinking normally at mealtimes. I am so grateful that the effectiveness of Christian Science extends to the health care of pets as well as to all mankind.

After the initial tears, I decided to pray to get a clearer sense of what the book of Hebrews in the Bible calls “the power of an endless life” (Hebrews 7:16 ). The tug of loss was great—but loss of what? The qualities Hudson expressed were not confined to a bundle of matter or to any time constraint. Hudson was, and is forever, an idea of God. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes, “Whatever is governed by God, is never for an instant deprived of the light and might of intelligence and Life” (p. 215 ). And because “All is under the control of the one Mind, even God” (Science and Health, p. 544 ), and God is Life, there is not one instant when an idea of God is ever deprived of life.

When my thought would wander as to how and why this loss could happen, I would fill my thinking with a spiritual concept—a concept that was steadfast and unchanging, regardless of what the situation was presenting. One such concept was Mrs. Eddy’s assertion that “Spirit duly feeds and clothes every object, as it appears in the line of spiritual creation, thus tenderly expressing the fatherhood and motherhood of God” (Science and Health, p. 507 ). Right at this moment, Father-Mother God is caring for each of His ideas, caring completely for every object, or idea. In fact, the truth about my pet was that he was, and is, forever being cared for by his Maker.

As I refused to see Hudson as matter buried in matter, sorrow gave way to a peaceful joy.

I remember glancing over to the place in the backyard where Hudson’s body is buried and feeling sorrowful. But I refused to let sorrow keep the upper hand. As I prayed, I got a glimpse of what Jesus meant when he said to those people who were mourning Lazarus’ death: “Loose him, and let him go” (John 11:44 ). The message to me was to loose, or let go of, any sense of Hudson as ever having been in matter. “All of God’s creatures, moving in the harmony of Science,” Mrs. Eddy writes, “are harmless, useful, indestructible” (Science and Health, p. 514 ). I loved this idea of Hudson’s true nature being indestructible and continually moving in lawful harmony. As I refused to see Hudson as matter buried in matter, sorrow gave way to a peaceful joy and gratitude for the unending joy, intelligence, companionship, and steadfastness he expressed.

Another idea that was helpful was the connection between the descriptions of burial and baptism in the Glossary of Science and Health. As part of the spiritually enlightened definition of both words, Mrs. Eddy includes the phrase “submergence in Spirit” (see p. 581 and p. 582 ). The generally accepted understanding of baptism includes the admission of one into a church’s communion of believers through the ceremonial sprinkling of, or submergence in, water. In Christian Science, one finds that baptism goes beyond a one-time experience. It indicates a daily and sometimes moment-to-moment, prayerful action of submerging in Spirit any hurting, inharmonious, or fearful situation. That is, we can find the spiritual counter fact of any troubling situation, and stick with it until we experience its truth.

We know what burial typically refers to. But in Christian Science, one is called to see through the material picture of placing matter into the ground, and instead to see that burial can be understood as “immortality brought to light” (Science and Health, p. 582 ). This was an opportunity for me to truly submerge my thinking in the spiritual truth of the statement that “God is the Life, or intelligence, which forms and preserves the individuality and identity of animals as well as of men” (Science and Health, p. 550 ).

When sad thoughts tempted me to wonder about what I would do without this dear pet being physically present, I found comfort in the thought that I would simply trust what God knows. The Bible tells us very specifically what God knows: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11 ). The New International Version puts it this way: “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ ” And these plans could include no lingering sense of a void, loss, bereavement, or remorseful rumination of past memories.

As I prayed with these concepts, I was completely freed from any lingering sorrow. And when a friend recently passed away, many of these same ideas helped me to establish and maintain a clearer sense of “the power of an endless life,” showing that spiritual ideas are applicable without limitation.