My dog, Mithrandir, has learned the traditions I follow when I go to sit on the back porch for a bit. When he spots me getting ready, he runs up to my side and wags his tail, hoping to be invited. There’s not necessarily much for him to do if he comes, he just likes to be included.
Our pets serve well as signs of resurrection in our houses. They are reminders to us that all will one day be put right in creation. We were made for them and they were made for us. Our God-given dominion over them is not one of aggression and domination, but of love and assistance. Creation longs for us to remember this and is excited for the resurrection to come so we will finally treat it rightly (Romans 8:19-23; Psalm 98:7-9).
We love our animals. We name them, care for them, and provide for them, just as they do the same for us. Through their bond with us, they become proof that true peace can be found in all gamuts of creation. They are reminders that wolves will one day lie down with lambs (Isaiah 11:6).
Like us, animals have souls/spirits (Genesis 2:7; Ecclesiastes 3:21), and so we often hold out hope that we might enjoy their company again in the resurrection. Might that be the case? N.T. Wright responds,
“The Bible doesn’t have much to say on this, but I think we can carefully respond: ‘Yes.’ When a human being loves and cares for an animal, and when that animal responds to that love and care, there is a bond between them, which is part of who that human being is. Just as when somebody loves God, there is a bond between them and God, which we call the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit looks after that person until the resurrection. I don’t see any reason at all why looking after that person shouldn’t include, by a kind of overflow of grace, looking after all of the animals, birds and whatever that person has loved and brought joy to in this life.
It will be interesting to see what animal life is like in the resurrection. What may it be like when heaven and earth become one in Mith? Might he join me on the porch for a chat? Time will tell.














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