We have a small but attitude-filled poodle called Cosmo. Cosmo is now over fifteen years old and gently crumbling – his main purpose in life has become eating, and we find small puddles all over the house; old dog problems! Cosmo has a special place in our hearts, he was a companion to kids as they grew up, went through school, and moved out. He sat for hours with my wife as she graded papers and researched her Ph.D. He’s been camping all over the Island in our little VW Van and is a constant figure (admittedly often underfoot) around the house.
Our furry, scaly, finned, and feathered friends certainly become an integral part of our lives and indeed our families. We enjoy their quirks and their company, and mourn their loss.
In the 1980s there was a movie called ‘All Dogs Go To Heaven’ which seems to be a response to something I’ve been asked many times over my years of ministry, “Is it true that our animal companions will be in the afterlife?”
It’s not a bad question – concerned with both whether there is indeed a life beyond this life and our part in this web, this interconnected wonder, we call ‘creation’ or ‘the environment.’ It touches on two of the major aspects of spirituality – our ‘eternal destiny’ and our relationship to the earth and the material world.
My initial response to the question is one which I might also give to anyone who asks me about an afterlife – did they have a good life? Did they know love and care? Were they looked after? Did they have their needs met?
That’s not to avoid wrestling with the reality of what happens after death, but it’s something that Jesus did repeatedly when asked about issues such as the end of the world, or what happens after death – he brought people back to now, asking questions about how they were living, how they treated others, what their priorities were, and whether they lived out the values they claimed to hold. He also told stories, parables, which though they sometimes seemed to be about life after death were more concerned with whether those who claim to be people of faith treat others with compassion and seek the best for those who are excluded and disadvantaged – the prisoner, the sick, the hungry, the poor, the naked, the unhoused, the widow, the outcast.
Jesus also repeatedly reminded us of our part in the natural world – using images relating to farming, growing, care for the earth, and everyday life in a rural society to remind those who heard that we all have a part in a sustainable, thoughtful way of living that works in harmony with the earth, not against it.
The Jewish and Christian Scriptures that Christians found their faith upon have much more to say about how we live well, with integrity and care and grace, than they do about the world beyond this world. Within the Spiritual traditions of the world there is a common concern not just with what happens after death, but the way in which we live our lives – and when we lose sight of that we tend to forget just how important our care for ourselves, one another, and the world really is.
I don’t have definitive answers, nor do the many traditions of the Church, about what happens after death, but I do know that faith calls me to love, care, and stand for what is good and right. And to care for all of creation, including (or especially) Cosmo!
The Ven. Alastair Singh-McCollum is Rector of St. John the Divine Anglican Church in Victoria and Archdeacon, Diocese of Islands and Inlets. He has a passion for the Gospel, motorbikes and bike culture, worship, philosophy, theology, guitars, single malt whisky, real ale, cinema and all things French. You can find Alastair at the church website: www.stjohnthedivine.bc.ca and on his blog: fracme.blogspot.ca
You can read more articles on our interfaith blog Spiritually Speaking at https://www.timescolonist.com/blogs/spiritually-speaking
*This article was published in the print edition of the Times Colonist on Saturday, September 7th 2024
