And if so, can a dog take communion? This Canadian dog did, much to the distress of some other church-goers.
I want to think that heaven is a place you go where all your dogs run to greet you, but I was raised to believe that animals don’t have souls (given the account of Noah and the ark, and the mention of only eight souls — and there were eight humans and who-knows-how-many-animals on the vessel).
I hope my Sunday school teachers were wrong. I’d really love to see Okie, Tinker, Guido, and Mac.
And thanks, Sis. Gina, for the link.
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Everyone needs to read “Dog Heaven” by Cynthia Rylant.
Good? I haven’t heard of that one and will check it out as you’ve yet to steer me wrong.
It’s excellent, but if you’ve ever loved a dog, you’ll need a box of Kleenex by your side as you read it.
Crap. I’m looking for a laff riot.
My most conservative (i.e. easily argued) view is that anything with that experiences consciousness must have a soul. Your dog experiences consciousness and therefore he has a soul.
But I’m a pretty firm believer that all living things have souls
But maybe it’s even bigger than that . . . like this:
http://www.whatthebleep.com/crystals/
I went to watch this film with a friend of mine and went prepared to chortle and came out thinking, instead.
Same here!
But perhaps it was because I was still experiencing discomfort after seeing “The Secret.”
Giving a dog communion makes about as much sense as giving the ocean a glass of water. Silly but harmless.
But if it meant something to the dog’s owner? (We can only guess what it meant to the dog.)
And look at those ice crystals! (see my link above).
I even bought the companion book!
If people have souls, dogs certainly do.
But I’m not sure the converse is true.
well put, justjss
Oooh interesting! What if dogs have souls, and people don’t?
Dogs probably wonder about that all the time.
They don’t give a flip because they’re too cool to care.
What if dogs have telepathy and we don’t?
I also want to point out that dogs made it into space before mankind did, and they got us to pick up the check.
I’m convinced that cats can read our minds. Maybe not in words, but they see the pictures. If I hold in my mind a picture of the cat jumping onto the table/sofa/kitchen counter, I guarantee that’s where she’s going to go.
Or. Wait. Maybe *she’s* putting those pictures in *my* mind! Either way, it’s uncanny.
That’s scary. If Junior the Cat is putting thoughts in my mind, I really need to get a new mind. Because from here, it appears the only thoughts in Junior’s mind are these: Stretch. Yawn. Yowl. Walk to carpet. Vomit or defecate. Move back to original position. Repeat.
They get us to pick up the check all the time. That right there points out a smart soul.
I’ve got a small collection of essays written in the voice of a particular cat with whom I once shared living space. You can’t tell me I wasn’t being used as a channeler.
You were a mere hand puppet to a feline. How’s that feel?
I got paid for writing some of that … I can persuade myself that it was a fair trade.
But some of that money went for cat food, right? You’re still a tool.
I love that word and have been calling people that all day. Feel free to call me that, back.
I am firmly convinced that all my furry-faced four-legged friends who have gone on before me will be there to great me when I pass over. But as for communion, I doubt it’s necessary for them; they’re always in communion with the universe, in a way that humans, with our awareness of our own shortcomings, are not.
That’s it. Dogs have souls.
you are so right, Sharon
Why would I want to go to Heaven if my feline and canine companions from over the years are not welcome?
We’ll just stop together and hang around the Rainbow Bridge
That is such a beautiful image I had to stop a moment. Wow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYwqhcwXGJg
When I get to Heaven first thing I’ll do
I’ll grab my horn and call for Blue
Oh, awesome! I listened to the whole thing.
love that song
All my cats and at least one of my dogs definitely have/had souls! Actually all the dogs too but I am a bit more a cat person than dog person.
In cleaning out my Mom’s house this year I found the sign that hung over my best dog-friend’s dog house. I now have a very nice sign that says “Butch” I’m not realy sure where to hang it but I loved that dog sooooo much when I was a kid I have to keep the sign!
Great name for a dog, too.
Tool.
(Ran out of room, above.)
Or “I know you are but what am I?”
Or this:
I am not, either!
I enjoyed everyone comments!
My dog, I like to think he does have a soul. He’s a retired service dog but when he used to be active, I took him everwhere with me, including church. Everytime I went up to recieve communion, my dog gets his blessings.
As for dog receiving communion, I don’t think so. Blessing from priest is good enough IMO.
This thread had me wondering,, how many of you honor Saint Francis of Assisi – Patron of animals every year in October? I love it when cats, dogs, ducks, goats, and even horses dominate the church!
I’ve been present for that blessing, but we here at Fundamentalist Central don’t pay much attention to named saints.
Kewlness!
Wow Jay, thank you! The procession and recession were awesome! I wonder what the animals did during the service.
(Jay, correct me if I am wrong.) DJ, we, in Episocopal church isn’t that crazy over Saints like the RC. There’s a few we honor greatly, but for most part, they are remembered during prayers and we would wonder, who was the Saints that was honored for the week. But I can tell you that two of my favorite Saints are Nicholas (Dec) and Francis (Oct.) Oh yeah, we don’t pray to the Saints like the RC does (never figure out why they do that)
All in all, I belive ALL animals should be blessed!
And we here at the One True Church ignore saints entirely — probably at our peril as some of them have instructive and interesting lives.
On August 27 the Episcopal Church commemorates The Rev. Thomas Gallaudet and the Rev. Henry Winter Syle.
(Not worship, not pray to. Just commemorate.)
TG founded St. Ann’s Church for the Deaf in NYC in 1852. I was honored to be its vicar 1969-1974. HWS was the first Deaf person to be ordained, in any denomination.
DJ, I think I sent you the sermon I preached at the first commemoration, in 1989.
Very awesome!
amazing!
I was ordained in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in 1969. No animals were there, as far as I know.
Did you check under the pews?
I have to ask: What is a soul? Is it consciousness without body? Is it limited or enhanced by body? Is it energy? Does it have a gender or age? Is a soul from a baby that died different that a soul from an old person? Without the body, what is experienced? Can a soul “see”? I ask because I wonder this: Isn’t it impossible to know what beings have souls if we really don’t know what a soul is? Isn’t it myopic to think that life with a lesser “body” (or brain) couldn’t have a soul?….whatever that is. I haven’t a clue, really. I would bet that if I have a soul, my dog has a wiser soul.
It’s that little kernel that connects you to the universe-at-large.
You’re welcome.
Actually, I don’t even know how to answer this. Class? Any one?
I like your definition, I’ll go along with that.
Good. Jesus told me it was right.
If we go with that, then the infinite universe would include dogs, yes? And anything else known or unknown to us in the universe? “In the universe” is odd, since there is nothing outside the universe and it’s not defined and is without boundaries. If the universe is infinite, and we are each a part of it, maybe we are also infinite because parts cannot equal an infinte whole, can they? Maybe we can begin to imagine an infinite soul, without begining and end, of which we all belong, as one infinite universal soul (along with all other beings/things). That would mean that no one on earth has an advantage as a soul. Imagine that?
I think I’m going to live as if everything has a soul and act accordingly.
That sounds like a good philosophy. If everyone lived as though they were all connected (soul-wise) to everybody and everything, I think the world would be a much better place.
Yep. There’s be no lording anything over any one because, well, you’re not Lord.