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| Lexus |
As a follow-up on the death of my cat on 1.27.22, people, meaning well, would advise us to get another cat to replace Lexus, our Bengal cat of nearly 16 years. They would explain from their personal experiences that getting another cat, in our case, speeds up the healing process. For me, I would say that I am not ready to jump into replacement therapy quite yet, if ever. This was not my first rodeo, but the death of Lexus hit me harder than any other pet that owned me.
Now, I make no comparison between the death of people and the
death of animals. Animals have no soul and are incapable of abstract thought
though we treat our pets as having human traits which are called
anthropomorphisms. Is that a sin? I would say no, but if in doing that we value
animal life more than human life or equate it to human life (cf. Mt 16:26), it
is spiritually unhealthy and that is sinful in my opinion. Evolutionary thought
wants to equate animal life to human life.
What is very disturbing to me is to see advertisements on
television of animals that are abused; it’s heart-rendering and such abuse is
not only illegal but sinful (cf. Prov 12:10; 27:23). But you will never see
commercials of those same people getting worked up over human babies being
aborted. That brings out the righteous indignation in me! Again, there is no
corollary between abused animals and the abortion of defenseless babies in the
womb. It is tantamount to murder putting to death an unwanted human fetus. Our
government protects the killing of the unborn but prosecutes the abuse of
animals.
As believers, it is not sinful to have pets; King David was very
passionate and sensitive concerning sheep. David used to shepherd his father’s
flock (1 Sam 16:11; 17:34). When Nathan confronted the king concerning his sin against God and Uriah
the Hittite by illustrating a sheep story of gross inequity (2 Sam 12:1-4).
David’s response was to put to death the wrongdoer (2 Sam 12:5), and
unwittingly provided the template of his punishment by Yahweh (2 Sam 12:6;
cf. 2 Sam 12:7-14). David related to this story and was moved by the lack of
compassion by the wrongdoer and the unnecessary death of a sheep that was
essentially treated as one of the family.
But where was the compassion of David (the rich man in Nathan’s
story) for Uriah the Hittite (the traveler in Nathan’s story)? David had
committed adultery with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, because he was king, and then
he cruelly orchestrated Uriah’s death, a loyal soldier to the king, by the
sword of the enemy?
As mentioned in a previous article, we had to put Lexus down on 1.27.22. Yesterday, Beverly and I went to the mountains in NE Georgia to see a two-week-old Bengal kitten; her mother had a litter of one, a rare thing but not unusual; go figure? Another Bengal cat, who happened to be a very “loving” animal, had a litter of four, and the breeder successfully got the mother cat of the litter of four to allow this “litter of one” kitten to nurse as if it was one of her own. The mother of one had simply refused to allow her litter of one to nurse!
Beverly has always had a cat in her life so she was moping
around in the absence of Lexus and doing a lot of research on Bengal
replacement! I did not discourage her from looking for another, but reminded
her often that I was not ready yet; it’s all about me, yes? At my age, I was
not in the mood to reengage so quickly, and therefore, I was opposed to quick
replacement therapy. I didn’t rule it out altogether; I just needed some time
to sort things out. The death of Lexus had a sting to it for me.
The sting was in the “finality” of her death. Obviously, I knew
she would die one day, but the thought that I would not ever see her again made
it more difficult to deal with. There is no definitive proof biblically that
our former pets will be in heaven with us. Unfortunately, many cite the animals
in the millennium as proof of pets in heaven. The millennium or the
thousand-year reign of Christ is not the eternal state. After all that is said
and done, there will be a new heaven and earth, then the eternal state. This is
what I am referring to. The devil seized upon that notion to harass me. When my
mom died back on 12.8.21, I knew based on the authority of the Scriptures that
she was alive, and I would see her again and be with her forever. With Lexus’death
on 1.27.22 that was different.
In revisiting the idea of pets in heaven, we know there are
horses in heaven because Christ is coming back to reign riding on a warhorse,
yes? And we are coming with Him on warhorses of our own along with the angels
(without horses) at the end of the seven-year tribulation period (cf. Rev
19:11-14)! Whether those horses will be around in the eternal state, after the
millennial reign of Christ and the last battle with evil, and the great white
throne judgment has concluded or not, who knows, save for Yahweh?
In fairness, some interpret this passage of a heavenly army on
horses as figurative language conveying literal truth: to judge the world, to
avenge the saints, and to rule the nations. They see the white horse as
symbolic of Christ’s triumph over the evil forces on earth, but it is possible
that these are literal horses; do you recall Jesus’ triumphal entry into
Jerusalem riding on a young donkey (cf. Zech 9:9; Mt 21:1-5; Jn 12:12-16). It
is contextually possible, but I am not going to be dogmatic whether it is or is
not because my happiness in glory will not be predicated
on whether all or any of my pets will be in heaven or not! Some will view my
emotions as bleeding through my interpretation and committing eisegesis or
reading into the text because I desire for all of my former pets and the
current one to be with me in heaven, whatever!
Like many who have lost pets or had to euthanize them, silence
could go one way or another based on Yahweh’s narrative, not ours! Since our
pets have no immaterial life (soul/spirit) but the
breath of life (Gen 1:30; 2:7; 6:17; 7:15) and
obviously are not created in the image and likeness of God (Gn 2:26-27), it
does not necessitate any animals being on the new earth in the eternal state,
but Yahweh makes that call, and I am cool with it, either way.
Would I love to see Lexus again on the new earth? Oh, yes! But
whether I see her again or not, is not really an issue though my heart grieved
at the thought of never seeing her again. I never blamed Yahweh for being
unfair; rather, I was thankful, actually, to have Lexus for as long as I could
though He knew my heart was hurting over her death; she had been with me during
my three knocks on the gate of heaven! Nonetheless, I believe the will of God
is good; the will of God is acceptable;
the will of God is perfect (Rom 12:2b).
Amen!
Since going through an emotionally painful and difficult time in
having Lexus euthanized and the striking absence of her in our lives, I am
thankful I waited to collect my wits about me and sought Yahweh’s permission
before jumping emotionally into replacement therapy (or getting another cat
asap). I knew I couldn’t replace Lexus given her traits which is why we decided
to purchase a different-looking Bengal rather than find another that looked
similar to her.
In all of those 15+ years, Lexus never hissed at us or bit us.
Her one irritating trait was that she did have a boombox for a voice. When she
roared, she was heard all over the house. Her voice resonated in our two-story
great room. She would sit at the top of the stairs and let it rip from the
balcony. It was roaring time in the vast domain of Lexus Alderman! Beverly and
I were the subjects! Whenever she was in roaring mode and I happened to be on
the phone, people I was talking to would invariably ask? “What is that!?” I
responded, “My cat.” Laughter followed every time.
By not overreacting to the death of Lexus, it caused us to be
more thankful for what she brought to our lives, filling her stark absence with
joy and thankfulness as a gift from God for a season rather than clinically
moving onward with a replacement pet. Since we cannot take our male Bengal for
another 2.5 months in order to complete the weaning and transitional process
(breeder’s house rule), it will be over 4 months before having another cat in
the house.
This will help us to better understand what others experience
with the loss of their pet (cf. 2 Cor 1:4, applying as a working principle though not suffering for the cause of Christ). “Suck it up buttercup” is not always helpful, yes?
Our new Bengal will be a new chapter in our lives, not just a continuance of
another pet chapter. It also makes us better prepared on appreciating and
dealing with our newly found Bengal cat, whom we decided to name “Diesel.”
Beverly was the one who suggested it.
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| Diesel |
If I should never see Lexus again, heaven will not be any less sweet. On
having to experience post-pet blues, I will have to say, “This too shall pass.”
And if Diesel should precede us? Well, that too shall pass. To God be the glory
for the things He has done.
