Will I See You In Heaven? Will You See Me?

A Sleeping Badger (while he yet lived)

Late this past spring we put our dog Badger to sleep--a nice way of saying we had him killed. And now I have to consider for real what our pastor said about not expecting to see our pets in heaven because they lack souls. I wasn't worried when he preached that sermon because at the time Badger was in his prime and already OCD about staying in our yard, but also because I didn't and still don't think there's enough evidence to convince me that pets won't be in heaven. There were kids present and listening when he preached that sermon, and many of them disagreed with him vehemently as was evidenced by the hate mail that followed. In his (very thin) defense, our pastor did say that while he didn't believe our particular pets would be in heaven--at least not in a way that we'd recognize them-- he thought it possible animals in general might be there. I'm not sure why that would make anyone in general or in particular feel any better. Those who love their pets want to see their pets in heaven, not some anonymous animal that gets to be in heaven for whatever reason. Those who don't have pets or don't like their pets probably don't want to see any animals in heaven except maybe somewhere outside the pearly gates, away from the streets of gold and mansion dwellings. That there may be animals in heaven but not our specific pets doesn't really do much for many of us, however. Our pastor is a serious theologian with a doctorate and we pretty much believe almost everything he says; but since Badger's departure, I'm choosing to suspend my conclusion concerning Badger's eternal destiny, and thinking that maybe it's our pastor who lacked soul for said sermon. 

If you ask any random person (not including my pastor), you may find, if she/he believes in heaven at all, she believes that getting there has something to do with being good--and it seems that many of these random people think they're good enough. So what about Badger? He was a good dog as dogs go, but it's hard for me to know for sure what "good" or "bad" means in his case. There certainly were qualities we liked about him, and these we affirmed; he pretty much obeyed us, generally did his business outside, hardly barked and responded obediently to commands he understood. But did those things make him good? On the other hand, the dust-doggies that tumbled through the house from his blonde coat, his habit of sneaking out of the yard when he got the nerve and his jumping on people during puppyhood (which lasted 9 years) was deeply aggravating to us. Not only that, but Badger swallowed a golf ball early in his life, the surgery for which cost more than our daughter's wedding dress. From time to time his 90+ pound bulk crushed flowers and feet, and the reason he stayed in the laundry room while we were away (which added up to most of the latter part of his life) was because he emptied his colon all over the house too many times--accidents to be sure, but consequential to us and to him. But did these behaviors make Badger a bad dog?

As I think about this, I'm wondering if maybe I ought to ask if people think they will see me in heaven. For someone to say to me that I won't see Badger in heaven implies that I will be there not to see him. My faith tradition warns me that being good won't guarantee me or my soul a place--that I simply can't in myself be good enough for heaven. I actually agree with this. In fact, if I believe in heaven at all, I have to admit that heaven is God's domain; it's "the house of the Lord" from Psalm 23.
And heaven isn't some anonymous place, but the kingdom above all kingdoms specific and real and ruled by Grace and Truth who is God. Anyone or anything gets in by God's graceful invitation based on  the merits of his Son (read John 3:16). And God's invitation must be received on God's terms. It's his house after all. Do we allow anyone to enter our house and use our stuff because they think they're good enough??

So here's my thought: if Badger is in heaven, it won't be because we think he was a good enough dog, and he won't be absent because of his errors, accidents or downright offenses. If Badger is in heaven, he'll be there because God, Badger's creator, invites him in. And I have no doubt that Badger, a very responsive dog, will have responded with joy.

I hold out a similar hope when I consider my own eternal destiny. It's a good hope; in his blessed Son God has issued a very wide invitation--"to all who received him he gave power to become his children."

Of course there is one little thing that having a soul guarantees; no one has the right to kill you. It stands to reason that if the creature has no soul, it's ok to put him down though for sure it's frowned upon by some (not all) if there isn't good reason.

In any case, I do hope to see Badger, if only to apologize for keeping him in the laundry room for so many hours.

And I hope he has enough sense, should he have been invited in, not to jump on anyone important.