Why donkeys make me cry

An involuntary wave of compassion hits when seeing a donkey. The tears suggest a mismatch between how we're taught animals are separate and the real connection that exists.

We're taught to see separation

Anthropocentrism puts humans on a pedestal and treats nature as resources to use rather than beings to relate to. But animals keep disrupting that notion.

Pet owners face spiritual questions

When friends had to put down their dog, it opened deep questions. Does your dog have a soul? What happens when it dies? Is euthanizing a loved one wrong?

The mental gymnastics of loving one animal

How can my beloved pet have a soul but a pig or cow does not? To kill one animal but love another demands significant mental gymnastics.

Christianity's mixed legacy on animals

Thomas Aquinas and René Descartes argued animals don't have immortal souls. This stratification enabled cruel factory farming, killing hundreds of millions of animals daily.

Early Christians saw it differently

Theologians like Irenaeus and Origen believed in comprehensive redemption. All of life, including pets and places, would one day be regathered together, free from pain.

Hindu philosophy sees shared essence

The concept of Ātman describes an ultimate essence shared among all beings. Whatever happens to a human happens to a dog, and vice versa.

“The self present in all beings and all beings in the self.”

Souls are eternal in the Bhagavad Gita

Whether canine or human, individual souls are described as eternal, immortal, and ageless. They are not destroyed when the body is destroyed.

A medium who talks to dead pets

Susan Allen communicates with pets that have died. She believes the body dies but the soul stays with us, usually sharing messages of gratitude and love.

“The body leaves and dies, but the soul stays with us.”

Grief is the consequence of love

Many avoid pets to dodge inevitable grief. But the sadness when a pet dies is simply the consequence of living with so much love.

Vegetarianism opened a window

Finding it difficult to put a knife through chicken or fish opened a window into seeing the truth of our interconnectedness with all living things.

Pets as practice for redemption

A relationship with a companion animal is an anticipation of a redeemed future where humans and animals live peaceably together in restored mutuality.

An ever expanding circle of love

Though we start by loving a pet, we must embrace an ever expanding circle. Love between human and animal can bridge to redemptive love for all living things.