Blessing of the Animals

by The Rev. William G. Lamont, Pastor

Best to confess it from the start: This is the first pet blessing service I’ve ever done.  It’s the first one Hidenwood has ever been involved in too.  We Presbyterians are in unfamiliar territory here.  And whenever you are in unfamiliar territory you can take some ribbing from others.  One of my friends said ‘A pet blessing service?  What’s you’re opening hymn gonna be – How Much is That Doggie in the Window?’  I said ‘O course not,  we’re starting with Who Let the Dogs Out!”

At question is the place of animals at church.  Some people don’t understand what pet have to do with religion.  It’s fine to own a pet and to love your pet but what do they have to do with our place of worship? Church is for people…Christ came to save people and salvation takes place in the human heart,  so why bring your pets into the mix?   The truth is,  we protestants don’t really have a theology that makes room for any of this (all of creation).   The earth is just the neutral football field upon which the story of salvation is played out.

My concern is that a theology that makes no room for creation is opening the door to the abuse of creation -  the pollution of air, water and land, the abuse of its earth’s resources,  the endangerment of so many species of birds and animals.

But today there is a new theological breeze blowing.  We’re starting to rethink our place in creation in God’s plan for salvation. And we are realizing that God doesn’t just want to save human beings,  but all creation.  Just as God had a plan to save the animals when he flooded the earth in Noah’s time,  so God has a plan of salvation that includes all of creation now.  Revelation talks about God’s plan to make a new heaven and a new earth! 

So we Presbyterians are beginning to open up a little – rethinking the place of animals in God’s kingdom.  I’m not preaching ‘all dogs go to heaven’ – I don’t know what to think about that - but I am preaching ‘all dogs come from heaven’…they are sent by God to bless our lives.  In fact I might even go so far as to say that our pets can help us in our walk of faith at time.  And I’d like to point out three ways where I see God involved in our lives through our pets.

1. First, in the mystery of  how our pets come to us in the first place. The Lamont household has had many pets over the years and most of the time it has been the pet that has chose us,  not the other way around.  In the bible God says:  ‘you did not choose me,  but I chose you…’   well perhaps God chooses our pets for us too!  We were having a party one night in the winter at our house – it was -30 degrees outside and this  puppy started scratching at our door.  We took her in and she became ours.   When that dog died we weren’t going to have another one but our daughter started to push us for another.  Then it happened,  she saw an ad in the paper about puppies for sale.  Well,  we were just going to go an look at them.  We weren’t going to buy one,  just to look, but you know how that story ends.  There were four puppies and the one that captured our hearts was the smallest and so Abbey came home with us.  When Abbey died we weren’t ready to get another one right away but a member of this church heard about a rescue dog that needed saving so Sue and she went to see it.  The lady said to my wife on the drive over:  ‘I don’t care if you don’t want to keep this dog,  but we’re bringing it home with us.  We’re not leaving it there.’  So, Chloe came home and made itself part of our family before we could ever decide!  And I’m sure many of you have similar stories of how your pet came to be with you…the mystery of God wrapped up in our relationship with these pets.

2. Our pets teach us how to love and care for something other than ourselves.  When our kids were growing up they had guinea pigs and rabbits in the house.  Our son owned two guinea pigs and you know what that means!  Soon we had many guinea pigs.  Our daughter owned a lop-eared rabbit.  They both learned the responsibility of caring for their pets,  providing fresh water, feeding them,  playing with them,  cleaning their cages,  grooming them.  In return a bond developed between them – the love of pet and owner.  They would get those animals and cuddle them after school while watching tv,  or feed them some lettuce out of the fridge.  A wonderful bond…and when those animals eventually died,  there were great tears in our home…the tears that only one that has learned to love can know.

3. Finally,  I think our pets can help us to face difficult times in our own lives more faithfuly.  Perhaps it’s because our pets live shorter lives than us and must face things that we have yet to face… I don’t know.  Jimmy Stewart was one of the last guests to appear on the Johnny Carson show before he retired.  He read a poem he’d penned about his dog Beau.   The poem touches on his love for his dog, certainly,  but I think this poem touches on Stewart’s own struggle with his pending mortality…speaking to the importance of having another with us as we face that darkness.  And if a pet can teach us that,  who can argue they aren’t a blessing from God?

I’d like to end with this poem by Jimmie Stewart but I encourage you find it on YouTube and hear it read by the master himself:

by Jimmy Stewart