face : loss of a pet

Very sadly at the end of September, we lost our beautiful golden retriever Zeta. She was only 7 years old, way too young to die. As a family we are heartbroken, and still coming to terms with her passing. She was a much loved pet, and a massive part of our family unit - a piece that is now missing.

The following days and weeks after her death had me asking that recurring question that we have probably all asked at some point: “Where do our pets go when they die?” Do animals in fact go to heaven? Or are they just here for their time on earth? Is there anything in Scripture that can point me in the right direction of God’s plan for animals? 

God makes it very clear that from the beginning of creation there is a role for creatures alongside humankind. In Genesis 1:24 it says:

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals each according to its kind.” And it was so. 

The word for creatures here in Hebrew is ‘nephesh’, which can be translated as soul - that which breathes, the breathing substance of being.1 Nephesh can also mean self, person, appetite, mind, desire, emotion, passion, and personality. What is important to note here is that nephesh refers to what is internal - not external. 

Aristotle writes in ‘On the Soul’ that the ‘soul is the cause or source of the living body’ (Book 2 part 4).2 In a speech in 1990, Pope John Paul II said that ‘animals possess the divine spark of life - the living quality that is the soul’.3 Could they both be referring to the nephesh?

The creation story continues and in verse 26:

Then God said “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

From the very outset, God intended for there to be a relationship between his creation, with humankind having the overseeing role. In Genesis chapter 2, Adam, the first man, was given the task of naming all the animals, thus cementing his relationship with God’s creation, and also establishing the authority that humankind has over living creatures. We are designed to live alongside all God’s creatures, to care for them, look after them and tend them. This is reinforced in one of the most beloved children’s stories in the Bible found in Genesis 6 - 8: Noah and the Ark. God instructs Noah to take every species of animal onto the Ark with him, strengthening the relationship God established between humankind and creatures.

The Prophet Isaiah also described how it will be when creation is brought together: 

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Isa 11: 6-9)

We can also take comfort from the words of Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians, when he writes:

But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.  There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. (1 Cor 15:38-44)

Paul clearly states here that we have different bodies, according to our kind, but he also gives us the hope that after death, there is the resurrected life. Referring back to nephesh there is comfort that animals are more than just their natural bodies.

C.S. Lewis writes about the hope we have in life after death. In his book ‘The Problem of Pain’, he describes how domestic animals, in part, are shaped by their human masters, just as the masters are shaped by their animals. He says:

If you ask, concerning an animal thus raised as a member of the whole Body of the homestead, where its personal identity resides, I answer “Where its identity always did reside even in the earthly life - in its relation to the Body and, specially, to the master who is the head of that Body”. In other words, the man will know his dog: the dog will know its master and, in knowing him, will be itself.  4

 

Part of who I am is shaped by having had Zeta as my dog.

Just as in the beginning of the Bible, creatures feature at the end of the Bible. In Revelation 5:13 it is written:

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever!”

It is abundantly clear that God intends his creation, including animals, to play a significant part of his new creation: the new heaven and the new earth. 

So we say, “Goodnight sweet Zeta”. We desperately miss you. We still cry over you. We have overwhelming waves of sadness. You were a big part of our family, and that part is now missing. But I do take comfort that as part of God’s beautiful creation, you are now part of his eternal creation, and we will be together again. 

Zeta’s nephesh is part of mine.

By Alex

___________________________

1 https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=h5315

2 http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/soul.2.ii.html

3 http://www.dreamshore.net/rococo/pope.html

4 C. S. Lewis  The Problem of Pain pg 111.

face : life with a ‘yes’ to God

A little while ago I heard a song that was new to me. It’s been in my head ever since. “We say yes. My soul says yes. Whatever you have for me, whatever lies ahead. We say yes.” 1

The Bible is full of examples of people whose souls said yes. 

Noah’s soul said yes - to building an ark in the face of ridicule because he trusted God’s voice.

Abraham’s soul said yes – to journeying to an unknown land and future because God spoke to him. And it said yes again when he was willing to sacrifice his long-awaited, promised son, because God asked him to.

Moses’ soul said yes – to leading the Israelites out of Egypt, to walking with God through the wilderness – he took some persuading and he didn’t do it perfectly, and nor do we, but it started with a yes. 

The prophets’ souls said yes to speaking God’s word, often in difficult and seemingly hopeless situations to people who didn’t always want to listen. Sometimes they did it willingly, sometimes like Jonah they did it when they realised that saying ‘no’ wasn’t really an option. 

Mary’s soul said yes in response to the angel’s visit calling her to obey an extraordinary command – so joyfully that she sang the Magnificat. And Joseph’s soul said yes when he took Mary to be his wife. 

The disciples’ souls said yes when they left their fishing nets and tax booths, their families and their familiarity to journey with Jesus. 

The Samaritan woman’s soul said yes, when she met Jesus at the well and went on to share what she had learned with others in the town, so that they could say “We know that this man really is the Saviour of the world” (John 4 v 42). 

Ananias’ soul said yes, after a bit of double-checking, when he heard God in a vision telling him to go and find Saul and lay his hands on him. 

Those are just a few of the examples that popped into my head. I’m sure that you can think of others. Saying yes doesn’t mean never asking questions of God, but it does mean being willing to listen and to act.

A few years ago I was introduced to the Methodist Covenant Prayer, which I think expresses this desire to say ‘yes’ to God in all the parts of our lives in a really clear, if challenging way. 

“I am no longer my own but yours.

Put me to what you will, 

Rank me with whom you will;

Put me to doing,

Put me to suffering;

Let me be employed for you,

Or laid aside for you,

Exalted for you,

Or brought low for you;

Let me be full,

Let me be empty,

Let me have all things,

Let me have nothing;

I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal.

And now, glorious and blessed God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

You are mine and I am yours. So be it. 

And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.”

May we be people whose souls say ‘yes’ to God. 

By Anna S

_____________________________

References:

1  Elim Sound, We Say Yes

face : balancing busyness and listening

When thinking about balancing practical and spiritual needs I often think of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42). I am very aware as someone who finds it hard to say no that I am probably more like Martha. I used to think I wanted to be more like Mary than Martha and give all my time to listening and learning.However if we only sat and listened and learned nothing would get done. My family would go hungry and wouldn’t be dressed in clean clothes!


So maybe it's ok to be like Martha and when reflecting upon it I want to be like both Mary and Martha, care deeply for others, be a gracious host and make time to listen to God's word. How to do both well is a hard task. Trying to balance our spiritual lives with our everyday. It makes me feel slightly anxious to think about how on earth I am going to get it right.


When I reflect upon it, it may be this is actually what Martha is feeling. She was the one who invited Jesus into her home and she wants it all to be perfect, maybe she wants to listen in her heart but doesn’t know how to stop. She is frustrated with her sister who isn’t helping her and can see her doing what she may want to do however can’t see a way to stop. So she takes out her frustrations on Mary, chastises Mary, trying to show her sister is doing wrong. Jesus doesn’t say what she is doing isn’t valuable however he does say she shouldn’t worry about Mary's choices.


Jesus rescues her by making Martha stop and recognises that her anxiety is not with her sister but with herself not knowing it is ok to stop and listen. He shows how much God loves her, that it is just as important for her to listen as her sister and she is just as valued. He is in fact giving her a chance to listen without being worried about the jobs. He is showing that actually it is just as important for her to make time to listen as to carry out her tasks. He is giving all of us the message that we need to stop and allow time to listen and learn.

By Megan

___________________________________________

References:

Tom Wright (2014) Luke for Everyone
Darrel L Bock (1998) Luke The NIV Application Commentary

face : prayer

Last month we had the privilege of meeting virtually to talk about the vital, and challenging, topic of prayer.

The Bible is clear about it’s centrality to our everyday lives. We are encouraged to ‘come boldly to the throne of our gracious God'. 1  Talking to God about everything and in ‘every situation’ 2.  Despite verse upon verse urging us on and Jesus’s example of going to quiet places to be with His Father, prayer can be something we don’t talk about and perhaps a last port of call instead of the first.

Some of us may feel our concerns aren’t ‘important’ enough to bring before our God. Where at other times, it may feel the mountain in front of us is too hard to navigate in prayer. Whatever the reason, it seems as if there is more for us to discover and delight in.

Sometimes it can be difficult to know where to begin and at these times a structure and ‘headings’ can be really useful. Below is one approach to prayer:

Adoration - spend time worshipping God. It sets the tone, reminds us who we are talking to and changes our agenda as our Spirits are softened

Confession - cleanses our conscience. It reminds us of God’s forgiveness and brings freedom to our prayers.

Thanksgiving - God - as our parent - loves it when we thank him for his gifts to us. Jesus was sad when the lepers he cured didn’t thank him, but took delight in the one that returned to do so. We need to be like that one. 

Supplication - or requests. Nothing is too big or too small. Sometimes we are only tempted to offer the small, thinking he won’t answer the big requests. Other times we may not offer the small things as we think they are insignificant and a ‘waste of God’s time’. Praying and requesting is never a waste of God’s time.  3

At the end of the evening, we committed to praying for something that we have not been praying about - for whatever reason. To start bringing it to God again and again. I wonder how you are getting on with that? For me, it has taken me down a road that is difficult and challenging but also one that I need to walk. I remind myself that God is good all the time; all the time God is good.

Amen.

------------------------------------------
References

1 Hebrews 4:16

2 Philippians 4:6

3  Ideas from 'Too Busy Not To Pray' by Bill Hybels

face : lament

It has always seemed to me that “lament” is an old fashioned, out of date word. It seems kind of miserable, dwelling in loss.. loneliness.. who wants that?

Except more recently, I found myself walking in a season of lament. Actively lamenting. And it’s been kind of radical. The dictionary definition of lament is “a passionate expression of grief or sorrow; a complaint”. Passion and grief seem like oxymorons don’t they?

At the end of February, before all this lockdown madness, my lovely mum, after a 15 year battle with dementia, finally passed away. It’s a funny thing dementia - watching someone slowly slip away - it’s a long drawn out season of grieving… saying goodbye to parts of them and you kid yourself that the final part, the death bit, will be easy because who they were hasn’t been there for a long while. I can confirm, this isn’t the case. The grief I felt when I walked into my mum’s room, as she took her last breath, was the most devastating moment. Yet, it was months before this I found myself lamenting.

In Psalm 77, we read “When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted. I remembered you, God, and I groaned; I meditated, and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak.”

How often have we cried out to God in our distress? Sometimes too troubled to speak. A great friend pointed out to me, “isn’t it amazing that despite how we feel, it says He kept our eyes from closing. Even in our worst of times, God keeps our eye open so we can glimpse him.” I love this idea.

The Psalm goes on to say:

“I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God?”

Lament is rooted in what we believe. It is a prayer loaded with theology - built on what we believe and what we know of the nature of Christ. As Christians, we affirm that the world is broken, God is powerful, and He will be faithful. Sometimes in life, these truths buffer against each other and life hurts… people die, pandemics unnerve us and upset our life rhythms, people lose jobs, lose hope... We feel the sadness, the burden, the weakness and like all is lost. How do we marry up our Christian faith and our experiences of grief. A great quote I read says “Lament stands in the gap between pain and promise. To cry is human, but to lament is Christian.” 1

Lament is how we endure. It’s how we trust. It’s how we wait. Who knew that actively engaging in lament could feel like such comfort and challenge in a time of sorrow? Let’s not wallow in our grief, but be passionate and active in it!

Lament leads us to trust. Again and again. It’s an active, enduring practise of patience. It’s not an ancient concept. It’s not a lonely, isolating path. We cry out to God, we share our pain, we remind ourselves of His unwavering promises, that His ways are higher. We lament.

________________________________________________________________________________
References

1 “Learning to Lament - a 5 day devotional”, The Bible App

Inspiration, quote citation and further reading taken from “Learning to Lament - a 5 day devotional” from The Bible App.