Yes, yes! And again I say YES. You know, I think there are people who have the wrong idea when it comes to how to relate to animals. They think animals are just animals to be worked, fed and at the disposal of the pleasure of a human. They are of the school that human kind has dominance over the rest of creation. If the word dominion from the Bible is translated it does not mean dominance, rather, to work with and take care of the rest of creation. If we go on the premise that there is a Divine Creator who brought all of creation in to being putting himself in all aspects of creation, then it would follow logic all of creation has a soul and it is up to us mere mortals to nurture and care for the rest of the Divine creation.
Before I go any further, one would have to have a working definition of just what a soul is. According to Mr. Webster of Dictionary fame, a soul is the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life. Mr. Webster goes on to talk about the spiritual aspect of human beings, that all of us were given, ( Sadly, not all of us tap into wonderful aspect of who we are, but that is for another blog entry!) According to this definition one would see that there is soul in all creatures.
I don't need Mr. Webster to convince me much that animals truly do have souls. There have been countless stories written in books and even videos on line that show absolute evidence that animals have souls. There is one video that comes to mind, where there were two men who raised a lion and then the lion was taken to a zoo or a place where he could run free and enjoy his new environment. the small video showed a most touching reunion between the two men and the lion. Watching the lion running toward his two former care takers is so touching. To say the lion hugged the two men, is an understatement. The joy of all three was so beautiful to see. If nothing else, this video does show that animals have memory and emotions. There are countless stories like this and you see wonderful stories about this sort of thing on ANIMAL PLANET. Check out the show Growing Up............ In this show you see how human's and baby animals bond. One cannot bond without a soul.
One story I can attest to animals having souls occured about a year ago. Two years ago, after my cat died, I was sitting at my computer when I felt a push on my chair. It felt like Chessie was right there demanding my attention away from the computer and wanting me to lavish my love on him. When I looked down, there was no one there. But maybe there was! Yes, I believe there was, it was Chessie saying 'Hey! I am still here!' If this isn't evidence of animals having souls, I don't know what is.
That story sparks a memory out of my childhood how animals come to the protection of others. Way back about 100 years ago when I was a teenager, we had a Siamese Cat. He was a beautiful blue point and always indoors. One afternoon, Jinx decided he wanted to seek freedom outside of the shelter of our house. The day he chose to make his escape couldn't have been worse. For at that particular time when he ventured forth, there were a few dogs outside on the lawn. Imagine my fear when I watched Jinx running outside with a dog right on his tail. But to my amazement the neighbor's dog, Blackie, a beautiful sweet even tempered lab came to Jinx's rescue. Blackie diverted the other dog's attention, just in the nick of time. I scooped up Jinx and immediately took him back indoors. Blackie had a loving soul of an old wise momma. She was a very sweet loving dog that had a very nurturing nature about her. Everyone in the neighborhood loved her.
I still say we humans have a lot to learn from our fellow creatures, from cats, dogs, camels, birds, turtles, and all the rest. Animals never kill for the sport and fun of it. It is usually because they are hungry or feeling threatened. How many folks go hunting just for sport of it and then proudly have their picture taken of their killing. Is this not barbaric? Can you see a huge moose proudly showing you his field with a human head tacked up on the barn wall? I don't think so.
How about the animals who take in other small animals of a different species. YouTube has a load of those too! Recently I saw one where a woman had a place for elephants to roam. The elephants were all paired off. One particular couple was an elephant who had a companion you would never think would want to be around her. Her best buddy was a dog. They were everywhere together on that huge field. One day the dog got paralized and was taken into the house. The elephant remaind close to the house all through the time the dog was convolescing in the house. Eventually the woman brought out the dog so the odd couple could see one another. Both lit up when they saw one another and slowly but surely the dog recouperated and both were reunited once again out on the field. Elephant and Dog remain close playmates and companions to this day. If that isn't evidence of animals having souls, then well, heck, I am a monkey's aunt!
God bless the animals. They have much to give us, teach us and enrich us. And as far as this human animal is concerned, there are times, I would welcome a dog's cat's company far more over human's! But then again thank God for all the good human's too in my life.
The picture in ths entry shows just how much Cats can stand their own ground. Dog and Cat are fine and living together peacefully.
They say that now they've proved scientifically that elephants are self-aware. I think that's pretty amazing. I think most animals are both intuitive and full of unconditional love, especially those we call domesticated such as dogs and cats. Other than holding a child, there's nothing more comforting when you're feeling down than having a small, warm, furry body curl up on your lap, whether they meow or bark.
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