Sitting here thinking. . .

I know I have been doing quite a few posts lately asking you to first go read another post, but I want you to go read this post that Lisa's brother David published just recently.
Wasn't that a wonderful story about an incredible dog?
Well reading it reminded of something I had been thinking about just last week.

First, a little background

I am a Mormon. I'm pointing this out because having been born and raised in the church I find sometimes that I don't have a lot of knowledge of what other Christian churches believe.
As Mormons we believe that everything that our Heavenly Father has created, that is alive, has a spirit. Someone once told me that other Christians only feel that humans have spirits, not animals. I have a hard time believing this though, so, if I'm wrong on that please feel free to correct me.

I always enjoy hearing about other's beliefs.

Okay, now you will know where this idea of mine is coming from. And let me make it clear that this is entirely MY own idea. As far as I know this has never been official Church doctrine. Of course we believe that we are all able to learn things and figure certain questions out on our own. We believe that each person is entitled to personal revelation. Usually it is meant to mean that we can pray for and receive inspiration to help our family or anyone else we have stewardship over. But a lot of the time it's wanting to know things to help us have a better understanding of God and his good works.
Here is my question, and the answer I have come up with;

Do animals pray?

I have realized that I believe they do. Every time I hear about some heroic feat performed by an animal, I can't help but think, wow, that is one righteous dog.

Or cat. Or bird. maybe even ferret.

I think that since animals have spirits, that they are just as aware of a loving Heavenly Father as we are. Now I don't know about the lower life form creatures. I can't really comprehend a slug or frog or rattlesnake being very aware of their God. But then who knows. Maybe having a spirit, no matter how limited their intelligence, gives every living creature some vague, remote, idea, of something out there greater than themselves. I'm not going to tire myself out by thinking about something like that.

I do believe though that the more intelligent animals do have some kind of knowledge of their creator.

I'm sure that everyone has heard stories of people's pets performing amazing acts. How many times have we heard about a dog or cat finding their way home after being left somewhere hundreds of miles away from home?
It's a complete mystery as to how they could do something so amazing. And how about those animals who save people's lives. How do they know that someone is in trouble and needs help? Quite often they even know that something is about to happen before it even does.
They can be trained to sense when their owner is about to have an epileptic seizure. We all know about the wonderful companion animals who provide their selfless service to their blind, deaf or quadriplegic masters.

On the other hand, there are definitely animals who are just plain bad. Dogs who attack and kill for their own satisfaction.
Remember that chimpanzee who attacked and almost killed it's owners next door neighbor? I think that just like humans animals can be wicked as well as incredibly good.

The next time you hear of an animal who has done something amazing, the next time a dog shows up at his home after being lost several hundred miles away, stop and think about how they were able to know what they knew.

I have no way of knowing if it's true, but I think that it is quite likely that they know their Heavenly Father. They know that he will guide them, either back home, or, to find someone who can help in whatever situation where they realize that help is desperately needed.
The next time a cat wakes up his owner because the house is on fire, or the baby has crawled outside and is heading for the pool.

Ask yourself, how?

No matter how mysterious what they have done is, we know that there has to be some kind of explanation. So is it too far fetched to wonder if an animal's prayers are simply being heard and answered?






A last thought;

If this is interesting to you, go and google something like "heroic pets" you might see more and more evidence of Divine influence than you would have ever thought possible.

One last, last, thought;

I realize that I didn't actually define my ideas about animals praying. Animals are animals. they are not humans, so therefore the way they think and act would be according to whichever way a dog or cat would think or act. I didn't mean that they would literally get on their knees and say a formal prayer. That is how we humans pray. I won't presume to guess how different species go about their interactions with God. I'm sure that it is in a much more primitive way than we ever would. My point is that I believe that in their own way they are just as aware of God and his blessings as any human could ever be.