I’ve really enjoyed, wherever I’ve served United Methodist congregations, introducing this practice. For kids especially, it’s a memorable moment. This is farm country, so I can usually find someone to bring animals big and small into the sanctuary during the worship service. The last time around included a (fixed) skunk and a llama. The pets that kids bring to be blessed has ranged from horses to lizards. I’ve sometimes wondered if there are rules somewhere about what pets are kosher for blessing and what not. My favorite pets as a a kid were toads and salamanders, so whom am I be finicky.

If Jim West reads this, he may be grossed out even more, but here goes. In preparation for All Saints Sunday, I gather the elementary school kids in the narthex. We make a circle on the carpeted floor, in darkness except for candles lit for loved ones that have passed. We talk about death and eternal life. “Have you ever grieved because you lost someone you really loved?” I ask. Often the kids tell, sometimes through tears, of the death of a beloved pet. Sometimes the candles they prepare are for the pets.

But rest assured, we don’t pray to pets, dead or alive. In fact, we don’t pray to anyone, except the Triune God.

On a more serious note: Gen 1:21-22. If it’s good enough for God …