Hi Len!
I stumbled across this article and website today and thought it might help you. I have gone through the death of a pet and it is heartbreaking. My pets are my family so I understand. I also have a peace and understanding that I will see them again.
Liz

ANIMAL TALK
by Niki Behrikis Shanahan

I wonder if it ever occurred to anyone that perhaps the animals
were able to communicate with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Quite possibly animals spoke the same language as people before the fall.
If that sounds unbelievable to you, read this:
We know that some birds have the ability to talk and they also
deliver their responses at the appropriate time. Animals certainly
understand our language, and they know what we're talking about.
For instance, before I adopted my cat, Joey, who was a stray, I
used to feed him in a certain place in our backyard. One day, I told
Joey that he could go up on the deck if he wanted to, and I pointed
over to the deck. The very next day Joey was on the deck, and that
was the first time he'd ever gone up there.
My cat, Lukie, understands what I'm talking about when I tell
him it's time to brush his teeth, and he starts running the other
way. If you spend time around animals, you don't have to be
convinced that they understand you. While they don't respond
verbally, they do respond.
I've had a couple of dreams where two of my cats have spoken to
me. It was terrific to be able to talk to them, even if it was only
a dream. Unfortunately, I can't recall what their voices sounded
like when they spoke.
You may have heard of Josephus Flavius (37-100 AD), a very well
respected ancient historian. He was born into a family of priests,
and he became a priest himself. In his writings called The
Antiquities Of The Jews, Josephus makes the statement that "all the
living creatures had one language."
He indicates that in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve
communicated in the same language as all the animals. Josephus tells
us that the lines of communication changed after Adam and Eve sinned.
As you know, the beautiful, eternal, healthy, happy, and abundant
life that God had planned for all of His creatures was altered after
the fall. The serpent spoke with Eve, and told her that if she ate
from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they would not die.
This was contrary to what God had told them. Eve and the serpent
were communicating in the same language.
There's an interesting Bible story about a man named Balaam and
his donkey from the book of Numbers. Balaam, a prophet of God, got
into trouble because he disobeyed God by going someplace God didn't
want him to go. As he was riding along on his donkey one day, the
donkey saw an angel standing in the road to block his way. At this
point Balaam couldn't see the angel -- only the donkey saw him! The
donkey bolted off the road into a field, and Balaam started to beat
the donkey for going off the road.
Then the angel of the Lord stood at a place where the road
narrowed between two vineyard walls. When the donkey saw the angel
of the Lord standing there, he tried to squeeze by, and crushed
Balaam's foot against the wall. So Balaam beat the donkey again.
Then the angel of the Lord moved farther down the road, and stood in
a place so narrow that the donkey could not get by at all. This time
when the donkey saw the angel, he lay down under Balaam. In a fit of
rage Balaam beat the donkey again with his staff.
Then the Lord caused the donkey to speak!
"What have I done to you that deserves your beating me these
three times?" the donkey asked Balaam.
"Because you have made me look like a fool!" Balaam shouted. "If
I had a sword with me, I would kill you!"
"But I am the same donkey you always ride on," the donkey
answered. "Have I ever done anything like this before?"
"No," he admitted.
Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the
Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam
fell face down on the ground before him.
"Why did you beat your donkey those three times?" the angel of
the Lord demanded. "I have come to block your way because you are
stubbornly resisting me. Three times the donkey saw me and shied
away. Otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared
the donkey."
Then Balaam confessed to the angel of the Lord, "I have sinned.
I did not realize you were standing in the road to block my way. I
will go back home if you are against my going."
But the angel of the Lord told him, "Go with these men, but you
may say only what I tell you to say."
To show you a similar case to God changing the speech of animals
in the Garden of Eden, there's another story in the Scriptures about
a change in languages for humans. The people were building a tower,
called the Tower of Babel, and said they would go up into heaven, and
be like the most High. As a result, God changed the languages of the
people into several different dialects so that they were unable to
communicate with each other. Because of the different languages, the
people were unable to communicate and work together on a project that
God opposed. So we see an example of a time when God decided to
alter our communication, and it remains this way today.
The disciple, John, saw a future vision of heaven in the book of
Revelation. He heard and saw all creatures praising God, including
four special animal creatures that continually praise God around His
throne. Clearly, John had to understand what all the animals were
saying in order for him to state that all the creatures were praising
God.
There are a couple of books by Christian minister authors who
have gone to heaven during near-death and out-of-body experiences
that shed some light on this subject, too.
One book is called, A Place Called Heaven, by Richard Sigmund.
During Sigmund's near-death experience he mentioned that in heaven
there were horses that had the power of speech and he understood
them. In Roberts Liardon's book, We Saw Heaven, he states during his
out-of-body experience in heaven that he saw all kinds of animals.
He said that there were birds of all sizes singing, and that they all
seemed to be singing the same song. He said, "I found that I could
understand what they were singing. There was no communication gap.
When they stopped singing, it seemed as if they began to talk among
themselves."
These are examples of how simple it is for God to give the power
of speech to animals.
I believe that someday in heaven God will return the speech
capabilities of all the animals, and every creature that God has
created will communicate perfectly with one another.
I don't know what our pets will say to us when we're together in
heaven, but it sure will be nice to have a two-way verbal
conversation!

-- Niki Behrikis Shanahan <eternalanimals @ comcast.net>

http://eternalanimals.com/