Turtles in Heaven

Image by dibytes via Flickr

Will there be turtles in Heaven?

After Sophia and I saw that snapping turtle yesterday, we got to talking about how fortunate we are that interesting things like that happen to us. It is true that we often run across things or have experiences that never happen to other people. Or maybe it’s that other people just don’t notice things, or are too busy.

I was talking about how if I was some kind of naturalist on a field experience, I would just follow that turtle around—careful to be unobserved by her—until she laid her eggs. I could then return and see the tiny turtles emerge from their shells! How fun! We laughed and I said that’s something I’d really like to see. Sophia added that she’d like to see that, but she’d prefer sea turtles.

We went on about that for a while, and I came to the conclusion that in Heaven we will be able to see all the things we wanted to like that. That will be one of the big thrills about eternal life—being able to see all the natural world that we could not while we were here. Up close, live! Bowerbirds building their elaborate nests, bees doing their flower-finding dance, the intricate symbiosis of clown fish and their anemones. And, of course, baby turtles hatching from their shells! Won’t that just be cool?!