I'm sure it came from some poetry somewhere. I've never heard of it before coming here. I'd love to read the origins of this place.

But my purpose in posting is more serious. I wonder if you really believe in a Rainbow Bridge? Faith is something we adopt in order to deal with the incomprehensible. It helps people to cope. But what if relying on faith leaves you feeling shallow and deluded? I hope Punky is not at the base of a Bridge with all other animals in all time who have passed on. I do HOPE that he is up there, if it is even up, and his domain is more than the base of a Bridge, and he is content and entertained and active, knowing I will join him soon. But there is no proof of this. I am destroyed thinking there might be nothing after death. Punky is gone. He is no more. Just POOF. Just as he did not exist before his birth.

I ask, is euphemism good enough for you? Don't you feel panicked that this real world might be all there is? If you say "The Bible says it is so" then you again are relying on Faith and I go back to my original question. I've never desired faith more so than I do now, but it leaves me completely unsatisfied.

It's a level of suffering that no one talks about on this board, but I suspect many of you have wanted to.

I don't think this will answer your question but I'll tell you what I believe.

I don't see "Rainbow Bridge" exactly as described in the poetry and information I have read. I saw the visual description as something solid for my mind to grasp so that I could embrace the idea with my heart. Just like when we dream at night...your sub-conscious mind will put visual ques (figures, places, enviroments) in your dreams to help your conscious mind interpret the information. The visualization of something in a dream helps the information make sense....just like the visual depiction of Rainbow Bridge makes an afterlife make a little more sense.

I don't want to bring religion into my post but I will say that the faith I have does not come from things that can be proven. I don't know where faith comes from...I don't know where belief comes from. It may be an easy answer....something to stop the panic and fear that there is nothing beyond this life...but to me, it doesn't matter where it comes from. I have faith that I am a good person and will more often than not make the right choices, live a good life (by my own standards), and will hopefully fill my life with love, happiness, and contentment whenever I can. I have faith that there IS something after this life for us, our animals, all living things.

So, for me, Rainbow Bridge is an idea...not a place. I DO believe that we go on...and so do our animals. I don't think we all go to a specific 'place' but I do believe that our souls exist regardless of our bodies. I have no hard and fast evidence of this for you.....it's just what I feel.

I still FEEL Kahsa around me. I still feel that she is with me...but not always...she visits and watches over me. If there is no life after death and she has no spirit to visit with, I believe that her love for me is still alive and THAT becomes the energy that she lives on through. I know she didn't just stop existing...I know because I can close my eyes and I can still see her beautiful green eyes with the brown spot in her left....I can remember EXACTALY what her fur felt like on my lips when I kissed her between the ears. I can smell her....I can remember her exactaly as she was.....Something that wonderful does not just cease to exist. Her body is gone, but my love for her is alive....and so is the light that she brought into my world. I'm at the point now where I can smile when I think of her and that joy comes from HER in one way or another.

I find peace in that.

Kristie

I believe with all my heart that there is a God and that Jesus died for me to prepare the way to Heaven and I know with all my heart there is life after death. My mother was a very godly woman and as much as I believe the Bible my mother was even more proof of His love and that He did prepare a place for us and it is called Heaven.

I watched her read her Bible and heard and saw her on her knees everyday praying. I saw the love that she had for Him and know with out a doubt in my mind it was real. Mom did not cuss, drink, smoke, do drugs or any of that kind of thing. She was kind and gentle and so sweet to everyone. I never heard her say a bad word about anyone. Even when she got sick and knew she was going to die I asked her did she blame God and she said no for He had been so good to her and kept her through all things in life both the bad and the good.

I believe that God loves us and everything that we love that is good. What better thing on the face of the earth than our furbabies. The Bible says that everything that has breath let them praise Him. You can see the spirit in our babies when you look into their eyes and I know there must be something everlasting in them the same as us. They love with a pure love more than anyone on the face of the earth and they get their feelings hurt, feel sad, joy and pain.

Maybe there is not a real Rainbow Bridge but maybe some people would rather say that than to say they go to Heaven so they won't offend someone talking about spiritual things. I hope and pray with all my heart that our furbabies go to Heaven because our joy would not be complete with them there. I can't see the wind nor can I see the air but it is there just the same. Sometimes faith is all we have and I want nothing more than to see my Snookie and Chili Bean and all our furbabies running to greet me when I pass over into Heaven.
Ann

I have thought about this subject for many years now...

I believe that goodness matters. I believe that love matters. I believe that hope matters. I believe that kindness matters.

The important thing isn't where we go when we die. The important thing is where we go while we're alive. Will we meet again after we abandon our bodies - after they stop working? It doesn't matter - what matters is that we MET. What matters is the joy and the amazingness of "being".

Energy cannot be created or destroyed. That is one of the most fundamental laws of the universe as we understand it. Somewhere out there, in some form, our loved ones still exist. Are they conscious? Can they sense the things around them? It doesn't matter. In my heart they are laughing and playing and waiting for met to join them at the edge of the Rainbow Bridge.

What matters is here and now. Here and now, in our memories and in our daily lives, they live on - cherished and missed with every breath.

Do I get panicked thinking "this is it"? No. Because "this" is wonderful. I have love and happiness in my life. Thanks to my furry ones who taught (and still teach) me to love, to hurt, to laugh, to cry and to just let each day pass, one at a time.

Humans think too much I bet you cats and dogs don't.

Humans think too much I bet you cats and dogs don't.


What an amazing point DJ....couldn't have said it better......

Punky's mom,
I have spent many hours researching Near Death Experiences, many of which
included the person being greeted by their pets. It has brought a "cynic" and
a "doubter" like myself, some degree of peace. No, the concept of a Rainbow
Bridge doesn't necessarily heal my pain sometimes either. I think it is a euphemism
for "heaven" or the afterlife, or if you prefer, the "oversoul" that all life is part
of, and returns to. (Transcendentalism)
I am not a particularly religious person, but matters of spirituality interest me, as
they do everyone, and that is the entire world, since the beginning of time.
Everyone wants to know and has always wanted to know, what happens when we die? No one knows for sure, with 100% certainty. For that matter, can you ever
be more than 99.9% sure about ANYTHING?
I would love it if there were actual psychics or mediums that weren't con-artists.
Maybe there are, and if I had more money, I would give some a try, but I can't afford
something like that right now.
The previous poster mentioned matter being neither created nor destroyed. You
don't need "faith" to know that. It's scientific fact. I watched a program on PBS
over the holidays about quantum physics, and other dimensions existing within our
own. If there's a "heaven/afterlife/Rainbow Bridge" then surely it exists in that way;
all around us. Which is why people can sometimes "feel" the presence of deceased
relatives. It also explains a variety of other paranormal events. The program was
fascinating, but waaaay over the head of this history/politcal science degree holder.

I also want to mention that in my research on Near Death Experiences, it was intersting to note that when they occur in various cultures and religions, there
are many, many similarities. And many things are "customized". Christians see Jesus,
children have seen a Santa Claus type figure, others see only beings made of light,
and then there are numerous stories about deceased relatives AND pets greeting
them. Studying this lately has brought me a small amount of comfort. I will
probably delve into the subject further, when I am past a point of depression that
has me sleeping 16-18 hours a day.

I think the thought/idea of the Rainbow Bridge is beautiful, and I have to say that I do not think it is impossible. I BELIEVE in Heaven, and I believe if we go, our beloved animal children go too. And yes, sometimes I wonder if "this is all there is," and I don't want it to be because there are so many people and animal children I want to see again. It breaks my heart to think that might not be. So, I do believe in my heart, if for no other reason, than I want to believe. It doesn't hurt to believe, but it hurts not to. There are so many things that are real, but we cannot see them -- the air we breathe, the wind -- the whole huge Universe -- unbelievable, but very real.

Here is something I found about the Rainbow Bridge:

The Rainbow Bridge and The Navajo Connection
by Maryann Watkins

"Rainbow Bridge" is a beautiful piece of prose that suggests our departed pets wait for us to join them in the afterlife.

Rainbow Bridge is also a huge, natural rock formation located at Lake Powell on the Arizona/Utah border.

Is there a connection between the two? Wally Brown, a member of the Navajo Tribe's Bitter Water Clan, says a connection is quite likely. Brown is a Navajo historian; he has researched the Rainbow Bridge and the special significance it holds in the spiritual beliefs of the Navajo.

Brown believes the Rainbow Bridge was discovered during the Freemont Culture which dates to 1200 A.D. Sand paintings of the Anasazi and the Towering Hang People clearly portray the rock formation as well. For centuries, the Rainbow Bridge has been the sacred site of Native American healing ceremonies - ceremonies which heal a person's spiritual nature.

According to Brown, the Rainbow Bridge represents a connection between this life and the next - a path provided to make the passing easier. He says the term "rainbow" comes, not only from the formation's shape itself, but also from the stories of people who saw a bright, white light as they were dying. White light is a combination of all the colors found in a rainbow.

Brown says Navajos believe that all animals can talk and that humans could, at one time, "clearly understand and communicate with their four-legged brothers." He says this communication is a major part of the Navajo stories passed from generation to generation (considered do%%entation of the tribe's history). As time progressed, however, and the Navajo culture became diluted by outside influences, the ability to talk with the animals was impaired. As he put it, "When a people lose a sense of the culture, the beliefs are thrown by the wayside - and the human abilities found in those beliefs are lost as well."

The question is asked again: Is there a true connection between "Rainbow Bridge" (the prose) and Rainbow Bridge (the rock formation considered a sacred site by the Navajos)? Since the author of the piece is unknown, the origin of the concept may never be discovered. Such a connection also depends on one's spiritual beliefs and is very personal in nature.

Wally Brown, for one, says the association fits because the Navajos believe in the equality of all souls - human and animal. He says the thought of being reunited with his beloved animals is quite comforting, and "what better place than the Rainbow Bridge?"
Copyright © 1997 Maryann Watkins
I found this at:

Punky's mommy, another great topic. Thanks.
Love,
Marcia

Punky's Mom, if you don't have faith how do you get through life? Seriously, think about it. Life is all about having faith. From the moment you get up and take a breath you have FAITH there's going to be air. And when you sit in a chair you have FAITH it's going to hold you. You can't get through life with out faith. Faith is believing in something unseen, not necessarily believeing in something that isn't there. Just b/c you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there. Like air, you can't see it and yet you have faith in it. I'm not telling you what to believe, I am telling you that YOU HAVE FAITH! Whether you know it or not. I guess the question is what do you have faith in?

Christina

My faith comes from the things that have happened in my life, I had always believed in Jesus. But you know what I really didn't know what I believed until I had no one else to turn to. I opened my self up to the higher being that chose me so in turn I chose him, everytime I speak of my father I release my faith. I have a book that tells me how he thinks and how I should behave while I am here. I think we get just what we believe in. Pamela

I believe that there are different planes and like an onion we live on a different level according to how spiritual we are.

i.e. us humans live on the densest layer and when we die we go up one layer and because it is not as dense (which is caused by our negativity) the colours are more vibrant and beautiful than any colour you have seen while on this level.

We cannot see each other although it is said that the ‘veil’ is getting thinner which is why more and more of us are sensing a presence occasionally.

It is also said that time on the next plane is non existent and to them we will be coming home tomorrow even though for us it may be another 50 60 years.

They can manifest whatever they want so if your dog/cat loved being down the field or in the woods then I would imaging that that is what they will have created, the only thing that makes them unhappy is that we are grieving and they try to let us know that they are ok but we cant hear/see/feel them because of the dense atmosphere we live in.

So I guess whoever started Rainbow bridge saw/thought that that is where their pet would love to be the most and shared it with someone who shared it with some else who was grieving who shared it with someone else – Chinese whispers –

That is my beliefs.

Love Sue

Dear Punky's Mommy,

Your posting makes me feel so sad. You are experiencing doubts, and I think that is normal when someone is grieving. They start to question their beliefs and faith because of a terrible tragedy in their lives.

Not everyone is religious or believes in God, but many seem to be spiritual in one way or another. I hope I won't offend you or anybody, but in my own case, I had an experience that brought doubt. My neighbor started getting me involved in church with her. I started going every Sunday, started opening my heart and soul to God and attended Bible Study classes to understand the word of God. Within one month, that faith was tested!

I have always had problems getting pregnant. There was a time, years ago with my ex-husband, when I finally did become pregnant. On the very day I got the confirmation from the doctor's office, my ex-husband packed a U-Haul and left me. I came home from work to discover all this belongings gone! A few days later, our beautiful yellow labrador, Cosmo, (only 8 months old) was hit and killed by a car right at the end of my driveway. He died in my arms. I'm sure from the stress, but another few days later, I lost my precious baby. In one week I had lost my husband, my baby and my furbaby! I got angry and questioned why this could happen when I opened my heart and mind to a "concept" (what I called God at the time) that I couldn't see. I stopped going to church and started to question the sanity of others that attended and believed in such a "concept". Until one day, someone very wise pointed out to me that it didn't happen BECAUSE I was "belieiving". By beleiving and opening my heart, it was preparing me for that terrible week. I had God in my heart and life to actually HELP me. Instead of seeing the negative in faith, I just needed to see the positive, and that BECAUSE I was opening myself to God and his love, I was able to get through one of the hardest times of my life.

I beleive in God and I believe in Heaven. There have been too many other countless incidents in my life since then to NOT believe. So, I believe that our furbabies are God's precious creatures that live a pure life. There's just no way in my mind that I can't see that God would take care of them when they depart earth too. I think Rainbow Bridge is a way for us to visualize a beautiful and deserving path that our furbabies take to Heaven. I wouldn't want to think for a minute that my sweet Rachael isn't at a place like that, where she is happy and rewarded for her good life.

I have been told by people (not animal lovers) that animals do not have a soul, so they do not go to Heaven. I have faith that they DO. Faith is something you have or don't. Life would be too unbearable for me if I choose to not have faith.

Cheri

I truely believe that our pets exist in a happy place after death and are then with us in heaven.

There is an amazing man here in England, called Gordon Smith - nicknamed the psychic barber. He is called that because he still works as a barber in Scotland and makes no money from his psychic abilities. He does readings for people and has also appeared in the US and on US and UK television doing the same, he is one of the most genuine and spiritual people I have ever met. He is able to see and speak to those who have died and communicate with them, he was born with the ability. In the UK he stands out as someone completely unique with unexplanable abilities.

I saw him do a psychic reading for a lady whose son had died. He was able to talk to the son and knew everything about him including what he looked like, his name and the way he had died even though he had never met the lady before and had no previous knowledge. Then he said, there's a little brown and white terrior beside James (her son), and asked her if the dog meant anything to her. The lady looked shocked and said that when James had been a child they had had a little brown and white terrior who was devoted to him, who had died when James was about 16 years old. eight years previous to Jame's death.

I don't have any doubt after hearing and seeing things like this that we are reunited with our babies in heaven. I don't understand what it is that Gordon can do, or how he does it, but he says he believes it is a gift that he can use to allow people to know that we do all carry on after death, animals and humans alike.

with love
jilly

I really wanted to share a thought with all of you, but didn't want to start a new thread, so I'm putting it here although it is only partly related to this topic. Oh this is going to be such a *lovely* topic for a beautiful Sunday. (sarcasm)

Last night something very significant dawned on me. How to begin to explain this....(I think I've hit the backspace key 50 times already..hehe). Last night it occurred to me that I no longer fear my own death. I may fear the physical pain that might be involved, and of course, I fear what and if the afterlife is. But, I now know that if I ever find myself in a situation where my own death is inevitable, I will have a handle on that fear. Because I already experienced it. In my healing over Punky's last moments, I needed to recover from the horror. But what I had not given enough time to is the palpable fear that I felt in the moments leading up to it. I talked about it in my original posting about the experience. I described it as if I was about to be executed. And I know now even more so that that is exactly what happened. In that kind of fear, you are staring your own inevitable death in the face. Your heart races, you are breathing fast, you become hot and cold at the same time, and your mind is dizzy. You can't hear that well, because things are just closing in. You get a real funny taste in your mouth..an alkaline bitterness, like a nine-volt battery. You can't believe what is going to happen. You want to run but you can't. It is in itself almost an out-of-body experience, like you are watching it from outside yourself. This is what I felt in the moments before the vet arrived and then when she sat on the bed and loaded her syringe. I've heard it said over and over on this board that we take on our pet's suffering so they they don't have to. Well I think the first part is true. We take on their suffering. But for me the second part is false. I think Punky died twice that evening. Once was him - because he did suffer - and again was me - because I felt the same fear for him as if I were the one being killed. I only hope that I felt more fear than he did.

So, if I ever face my own death at the hands of someone else - through murder, execution, whatever - and all those physical sensations come up, I will focus my energy on my memory of Punky, and how it felt to go through this with him. And I think I will find strength. I need to say that no one needs to worry about my safety....I'm not hinting at anything whatsoever. It was just simply a very existential revelation that I had last night. I think I'm better for it. Thanks for letting me share.

I have always had faith but I know we all have different ideas and thats ok also. My family has went though rape, murder,and many deaths, and we live way out in the country not city life. I think with out my faith I'd have going crazy by now. At 49 I'm the elder with just 2 other elders. I guess like my family ,my Cinnamon's life was short also. I will say at times I've wondered why the Lord could do this but then I tell him to put my life in his hands and I believe he does. I have had some things happen that were strange but gave me comfort. Also I had a few doctors say I was going to die soon in 1994. We went to many cities trying to get help. I was down to 72 pounds. We saw many test of the cancer all though me. I was praying for my family and when I got off my knees I had strange flutters up and down my body and I felt really warm and safe. The next day at the doctors they ran many test and could not find anything. Now I do have many other health problems which keep me home but I have gained that 50 lbs back that I had lost. I have never had that same kind of pain like before and my husband does not have to carry me around any more. I even clean my home again. Then when I thought I had nothing left in life along came Cinnamon ( I was scared to death of dogs before) I wasn't looking for a pet that's for sure.She also had my mom's brithday. I'll tell you she taught me so much. I have heard pets do have souls and go to heaven also. I pray she's with my mom. When things seem really bad I sometimes smell my moms burnt toast ( which she liked) yuk. So I sound crazy at least a few years ago I would have thought that when people told me strange things like this. Now I believe it's the Lords way of helping us and letting us know he hurts for us and is with us. Patty

I believe that some part of us lives on. Our bodies are just vessels for this spirit; it flows through all living things. We are all part of the grass, the trees, the ants. That includes our beloved pets. Do I believe there is an actual Rainbow Bridge - well, no. But I believe that we will become part of everything once we attain our spirit form, and that includes being with our loved ones, human and animal (plant, too).

There is a warm spot in the bathroom where Oswald used to sleep by the sink. There isn't one on the other side of the sink, which there would be if it was from the lights. It isn't from the pipes, either. I believe his energy is still there. And that is a good thing!