The Rainbow Bridge and a Glass of Water

Two days ago, I was on a pet loss bulletin board and someone posed this dilemma:

 “Here’s the problem I have with the whole Rainbow Bridge thing – what if my husband dies first? Does my dog go with him to heaven?  So when I get there, no one I waiting for me? Or does he wait for me to get there and my husband has to be without him until I get there? And what about my childhood dog? Is he with my parents – or waiting for me and my sister?”

[If you have no idea what the Rainbow Bridge is, the thumbnail sketch: some believe, literally or figuratively, when an animal passes, it waits in a big field by a rainbow bridge for its human to pass away. When the human dies, human and animal are reunited in this “pre-heaven” and cross the rainbow bridge to the afterlife together.  It’s a lovely poem by an unknown author that can be read in its entirety here.]

     I have been thinking about this person’s comment (and the many similar ones that were posted as follow up messages) ever since.

     I think of it this way: our bodies and those of our animals are merely containers for our essence/soul/spirit/energy/love/whatever you want to call it.  Like water in a glass, when we are stuck in the container, we can only be in one place at a time and only in one very rigid form.

     But release the water from the glass and what happens?  It transforms.  It is still the same water, but can be many places at once. It can be many different forms, from tiny droplets to giant puddles. It flows, separates and reconnects. It is here, but also there. It is many things while still being the same thing.  And I believe the same is true of our spirit when it is released from the confinements of our physical body.

     So if you ask me, do I personally think you will be reunited with your beloved animals when you pass from this life?  I will say yes.  They are waiting for you – and also for every one else who touched their life and whose life they touched.  They will go with you and they will wait for the others - at the very same time. They don’t have to choose and no one has to make that journey alone.

     At least, that’s what I think. There are many ideas about what, if anything, comes next and the truth is, none of us really knows. It’s not about finding the one Truth, but about finding our own truth.

What do you think?