The concept of the 'rainbow bridge'

[Emoore]

Originally Posted by Zeeva

Sigh...I really need to join an Islamic forum I love everyones answers though. Very enriching. Especially the ones with verses or stories.

Or find a hookah lounge. When I lived in Austin I used to frequent this awesome hookah lounge where most of the patrons were Muslim or Hindu, with a significant minority of Christians and a couple of Jews. We'd sit around and smoke hookah and have discussions like this. . . it was fascinating hearing different people's viewpoints and different interpretations of the same faiths. You'd have a couple of people of the same faith with very different interpretations of the same scripture.

[Zeeva]

Originally Posted by MaggieRoseLee

The Rainbow Bridge - YouTube

Originally Posted by Emoore

Or find a hookah lounge. When I lived in Austin I used to frequent this awesome hookah lounge where most of the patrons were Muslim or Hindu, with a significant minority of Christians and a couple of Jews. We'd sit around and smoke hookah and have discussions like this. . . it was fascinating hearing different people's viewpoints and different interpretations of the same faiths. You'd have a couple of people of the same faith with very different interpretations of the same scripture.

I can't/don't smoke. I love Austin....I am such a homebody...I used to do the hookah lounge back in hs and throughout college. But oh how I've changed I personally find beauty and confusion in my faith because it allows for so many different interpretions. So how do you know what is right/wrong? Is it belief in what the masses say...what you personally find enriching or what you find to be truth (in my eyes two different things...) And why would a religion allow for so many different views to be held in one realm if it creates conflict...just tell us what is right so we are not so conflicted at every moment of the day...

Just rhetorical questions that plague my lonelyness...

[Emoore]

Originally Posted by Zeeva

I can't/don't smoke. I love Austin....I am such a homebody...I used to do the hookah lounge back in hs and throughout college. But oh how I've changed I personally find beauty and confusion in my faith because it allows for so many different interpretions. So how do you know what is right/wrong? Is it belief in what the masses say...what you personally find enriching or what you find to be truth (in my eyes two different things...) And why would a religion allow for so many different views to be held in one realm if it creates conflict...just tell us what is right so we are not so conflicted at every moment of the day...

I think that God is much more understanding and accepting than we are. If it was super-important to Him that we hold a certain dogma and believe a certain way and all agree with each other, He would have made it much more clear. I think that to Him, our journey of seeking the truth is more important than the destination of finding any One Truth. In fact, I think people who believe they have found the One Truth and don't need to seek anymore have kind of missed the point.

[Debbieg]

Originally Posted by Lilie

Rev. 19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. Is. 11: 6-8 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, and the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.

T.

Love that verse and have it on a poster on my office with a lion, lamb and a child!

[Draugr]

If I have to spend the afterlife without my pets I would much rather just cease to exist. That is much more comforting a thought than an eternity without the animals I've loved and cared for who have passed on.

[RileyMay]

Ask the animals, and they will teach you...In God’s hand is the life of every creature, and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:7 and10)

Eccl 3:20: They are both going to the same place---the dust. They both came from it; they will both go back to it.


Eccl 3:21: How can anyone be sure that the human spirit goes upward while an animal's spirit goes down into the ground?



I believe that God made animals just for us! He cares for them just like we do. I think he gave us animals to show us that, that's how we should accept people. They are the perfect example of absolute acceptance after all, and they show it very well! Also, I got my dogs' because I don't fit in with my friends, they don't harshly judge me, I can tell them my biggest secrete and they would run their mouths telling people my secrete, they gave me the confidence I need, they love me no matter what, and there is more I could say! My dogs' are a HUGE part of my life!!

[Draugr]

On this note, there's a story I read, almost certainly manufactured - I doubt it's real - but it's touching and makes a good point nonetheless.

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish wolfhound named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.


I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn’t do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.


As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.


The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker’s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.


The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker’s death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.
Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, “I know why.”


Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I’d never heard a more comforting explanation. He said, “People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life – like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?”


The six-year-old continued, “Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.”

[msvette2u]

I am a Christian and I like to think of the "bridge", where the dogs are waiting (and kitties too, and a few horses) like someone else said, I have quite a crowd there waiting
I do like to think of it that the dogs aren't in pain any longer and can enjoy a romp or three while waiting for us to join them.

I do love this pic

[Dainerra]

"The poor dog, in life the the firmest friend, The first to welcome, foremost to defend, Whose honest heart is still the master's own, Who labours, fights, lives, breathes for him alone, Unhonour'd falls, unnoticed all his worth, Denied in heaven the soul he held on earth, While man, vain insect hopes to be forgiven, And claims himself a sole exclusive heaven."

Lord Byron Inscription on the monument of his Newfoundland dog, 1808

The dog is the most faithful of animals and would be much esteemed were it not so common. Our Lord God has made his greatest gift the commonest.

Martin Luther
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” Will Rogers

[missshepherddiva]

I didn't know if I believed in the rainbow bridge until today. My Shep/Chow mix two days ago had his pic taken. Today he passed. I looked at his pic and saw a full rainbow to the left of the pic right beside him. If anyone wants to see the pic just go to my facebook page for www.facebook.com/tanya crawley ortiz and you will see it on my page!!!!