The Rainbow Bridge and Silver Cords

Well, yesterday Tom went to the vet to pick up our beloved little dog, Gracies, cremains (such an awful word). I guess by reading my post The Depths of Love you now know just how precious that little pup was to me. Included with the tin that held her ashes was a condolence card from the vet and one from the crematorium that included a poem known as The Rainbow Bridge. From what I have found out about this poem nobody seems to know who wrote it but it is a little bit sappy, though it made me cry (that does not take much to do btw). I am sure there are millions of people out there that think that grieving for a dog is a bit stupid. I know of at least one of my neighbors that would pooh-pooh it, possibly two. There are millions more that know exactly what I am talking about.  But the poem did get me to thinking of things in my own life that have happened and how life on earth is connected.


No place in the Bible does it mention anything about animals (not pets anyway), souls of animals and an afterlife for them. The Rainbow Bridge is therefore not steeped in theology but purely written as a gift of love for a lost pet. However, the silver cord is mentioned briefly in Ecclesiastes 12:6-7.


"Remember him - before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:6 - 7)


I first learned of this silver cord back in 1994 from my mom. After a valiant five-year fight she was entering the last stages of life here and seemed to have one foot here and one in eternity. I was sitting with her one evening and at one point she focused on me and told me that she saw a beautiful silver cord. She said that the cord connected me to her, and was connected to every living thing on this earth and that it connected us all to God. She said EVERY living thing on this earth. Many things that happened when she was ill still stay with me but at the time I had a full-time job out of state, an active 11 year old, a relationship and a very hectic life so though what she said of the cord made an impression it was not until years and years later that I googled it. Well, actually we did not have a computer until probably 2001 but do you know when I found out that the silver cord is in the Bible? Just last night. I remember sometime back in the early 2000s I found something that Sylvia Brown had said about it. But that was about it and though it gave me a sense of validation of what my mom saw, sorry Sylvia but the Bible trumps whatever it is you said.


Now I often think of the silver cord that is connecting us to all living things on this earth and to God. Not only does the human race share the same mitochondrial DNA (per the National Geographic Genographic Project {which I participated in and is an entire other blog post in and of itself}), we also have a connection to every other living creature on the planet be they 2-legged, 4-legged, winged, finned, etc. Think about how immense that is. Frankly it overwhelms me. That means that the person with more than 10 items in front of you on the grocery line that you are sneering at; the person who you cut off in the car because they were going too slow; the homeless person that you pass on the street and ignore, the birds and butterflies in the air and the people on the other end of the world are all connected to you in one way or another. I guess when Jesus referred to those He spoke to as a brother or a sister He knew exactly what he was saying. 


If my mom was right and I know that she was, and the Bible is right in saying that the spirit returns to God who gave it then I know that there very well may be a rainbow bridge or a little slice of heaven for all of our beloved animals. That is a comfort to know.


While we are here on this earth let us be kinder to each other, love one another, and take care of each other. It is what Jesus told us to do and after all, we are ALL brothers and sisters in Gods eyes and are all connected to Him with the magnificent silver cord that binds us all together.


Have a peaceful day,


Mare