Eating And Sleeping... Forever And Ever

[Ahab]

I just had a thought the other day about how our bodies now need a certain amount and type of food, and also a certain amount and type of rest, for us to be able to function well. I mean, we really need it, and without it we could literally die.

Normally I just enjoy eating and sleeping, when I do, and don't really think about how much I need to eat and sleep.

But at that moment I also realized we're going to continue to eat and sleep forever, even after we die and are resurrected. Adam slept and ate in the garden of Eden before he (and Eve) fell to become mortal, and our Lord ate after he was resurrected, for example.

Has that thought hit other people here, besides me? Don't you think it seems at least a little bit strange? Have you thought about needing or at least wanting to have a bedroom in your eternal home in heaven, and also a kitchen? With spices and herbs and stuff to actually bake or cook some meals instead of eating every food for a meal raw?

Now I'm wondering why we don't put a bedroom with a nice bed ib each temple we build so our Lord can sleep there when he comes for a visit. I mean exclusively for our Lord to sleep in. I know he can travel through space but does he have to go back to his own house in heaven to sleep, and eat?

I'm just trying to imagine how I would set things up if or when I am in his situation, as a resurrected being.

I'm also thinking I may need to do some other things to keep my body in good shape, like exercising. But surely a resurrected body will be an upgrade, don't cha think? I really don't want to think of needing to run on a treadmill forever to stay in good shape.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone else out there has had any of these ideas, besides me. And maybe some other insights along the same line?

[thesometimesaint]

I have no idea as to if we actually need to eat and sleep in order to stay "alive" in Heaven. Those could well be a voluntary but unnecessary activities.

[3DOP]

Could one starve to death, or suffer sleep deprivation in the glorified body? If so, it would seem necessary that the glorified eat and sleep. 

 

Christ surely ate food after His Resurrection. Was it because He needed it for its nutritive value? I would argue that the purpose was not to supply Himself with the strength necessary for maintaining human life, but to prove to the disciples that He was still in the body. He was not merely a spirit. He was proving bodily resurrection in this way. It would appear as sometimesaint suggests that eating and sleeping might be "voluntary but unnecessary activities". I would be uncomfortable with proposing the necessity of eating and sleeping. Does Heavenly Father sleep or is He ever watchful? This question is for the LDS, because He would have a glorified body prototypical to your own, right?        

Edited September 16, 2014 by 3DOP

[Jeanne]

My very devout cousin and best friend came up with this comment many moons ago.."who wants to live for ever and ever and ever and ever..it's so boring!"  She is the most loving and TBM I know and yet she hopes there is surely something more to the whole thing..planets and everything just doesn't cut it.

[VideoGameJunkie]

I don't think there will be tiredness in heaven or hunger, but God did rest after the world was created. What that rest means I don't know. But if we are to keep a watchful eye on our posterity at all times, how rude of us to be sleeping during their times of need.

[JLHPROF]

I just had a thought the other day about how our bodies now need a certain amount and type of food, and also a certain amount and type of rest, for us to be able to function well. I mean, we really need it, and without it we could literally die.

Normally I just enjoy eating and sleeping, when I do, and don't really think about how much I need to eat and sleep.

But at that moment I also realized we're going to continue to eat and sleep forever, even after we die and are resurrected. Adam slept and ate in the garden of Eden before he (and Eve) fell to become mortal, and our Lord ate after he was resurrected, for example.

Has that thought hit other people here, besides me? Don't you think it seems at least a little bit strange? Have you thought about needing or at least wanting to have a bedroom in your eternal home in heaven, and also a kitchen? With spices and herbs and stuff to actually bake or cook some meals instead of eating every food for a meal raw?

Now I'm wondering why we don't put a bedroom with a nice bed ib each temple we build so our Lord can sleep there when he comes for a visit. I mean exclusively for our Lord to sleep in. I know he can travel through space but does he have to go back to his own house in heaven to sleep, and eat?

I'm just trying to imagine how I would set things up if or when I am in his situation, as a resurrected being.

I'm also thinking I may need to do some other things to keep my body in good shape, like exercising. But surely a resurrected body will be an upgrade, don't cha think? I really don't want to think of needing to run on a treadmill forever to stay in good shape.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone else out there has had any of these ideas, besides me. And maybe some other insights along the same line?

 

I think we will be able to eat and sleep.  I don't think they will be necessary for our bodies.

[Ahab]

The thing is, what is it about ourselves now, with our body and spirit combined, that makes us need to eat and sleep? What are we "re-charging"? What part of us is the "life" of our body?

We know that without our spirit our body is dead, which suggests to me that our spirit is what we are recharging when we go to sleep for a while. Our body still functions, with our brain still active and our heart still pumping and our lungs still drawing breath while we sleep. It is only when our spirit leaves our body that we die a mortal death, and until then our body keeps working all of the time. So sleep seems to be sonething for our spirit, rather than our body.

And eating too. When we don't eat enough our spirit leaves our body, so what does eating food actually do? What does it recharge? If you think eating and digesting food only benefits our body why does our spirit leave our body when we don't eat enough? Seems to me like our spirit should be able to stay in our body if it can continue to live without any food.

[halconero]

Could one starve to death, or suffer sleep deprivation in the glorified body? If so, it would seem necessary that the glorified eat and sleep. 

 

Christ surely ate food after His Resurrection. Was it because He needed it for its nutritive value? I would argue that the purpose was not to supply Himself with the strength necessary for maintaining human life, but to prove to the disciples that He was still in the body. He was not merely a spirit. He was proving bodily resurrection in this way. It would appear as sometimesaint suggests that eating and sleeping might be "voluntary but unnecessary activities". I would be uncomfortable with proposing the necessity of eating and sleeping. Does Heavenly Father sleep or is He ever watchful? This question is for the LDS, because He would have a glorified body prototypical to your own, right?        

 

Mhm, I believe that the portrayal of these incidents was a direct reference to docetism, a belief among some early Christian sects that Jesus' body was just an illusion and that the crucifixion was not real. Don't mistake me for saying that the account where Jesus ate after his resurrection never occurred. I'm just arguing that a seemingly mundane event such as eating and cooking has a very strong doctrinal reason for being one of the recorded events of Jesus' life.

[ksfisher]

The thing is, what is it about ourselves now, with our body and spirit combined, that makes us need to eat and sleep? What are we "re-charging"? What part of us is the "life" of our body?

We know that without our spirit our body is dead, which suggests to me that our spirit is what we are recharging when we go to sleep for a while. Our body still functions, with our brain still active and our heart still pumping and our lungs still drawing breath while we sleep. It is only when our spirit leaves our body that we die a mortal death, and until then our body keeps working all of the time. So sleep seems to be sonething for our spirit, rather than our body.

And eating too. When we don't eat enough our spirit leaves our body, so what does eating food actually do? What does it recharge? If you think eating and digesting food only benefits our body why does our spirit leave our body when we don't eat enough? Seems to me like our spirit should be able to stay in our body if it can continue to live without any food.

 

I think that you're speculating a lot about things that you don't really understand.  Sleep, for example, is very much required to keep your mind and body functioning properly.  You would, in fact, eventually die if you were not able to sleep.  And while the brain does continue to function while you sleep, a sleeping brain is very different from an awake brain.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/articles/whatissleep.shtml

[mnn727]

Now I'm wondering why we don't put a bedroom with a nice bed ib each temple we build so our Lord can sleep there when he comes for a visit.

Ever been into the upper rooms of the SLC Temple?

[Kenngo1969]

My very devout cousin and best friend came up with this comment many moons ago.."who wants to live for ever and ever and ever and ever..it's so boring!"  She is the most loving and TBM I know and yet she hopes there is surely something more to the whole thing..planets and everything just doesn't cut it.

I guess that just goes to show, some of the people, you can't please none of the time.  Would she prefer to play harps and sing praises, all day every day?  (Not that such activities wouldn't glorify God, or that He doesn't deserve them, but still ...)

[Jeanne]

I guess that just goes to show, some of the people, you can't please none of the time.  Would she prefer to play harps and sing praises, all day every day?  (Not that such activities wouldn't glorify God, or that He doesn't deserve them, but still ...)

Actually, I am smiling..she just wants a break from living and be aware of it.  Impossible..but sounds good sometimes!  Like being aware of the best deep sleep ever.

[Ahab]

I think that you're speculating a lot about things that you don't really understand.

Uh, yeah, a little. Thinking and expressing my thoughts while asking questions usually helps me to get answers from others, even from God.

Sleep, for example, is very much required to keep your mind and body functioning properly. You would, in fact, eventually die if you were not able to sleep. And while the brain does continue to function while you sleep, a sleeping brain is very different from an awake brain.

I realize that, but since our spirit is and will always be able to think and see and hear and function even after we die, when separated from our body, I'm wondering why it leaves our body when we don't get enough sleep or food.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/articles/whatissleep.shtml

If only science could account for how and why our spirit interacts with our body the way it does now and will into the future. Edited September 16, 2014 by Ahab

[Calm]

I like the idea that we will be able to absorb energy through our skin…and if our spirits are tied to our body in a different way after resurrection perhaps a different form of spiritual energy will also be able to be used for fueling our physical nature as well (our physical nature after all will no longer be the nature we have here but something perhaps of a hybrid of spiritual and physical).

 

Eating now requires the cessation of something living, we absorb living matter and break it down to receive the energy it stores.  The question is if this will be acceptable or not…if all things have a spirit, then are not all things living in a sense.

 

I like the idea of being able to eat because eating is fun but I wonder just how it fits into a eternal life surrounded by things of an eternal nature when eating in this life is fundamentally about death and rebirth as something quite different.

[Buzzard]

My concern is where to get nice steaks and tasty bacon, since there won't be death any more. 

To the extent that they don't devolve into gluttony and laziness, eating and sleeping can be wonderful, pleasurable activities. No reason why a resurrected being, or even an exalted one, can't enjoy him or herself.

I for one, am glad the God was walking in the Garden during the cool of the day.  There are a lot of hiking trails I never made it to in this life, I suspect I will discover more in eternity. 

[JLHPROF]

My concern is where to get nice steaks and tasty bacon, since there won't be death any more. 

To the extent that they don't devolve into gluttony and laziness, eating and sleeping can be wonderful, pleasurable activities. No reason why a resurrected being, or even an exalted one, can't enjoy him or herself.

I for one, am glad the God was walking in the Garden during the cool of the day.  There are a lot of hiking trails I never made it to in this life, I suspect I will discover more in eternity. 

 

Seriously - I mean, cool of the day, in Missouri?  It must have been November.

[Jeanne]

Forget being a Priestess, I aim to collect recipes the whole time!

[ksfisher]

Uh, yeah, a little. Thinking and expressing my thoughts while asking questions usually helps me to get answers from others, even from God.

I realize that, but since our spirit is and will always be able to think and see and hear and function even after we die, when separated from our body, I'm wondering why it leaves our body when we don't get enough sleep or food.

If only science could account for how and why our spirit interacts with our body the way it does now and will into the future.

 

The spirit leaves your body when you don't get enough sleep or food because your body is dead.

[cursor]

Hey, worry about the now ... not the later

Eat high quality (natural) foods,

Eat enough to responsibly support your physical activity,

DO physical activity, in a constructive way.

Never claim that fat gain is the natural result of growing older.

Some activities can offset poor eating (statistically).

 

The best bet is to own responsibility for your own body.

 

Sleep, as required to support your daily activity. T'ain't that hard ... really.

[Ahab]

The spirit leaves your body when you don't get enough sleep or food because your body is dead.

You're missing the point. I'm thinking of our spirit as the life of our body. It is us. It's what gives life to our body. And it is eternal. Like a battery that just keeps going and going and going.

So now I'm wondering why we need food and sleep. We/our spirit won't and doesn't cease to live after we die. So why does it leave our body just because of not eating enough or not sleeping enough? My conclusion so far is that our spirit needs the food and the sleep we give our body, and that without enough fuel/energy from food and rest from sleeping our spirit just bails out because the body isn't sustaining it (the spirit). As if the energy within our eternal spirit can not sustain our body on its own eternal energy except for only a short time, with food and sleep giving our spirit more energy to stay with us.

It's just really amazing to me that our spirit doesn't sustain our mortal body by it's own eternal life energy.

Edited September 16, 2014 by Ahab

[Ahab]

I like the idea that we will be able to absorb energy through our skin…and if our spirits are tied to our body in a different way after resurrection perhaps a different form of spiritual energy will also be able to be used for fueling our physical nature as well (our physical nature after all will no longer be the nature we have here but something perhaps of a hybrid of spiritual and physical).

Eating now requires the cessation of something living, we absorb living matter and break it down to receive the energy it stores. The question is if this will be acceptable or not…if all things have a spirit, then are not all things living in a sense.

I like the idea of being able to eat because eating is fun but I wonder just how it fits into a eternal life surrounded by things of an eternal nature when eating in this life is fundamentally about death and rebirth as something quite different.

Yeah I hope we'll see it is good to eat more than just the fruit from trees and bushes, and the fact that our Lord ate some fish after his resurrection gives me some hope that we will. Maybe we'll just have to go to other planets where some critters still die when we're in the mood for barbeque. But then again, I'm sure our Lord didn't waste the meat from the animals he used to make some leather/skin clothes for Adam and Eve.

[3DOP]

Mhm, I believe that the portrayal of these incidents was a direct reference to docetism, a belief among some early Christian sects that Jesus' body was just an illusion and that the crucifixion was not real. Don't mistake me for saying that the account where Jesus ate after his resurrection never occurred. I'm just arguing that a seemingly mundane event such as eating and cooking has a very strong doctrinal reason for being one of the recorded events of Jesus' life.

 

I sure hope I didn't say anything that would seem to be contrary. As a matter of fact I am in agreement.

[The Nehor]

My concern is where to get nice steaks and tasty bacon, since there won't be death any more. 

 

My first project upon being exalted is to design a tree that grows steak. Every time I bring this up in Church I get many volunteers willing to assist in the project.

 

In response to the OP I don't see why Adam sleeping necessarily means resurrected beings sleep. The body type is not identical.

 

I expect we can eat and sleep if we choose. I doubt it is mandatory. One of the things about heaven is that it is not regimented. People sleep or eat as they choose. If people find pleasure in them they can enjoy them. It may be that there are pleasures that make these things fade into insignificance. Perhaps sleeping and dreaming is a nostalgia thing the Gods enjoy every so often if they wish. In the same way I doubt spirit beings are created through sex and it may not be necessary but many couples will enjoy it I am sure....even if there are better things there as well.

 

As C.S. Lewis said:

 

If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and to earnestly hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I suggest that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

 

 

And to quote his devil Screwtape:

 

He’s (God) a hedonist at heart. All those fasts and vigils and stakes and crosses are only a facade. Or only like foam on the sea shore. Out at sea, out in His sea, there is pleasure, and more pleasure. He makes no secret of it; at His right hand are ‘pleasures for evermore.’

 

Ugh! I don’t think He has the least inkling of that high and austere mystery to which we rise in the Miserific Vision. He’s vulgar, Wormwood. He has a bourgeois mind. He has filled His world full of pleasures.

 

There are things for humans to do all day long without His minding in the least– sleeping, washing, eating, drinking, making love, playing, praying, working. Everything has to be twisted before it’s any use to us. We fight under cruel disadvantages. Nothing is naturally on our side.

[VideoGameJunkie]

I hope we don't have to sleep. I feel we won't tire so why sleep? We can spend eternity awake and doing our heavenly work. Then again, we will have mansions, and I assume they'll be like houses. How often we'll be in our mansions I don't know, since exalted beings spend their time on thrones or whatever the heavenly symbolism of a throne is. Don't you believe God is alert 24/7 whenever we need His help, or do you actually think He might be sleeping when we pray to Him at 3AM?

[The Nehor]

I hope we don't have to sleep. I feel we won't tire so why sleep? We can spend eternity awake and doing our heavenly work. Then again, we will have mansions, and I assume they'll be like houses. How often we'll be in our mansions I don't know, since exalted beings spend their time on thrones or whatever the heavenly symbolism of a throne is. Don't you believe God is alert 24/7 whenever we need His help, or do you actually think He might be sleeping when we pray to Him at 3AM?

 

Because sleep and dreaming are fun. As to God sleeping I expect that He can sleep and answer prayers at the same time as God is not in time the same way we are.