Eternal Family Relationships

[_Fence Sitter]

This seems to be a huge selling point with us as LDS but it is a concept I don't really understand.

Here are some questions I have with regarding the LDS eternal family concept.

1. I don't think any of us conceptualize eternity in either of its manifestations. Either as an endless progression of time or as some sort of existence outside of time. Not understanding what either of those concepts involve means we don't really know what it means to 'live' eternally with anyone or what eternal marriage actually is.

2. As LDS we existed before this life as individuals for a REALLY long time (or maybe it was outside of time), I assume we are going to get all those memories back and I also assume that the short 70 years we have lived here will suddenly look like the blink in time it really is, yet for some reason this blink in time determines who we want to dwell with for eternity instead of those previous memories. This does not make much sense to me.

3. I have been married for over 30 years. I have been blessed with both a loving spouse and 5 great sons. I also have a large extended active LDS family with whom I get along with very well. Both my parents are still alive and living active faithful LDS lives. I would not change much about my life. (Except the size of my bank account maybe.) All that said, as I look back over this short time period and realize that all those relationships have been very dynamic. At times I am closer to my wife than others. Sometimes I communicate a lot with my parents and others not. The point I am making is in a short period of time relationships change (I think that is both a positive and negative). Why do we assume that being together for eternity is even going to be a good thing after a few hundred thousand years?

4. What are we going to be doing for eternity that is so important that we be doing it together as a family? I think for the truly faithful the reward is the ability to procreate and organize more worlds. I have raised five sons. I loved it, I love seeing my grand kids but life moves on. I don't picture eternal fatherhood as a reward. I don't see creating my 700 billionth world as something to look forward to. It seems to me at some point, maybe in a few hundred thousand years or a few billion, that it will just be another world with a few hundred billion children who treat each other horribly to look after. This whole endless creation concept seems to look like one long unending Stepford wives saga.

5. Supposedly we are all God's children. Why do we believe that it is more important to be around those we have got to know well in this short time span then any of the rest of his children?

6. My mother-in-law was a piece of work. Abusive and an alcoholic who treated her family very badly at times. After she passed away her daughters had her sealed to them. I asked why they wanted to be sealed to her given how she treated them. They have this concept that all her bad personality traits will go away and she be this wonderful person to be with in the here after, which to me means she is not the same person. I like some of my faults and I even liked some of my mother-in-laws faults some of the time. This concept of one big happy family is troublesome and frankly boring. That which makes us different is important, sometime difficult but important none the less.

[_just me]

I don't want to be a mom for eternity. *cries* Sounds like hell to me. So, I agree with you on that point.

[_harmony]

I don't want to be a mom for eternity. *cries* Sounds like hell to me. So, I agree with you on that point.

I don't mind the idea of being mom for eternity... mom to the children I have now.

I object to popping out babies for eternity though. If that's all I'm good for in the CK, then I'm not going there (not that there was any worry about that anyway...)

[_Fence Sitter]

I don't want to be a mom for eternity. *cries* Sounds like hell to me. So, I agree with you on that point.

I don't mind the idea of being mom for eternity... mom to the children I have now.

I object to popping out babies for eternity though. If that's all I'm good for in the CK, then I'm not going there (not that there was any worry about that anyway...)

I have adult children now and have watched them grow into mature capable independent people. I can't imagine that 500 years from now or 500 million years from now, that the 25 -50 years I spend here as a parent of them will mean anything in our relationship. I think that kind of belief is a great indication of how little we comprehend what eternal or eternity actually means.

[_stemelbow]

The binding throughout eternity to me is more about relationships then anything. The beginning of that is binding on earth, family relationships. But eternally all will be so bound. Love is the key ingredient to it all. Binding means nothing wihtout it. Simply put, this is my take. It will be glorious. Families forever is merely the beginning that sounds good to ears here. It'll be far beyond that.

[_just me]

I don't want to be a mom for eternity. *cries* Sounds like hell to me. So, I agree with you on that point.

I don't mind the idea of being mom for eternity... mom to the children I have now.

I object to popping out babies for eternity though. If that's all I'm good for in the CK, then I'm not going there (not that there was any worry about that anyway...)

Yeah, that's what I meant.

[_Fence Sitter]

The binding throughout eternity to me is more about relationships then anything. The beginning of that is binding on earth, family relationships. But eternally all will be so bound. Love is the key ingredient to it all. Binding means nothing wihtout it. Simply put, this is my take. It will be glorious. Families forever is merely the beginning that sounds good to ears here. It'll be far beyond that.

What will make it glorious and can you explain a bit more what you mean by "It'll be far beyond that"?

[_stemelbow]

What will make it glorious and can you expound more on "It'll be far beyond that"?

For me my greatest joys in life are the relationships I have with people, or results of those relationships. I try to imagine that multiplied by 10 and its tough, so I say far beyond that.

What makes being full of love for each other glorious? I believe others here have contested that it won't be so nice if everyone just plain loves each other, but I can't imagine why they assume that. I think it will be glorious. I guess if people assume such love, sans enmity and hate, is not glorious, i can't help.

[_just me]

What will make it glorious and can you expound more on "It'll be far beyond that"?

For me my greatest joys in life are the relationships I have with people, or results of those relationships. I try to imagine that multiplied by 10 and its tough, so I say far beyond that.

What makes being full of love for each other glorious? I believe others here have contested that it won't be so nice if everyone just plain loves each other, but I can't imagine why they assume that. I think it will be glorious. I guess if people assume such love, sans enmity and hate, is not glorious, i can't help.

I wonder why the post-mortal existence will be so different from the pre. I wonder why opposition is necessary in all things but then it won't be. It would mean opposition is not an eternal principle.
Hmmm. Something to think about.

We really don't know anything about the post-mortal life. Everything is speculation.

[_Some Schmo]

The main problem I see with this eternal family concept is that, because we're all related if you go back far enough, all of humanity is one big family. That means we'll all end up in the same place.

Try getting the bathroom first thing in the morning in that situation. Doesn't sound like heaven to me.