nourishment

I’ve always found it rather tedious that my body requires food every few hours. Without it, my blood sugar gets low and I either feel sick or irritable, so it’s worth it to me to have something on hand, to be prepared in case I start to get hungry. I’ve wished that I could be like an animal that hibernates, and fill my stomach once every few days, or even once a day, so that I don’t have to deal with the chore of finding something to eat. Really, a good feast like Thanksgiving should last three or four days. And yet, we have to get up the next morning and eat again.

It occurred to me today that maybe Heavenly Father designed our bodies that way—for many reasons, I imagine—but to also teach us symbolically about the importance of regular and consistent nourishment. And here I refer to spiritual nourishment. As members of the church we’re told repeatedly that we must nourish our spirits daily. I wonder if part of my problem—this general dissatisfaction I feel about myself—has anything to do with that, or if it’s just my feelings of inadequacy. Even if I did take the time to nourish my spirit every day, would I feel “full?” Or would I still feel like what ever effort I was making wasn’t good enough?

And if malnourishment is part of the problem, maybe I would benefit from learning to recognize my spirit’s hunger pangs as well as I know my body’s.