Episode 187: Hamburgers in Heaven and Eternal Eats

good guy. I had a conversation this past week with someone who wants to write a book about soul contracts coming to Earth and having everything happen the way it does so that we can learn, so that our soul can grow. I had a little bit of a problem with this. On one hand, I do think it may be comforting in tough times to say, well, maybe that

was a contract I made before I came here. But on the other hand, there's some really awful stuff that happens here on planet Earth, and to try to say my soul planned it, well, I just don't buy into that. Let me use a scenario talking about my dad. What took him out of this life is cancer, and he suffered terribly up until the end. It was not a pretty picture, and I would never want any person to pass that way. And I know maybe you have had a loved one die from cancer. It's awful to watch.

And I hold true to the feelings and the beliefs that the soul can leave the body before the body dies. I do hope that's the case when people are suffering. After his death, there were breakups and relationships within family members, and I hit an all time low as a human being. It was the worst time of my life. Did I have a soul contract with my dad? And my family members,

so that things went absolutely the way they did. Now, in that moment, if you were to tell me that this was a contract, I probably would have punched you in the face because nothing I could imagine could be so painful. Plus I hit a deep depression after that. Now many years later, looking back, had things not gone exactly the way they did, I wouldn't be here today

with you as host of shades of the afterlife. Had I not gone out looking for evidence of the afterlife and wanting to figure out why grief hurts so bad and makes people act in crazy ways, I would have never gone on to write my book We Don't Die, and to exploring all the different reasons to believe in the afterlife. I find it empowering now to say is it possible that before coming to this earth there was a plan in mind? And for me right now that

helps me. But for anyone going through a traumatic loss, you don't need to buy into someone telling you there was a soul contract, because honestly, bad things happen here on earth. Can we learn out of every experience, yes, Can we go on and make a difference with someone

else experiencing the same thing. Absolutely, we can. I don't know if it was the movie Bruce Almighty or Evan Almighty, but Morgan Freeman played God, and I remember in one example him saying that coming to earth, God doesn't give you courage, it gives you opportunities to be courageous. And that really stuck with me that maybe before we came to this life we wanted things like courage and compassion and generosity, so we aren't given those things, were given

those opportunities. So if you were to ask if I believed in soul contracts, I'd probably say no. More like I believe we came here with different things we wanted to get out of life, different values, and then we had different opportunities to make them happen. But like my family, it sure does help in the tough times because relationships still are not healed, and it's much easier for me to say, perhaps we made a deal in the before life that we would help out mankind during this lifetime

and this was the way to do it. A great friend once told me that relationships can be like circles. They can come apart at the bottom but then be joined back up at the top. Is it this life? Is it the afterlife. I'm not sure, but that all relationships have the opportunity to come back together. I often say that I don't think there's one truth for all mankind about life and the afterlife. So take what fits for you and empowers you and use that in your life.

If you like the sound of a soul plan, there's a great book by Robert Schwartz called Your Soul's Plan, Discovering the Real Meaning of the life you planned before you were born, And in it you'll find some pretty great stories of what people do and how they help others based on some terrible things they've gone through. Now back to my father. He was very religious. He went to church every day, and meanwhile his daughter me was

studying the afterlife. So you know, I was afraid to tell him because I've told some religious people before in my past about studying life after death, and they wanted to do interventions and they've prayed for me. But somewhere within me, it was important to tell my dad my truth, especially he was approaching the end of his life with cancer.

One day, I had that courage and I said, Dad, I want to talk to you about something, and I shared with him my fear of dying, and so many of the things that I had studied before he passed, asked even going to a weekend workshop to learn mediumship, and my dad looked at me, startled with those big brown eyes, a little concerned, but he listened. And in that moment, in my mind, I heard a man laughing, and I said, Dad, I'd like to tell you what

I'm feeling right now. I'm getting a picture in my mind of a yellow airplane, a piper cub with black lettering, and I feel like there's a man laughing, belly laughing, telling me to tell you that you were wrong, that he did get to bring his toys with him. And I repeated it for my dad and he just looked at me and his eyes started to fill with tears. My dad had a friend named Jim, and Jim had cancer.

My dad was a very close friend of his, and they'd go out bike riding or for a meal and they'd talk and Dad kept saying, Jim, you can beat this cancer. You can beat it, because in heaven you don't get to take your toys with you. Jim was a pilot and guess what his airplane looked like. It

was a piper cub yellow with black lettering. In that moment, my dad said, Sandra, tell me everything, and I proceeded to tell him all the wonderful things that I had learned up to that point, and he made me promise that I would write a book and that I would tell as many people as I could about the afterlife. Although Dad did pass, I feel very confident he still walks by my side, encouraging me. More mediums than not have told me some specific things about my dad being

close by, and that makes me smile. When Jim said we do get to bring our toys with us to the afterlife, it got me thinking about what else do we get to bring with us into the afterlife? And so on this episode, I want to talk about food in the afterlife. Yes, you heard me right. Food. If you've been on any diet any point of your life, you know it's a terrible feeling to be restricted and to have somebody tell you you can't have that. But what about when we cross over? So today we'll hear

some stories from mediums from a near death experiencer. You may even be surprised to know that many cultures believe in food in the afterlife, such as the ancient Egyptians packing snacks along with those people they mummified. Have you seen the movie Defending Your Life dated nineteen ninety one. Albert Brooks created and wrote the movie and stars in it along with Meryl Streep. It is my most favorite movie.

Within the movie, we learn that you can eat as much as you want without gaining weight, and of course, many scenes involve food. For me, I got put on my first diet when I was a kid. My doctor told my parents that if Sandra could grow a few inches taller and stay the same weight, that would be good for my health. Unfortunately, that started a fifty year battle with food. Here's something you might be interested in.

Six weeks ago, my buddy here that I live with my mom got very sick and we didn't realize it was because of high blood sugar, also known as diabetes. We watched a movie called Fat Fiction and learned just by changing your diet, many people had reduced or stopped medications for type two diabetes. In the past six weeks, we have gone from honestly eating whatever we want to the Mediterranean diet, high with good fats and proteins, lots of fruits and vegetables and limited the grain products, so

no breads or sweets. And in six weeks, not only have we both lost weight, but all of our cravings are gone, our minds are at rest, we are never hungry. She's reduced the medication she takes by half, and if she keeps going as she is now, in another couple of weeks, she may not need it at all. So check out that movie Fat Fiction if you have had any problem with losing weight or those constant cravings for food. Food really can be magic and medicine. It is said

that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. And look in the Bible there are many quotes about food being in heaven. Did you hear the joke about the couple that passed after years of eating healthy and exercising. Saint Peter meets them at the Pearly Gates and shows them the beautiful golf courses in the clubhouse with all you can eat buffets, and their mouths are salivating. The husband gives a stern look to his wife and says, if it wasn't for you and those darn brand muffins,

we'd have been here ten years ago. What about you when you transition. Are you looking forward to being in your perfect body, the perfect health, the perfect age. What would be on your buffet? Some people talk about last meals, but let's talk about meals and eternity, So we'll be right back with food in the afterlife. You're listening to Shades of the Afterlife on the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast AM Paranormal podcast Network.

but different. Here's a quick story. My friend Steve, his father died, but before he died, he was in a coma for a long time, hooked up to all kinds of tubes and contraptions. The week before he died, he opened his eyes. He lifted himself up in the bed, swung his legs around, and of course his adult children were really worried, saying, Dad, you can't get up. And he's looking into heaven. He's telling his children it's so beautiful over there, and they said, Dad, what can you see?

And this man not only saw heaven and the beautiful colors, he was naming people that were dead that he could see. There were even people he saw over there who had died when this man was in a coma, and he was never told about. And they said, what else can you see?

So I do think there's something special about owning a human body and certain things that we can experience with just that. Next medium, Matt Fraser's book is called We Never Die Secrets of the Afterlife, and he says, so many people have been asking me about heaven and it seems like this question almost always comes up. Do spirits eat? He says, this is actually a tricky one. There's not a simple yes or no answer, but maybe this story

will help clarify. I once did a reading for a family and their grandpa came through when he was alive. His ritual was to sit in his favorite recliner chair and eat cream, and that's exactly what he showed me. The family was surprised. Wait, people eat in heaven. People can eat, yes, but they don't have to. They often come through doing the things they loved in life. So it's not uncommon for me to see a chef cooking in the kitchen or a father drinking a cup of coffee.

It's important to know that just because food comes up in a reading, it doesn't mean that souls are eating three meals a day. They don't need food to survive. They're dead, after all, but they still take place in activities that represent their personalities and who they were in life. Do I think that spirits might occasionally pour themselves a glass of wine and enjoy it with other souls. I think they do, but it's more of a symbolic thing than an actual meal or drink. Food and drinks have

a whole different significance in heaven. Here's another story. The family came to me whose father had passed. Before he died, he was having a terrible time with food. He was on a feeding tube and couldn't stand the fact that he couldn't enjoy his favorite meals. He begged his family for a steak or a hamburger or some ice cream. They just couldn't give it to him, and he suffered

with those cravings for years until he passed away. When he came through in a reading, he was surrounded by food steak, mashed potatoes, hamburgers, and cheesecake, and he told me he gained back all the weight he had lost when he was ill. His family was so happy to see him back to his old self and enjoying the foods that he'd been denied when he was ill. When a loved one passes away, they want you to remember

them happy. This reading was very healing for the family and for the soul himself, because it replaced the image which they had of him being thin, hungry, and frustrated, with the image of him now being happy, healthy in heaven, surrounded by his favorite foods. Overall, spirits don't need the same things we need to survive because survival isn't an issue anymore. There are no hospitals or cemeteries in heaven.

If you see a family member jogging, showering, or eating a burger in heaven, that's just a way for them to come through to you. What you're seeing isn't really your loved one eating. The earthly activity they're showing you is a link to their old self and the personality they still have in heaven. This makes me think of Casper the Friendly Ghost. I love that cartoon. When I was a kid, and I remember when Casper's uncles were sitting at the table eating and the food was going

right through them. They didn't need the food, but they were still connected to the act of eating. That is from Matt Fraser's book We Never Die, Secrets of the Afterlife. In near death experiences and spiritually transformative experiences, people often see their loved ones. They get visions of heaven and come back with stories to tell and many insights about the afterlife. Kat Kerr is the author of Revealing Heaven and her word on food is that there is food in heaven. Let's listen to her story.

things that are on this earth. So in Heaven it's one of the main substances that things are built out of.

all know exactly what you like. It's prepared the way you like it. And how awesome is that. I've been to a bakery in Heaven where the cinnamon roll are the size of a dinner plate. I laugh about this sometimes because you see aromas in Heaven. I tell people in heaven, there's more than one dimension. Flowers look beautiful, they smell beautiful, you can touch them, but they also make music. But the food in heaven the aromas. You

literally can see the aromas. And if you ever try to walk by one of those bakeries in heaven and think you're going to escape not going inside, you are wrong. That aroma will actually come and capture you and carry you inside the bakeries. I've seen many different types of food, and this is the best news of all, especially for women. If you don't want to cook when you go home

to Heaven, you don't have to. You actually sit down at your table with all your friends, you say what you want, it appears on the place in front of you. Cook to perfection, you eat all you want. When you're done, it totally disappears. There is nothing to clean up. I really like that part of heaven. So don't think you're going to go up there and have nothing to do but sit on clouds and have angels drop grapes in your mouth. There's a lot more to eat in heaven

than grapes. And one of the reasons that is is because there are people who have gifts as chefs as people who like to grow vegetables, people who like to make things in the restaurant business, people who like to serve, and so you.

there's many forms of transportation in heaven. They have things I call space buses where a lot of people can ride on them. There's these things they called transport kiosk where you literally step into beams of light and seconds later, on the other side of heaven you step.

to that used for human mummies. First, the food was carefully cured with salt to remove moisture and prevent decay. This was a crucial step, as the Egyptians considered libations sacred. Next, the item was coated with a layer of fat, resin or beeswax, which safeguarded the food against environmental factors. Remember, the modern refrigeration as we know it wouldn't be invented

for another several millennia. After preservation, these snacks were carefully wrapped in bandages which held great divine significance connecting to the idea of resurrection. The offerings were placed in royal tombs and temples. This practice was part of burial rituals, ensuring the deceased had access to plenty of sustenance in the afterlife. In addition, the mummified foods served as a gesture of gratitude for the food that had nourished them

throughout their earthly existence. Are you getting hungry? It's time for a quick break. We'll be right back. You're listening to Shades of the Afterlife on the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast AM Paranormal podcast Network.

for a great discount. So check it out. You got nothing to lose. Paranormal Day dot Com.

his words. Here's a joke for you. A skeleton walks into a bar and says, give me a beer and a mop. Okay, let's continue our episode about food in the Afterlife with mister Eric, followed by a bit of reading from the book They Serve Bagels in Heaven.

If it was pleasing for one to have a banquet, to have so many people brought together over a good supper, then so be it. It is a memory and for pleasing foot all. When you place your tokens out for your dear boy, you are bringing into your awareness and know that he still exists. For my friend, it is

healing for yourself, but enjoyment for us. What will be more beneficial, my dear, even though you may not like the taste, is to say this is for you and to eat it yourself, because, my friend, it is the memory. It is the experience that involves your son. I know, my friend, many people place the devil's brew, and you know what I mean by the devil's brew. Alcohol always

brings out the little devil in everyone. So when one passes, they drink the devil's brew in memory and say this fund is for you, and they share in the memory of what it was like I myself was very fond of chestnuts, especially at Christmas time when they are roasted. It was mouth water into me then, and the memory

is still mouth water into me now. Now. If we are able to come back in visitation in a certain environment known as a seance, and become partially if not materialized, we are able to take an object and keep it within our consciousness. Or if we are to take the bite of the apple, we are able to experience a texture, We're able to experience the memory of the taste of it. It is not then ingested by ourselves, it is then

ingested within the bloodstream of the media arm. So there are times when we can eat under a physical seance, and there are other times that we can only share in memory. But what you are doing when you say to your son and your husband this is for you. You are telling them they are not forgotten. They are still very much loved. So was your son an expert in cooking or did it rest upon your shoulders?

other people who were able to look after us. We were in the point of wealth where we employed others to cook and to clean and to dress. And in our world now I am the one that cleans the shoes of others. I am the one that will take the scraps from the table. Because my friend, I wanted to have a new experience. My family have joined me and is still distance. Family is still living in your world, and I will see them again physically when they come to our side of life. I have not lost anyone.

I thank God that they have been part of my journey, and no one will ever separate me from their love again. So, my friend, if that is pleasing for you, and if it is your tradition, may I ask this of you. If it costs you coin, then do not do it. But if my words are pleasing for you, will you have a chestnut for myself.

knew one another. We did not have separation of language, we did not have the cruel imprisonment of time. Animals spoke to me, Trees seemed to answer back, and I realized that this is the reality. When I look at you, I see what I perceived to be a specter, a phantom, a ghost. You're not physically there. I can see you, but I can see through you, and I can see the truth you. But you look at me, and you may not see me. You may hear or fill my presence,

and it makes us film like were world's apart. But your world is a distant memory. My world is the reality. Your world is the reality, and my world seems to be your fantasy. If that is true, let us meet in the realms of fantasy. Let us speak together in this moment. As I reflect upon the past, you speak with the future. Not the future of your world, but the future of where you're going. I survive death, and

so will you. You will move from your residence to our residence, and you will fill the best you have ever felt. And you will look back on your life, and you will look at the title of death, and you will say, what was all the fuss about. It was living that was difficult, and you will survive, and you will thrive and you will be strong.

part of her book. So here's Irene.

any of this. My husband and I we were traditional Jewish people. So there's a tradition that you visit a gravesite, you put a stone on the grave, you say some peers. I didn't know if anyone heard me or what was going on. I followed my tradition, and one day I was standing at my kitchen sink washing a.

He woke up and he saw what was happening, and he went to pull the car out of the swerve. We were going seventy two miles an hour, and when he went to pull the car out of the swerve, instead of writing itself, the car started to rise up into the air for the first of fourth lips. And as we rose the first time, everything was landing very

hard on the right side. So as a consequence, I was conscious through everything, but all my injuries I had forced operations were all on my right side because every time the car hit something got hurt. But as we lift it off the first time and landed and bound so hard that we looked it off a second time, a third time, and a fourth time. The second time, another message came into my head and it said, he's

not going to make it. You are now I'm flipping up in the air and I get this message, and for that period of time and that flip I left my body.

entire beautiful spirit was gone. And before grieving set in or anything like that, I got in that.

by my shoulders through the window of my car. And at that moment, I get a message in a male voice that boom into my head and it says, be loving and kind to everyone, like a directive. As they laid me on the side of the road. When they took me from the helicopter into the trauma center, the surgeon comes over to me and he says to me,

I have to tell you that your husband's gone. And I felt like Saul was right there, and I said, doc, I am the luckiest woman in the world that I had this man in my life.

heart that her husband saw lived on. Irene Weinberg's book is titled They Serve Bagels in Heaven. One couple's story of love, eternity and the cosmic importance of everyday life. Now, one of the mediums she visited was able to channel Saul and bring through his words from him in the afterlife, again giving evidence that no one else could possibly know. So I'd like to read this part of him arriving in heaven and the part about the bagels. I think my soul left even before my body died. The pain

of living had become such a burden. In the sudden moment filled me with profound relief. The last earthly recollection is driving and then this immense loosening and lightning for an instant anyway, then Irene called out my name, pulling me far enough back into my body so I could handle this accident in a way that made sure she lived through it. That was my final gut instinct to steer the car so the accident would be the least destructive to her, and to make sure no one else

would be harmed. I also knew in every fiber of my being this absolutely would be the last time I would hear her call my name. After the accident, I left my body and I was outside the car. From where I stood, I could see my body slumped over the steering wheel. Even though I knew something awful had happened. All I could focus on was Irene. Was she all right? Was she going to live? As I looked around for help, I began to realize that while I was seeing, hearing,

and thinking, I had no body. But there wasn't time to process this wacky thought, because Irene was in mortal danger. If I had any faculties left at all, I was going to use them to help her. Despite my concern, it dawned on me that my wife, the car, and the bare winter trees weren't all I could see. Surrounding Irene was a brilliant emerald and blue light that extended to the growing number of people who had stopped to help. It permeated each and every one of them with a

magnificent purple light. More than the beauty and wonder of this light was that it held within it angels, honest to God, angels. In that instant, I understood they were there to protect us, all of us, Before they helped me cross over. My knowing, somehow came through the intensity of the radiance in which which they held me. The warmth and strength of that radiance reassured me, helping me accept the fact that my life force. My bodyless soul

was now safely cocooned in love and light. My angels steadied me as they showed me in a devastating flash, all of the hours and days, months and even years that lay ahead for Irene without me. I saw how she would eventually blossom into a new life, and in the end I would be there to greet her in heaven. With this image before me, I could see why our love would never die, that the cord would keep us connected even all the way from Earth to heaven. My

mother was waiting for me with open arms. I hadn't seen her since she had died when I was sixteen, and I had missed her every day of my life. Now Here she stood for me to hug and hold again. I imagine it took all of the concentration and she could muster to shape her soul fibers back into her old physical being. My wonderful, loving mom even managed to manifest her favorite house stress and hairdo just for me. She helped me in a soul embrace, a communion really

of our conscious senses of each other's being. I have never had such a warm, accepting welcome, not anywhere her warmth and kindness steadied me, preparing me to meet my angels and stand before my loving source. After we hugged for what felt like forever, my angels led us to a deli where we had coffee and bagels. Imagine what a shock that was to realize I had traveled god knows how far from the only life I could remember, to discover that, even up in heaven, I could still

get a cup of coffee and a bagel. Yes, the memory of all the times I'd shared food with my mother steadied me further. I began to feel enough like my old self to start laughing with her and teasing her all the ways I used to. She had always been so serious, so worried about my father, and that teasing had always been a way for us to comfort each other. I felt deeply grateful for her as I began to face this new passage in my life. I'll stop right there. But that's from the book. They serve

bagels in Heaven. It is very heartfelt, touching, even funny, these stories between Irene and Saul. I think we might be in agreement that there is food in the afterlife and a lot of other pleasures. But while we're here on Earth. Let's all do our best to be present in the moment, enjoy each one of our five senses the best we can with our physical body. Don't forget to come visit me atweedotdie dot com. Join me for one of our free Sunday gatherings with medium demonstration included.

I'm Sandra Champlain. Thank you so much for listening to Shades of the Afterlife on the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network.