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The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms (Deu 33:27)   What happens at the Twilight of Life? In the last two weeks I have visited two rest-homes and have come away terrified. The old seem despised a nuisance a curiosity. In one home a 106 year old lady was wheeled out as if she were a museum piece to be ogled. In another a 96 year old shriveled in her bed was whispered about as if a specimen of pity.   These two cases were extreme to be sure but the old are different. Many avoid them. Many look at them as if they were a strange breed an oddity or had contracted a terrible disease. Others pity them beyond measure which in the end brings undue embarrassment and uneasiness.   All of this commotion about aged bodies. All of this attention because of years of wear and tear. All forgetting that everyone of us is headed to the same destiny if we should live so long.   Is the "Rest Home" something to be looked forward to or dreaded? Should I prepare for

Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John . (Luke 1.13.)   In this dramatic scene the angel Gabriel appears to Zacharias the priest who just happened to be offering sacrifices in the Holy of Holies for first and only time in his life. He had been randomly chosen. Gabriel relates a stunning bit of information. He tells him to rest easy because his prayer (singular) is going to be answered! Hurray! Elizabeth is going to become pregnant and have a son!   Wait a minute! Zacharias and Elizabeth were old. They had been married for decades. Yet the angel spoke as if the deal was done. In fact he names the baby and begins to share details about all of the things that John would accomplish. Did you notice the list?   ● He will be great before the Lord. ● he will be filled with the Holy Spirit ● he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord ● he will go before (the Christ) in the spirit and power of El

Tomorrow is the first day of Summer! Yay! However, the heat has been with us for a couple of days now. Today at this exact moment 7:17 PM Mid-Atlantic time on December 20 the temp here in Sorocaba is 24.5 degrees! That’s Celsius! Which translates to 85 Fahrenheit. Good stuff. Santa looks ridiculous in his fuzzy red suit. Dawn got a decorative tablecloth yesterday with Santa in a snow scene! The thing nearly melted in her hands. Needless to say Christmas below the equator is very different than what most of you are experiencing. Though the snow, reindeer, and sleigh motif is often seen you are also apt to see a palm tree with Christmas lights hanging from its fronds. Whether snow or hot sun the season is the same. It is Christmas. Churches put on plays, sing carols, have special services and dinners to remember Christ’s birth. Our church presented a Cantata in five different locations this past week. It was a homemade cantata, I think that they are often the best kind, about a littl