Advice for Growing old

 

We know that life is constantly changing and that nothing lasts forever. In many ways, this is a harsh and sad reality. Most of us find it hard to accept that we will grow old, that loved ones will pass on, and that children will grow up and leave home. You know the types of things that I am talking about. Sad but true!

Please read on, as I have good news for you. The Bible teaches that God made us with an eternal soul. The soul is the real person, the real you. Although the body ceases to live upon our physical death, the soul lives on. Many people don't believe this anymore. The late Stephen Hawking, a British Physicist and author, dismissed the notion of an afterlife in an interview in 2011 conducted by Ian Sample for The Guardian. In that interview, Hawking was discussing his views on consciousness, death, and the afterlife and said, 'I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers. That is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark'. 

The truly amazing Pelican

The sky is the domain of a great multitude of flying creatures that we call birds. One of the most remarkable birds is the Pelican. Found on every continent except Antarctica, there are eight living specimens. The smallest is the Brown Pelican with a wingspan of 2 to 2.3 metres (6ft 6in to 7ft 6in); whilst the largest is probably the Great White Pelican which has a wingspan of up to 3.6 metres (11ft 8in). Yet, relative to their size they are among the lightest of birds. On land they waddle but when they take off, they become airborne with only about five flaps of their wings. Flying majestically they are very clever at saving energy. As they pass over land they use ‘thermal updrafts’ to rise to over 4,200 metres (14,000ft). Then they glide for hundreds of metres/miles searching for suitable places to forage, breed or find another ‘thermal’. By this way the pelican can stay airborne for up to 24 hours. They have a fibrous layer deep in their breast muscles that holds the wings rigidly horizontal whilst they are aloft. A further means of travel is gliding along the crests of shallow waves in calm conditions, just above the surface, taking advantage of updrafts.