Merry Christmas

Christmas 2007

I know Christmas 2007 is at an end.  Most people are getting ready to go back to work and school.  New Year's plans being made, lights coming down, trees put away (or mulched for you old fashioned real tree folks)...

I had a good time.  I had a nice couple of dives recently:

This year I put up lights:

A tree:

And baked apple pies:

More

But there is more to Christmas than lights, presents, trees, and dinners.  This is a dedicated time to celebrate when God invaded this planet with His plan of redeeming humans.  Angels made the announcement and told shepherds the good news.  By most accounts that was 2011 years ago.  (Using 4 B.C. as the date).  Since AD 29 or so, Christians have had the task of telling humans around them the good news.  Who did you tell today? Yesterday?  Last Week? 

If you told someone, great, if not, what was the reason?  Was it fear of persecution? War? Both of those are on the rise.  In fact, the number of Christians in the Middle East is on a very sharp decline.

It is still possible to find shops decorated for Christmas like this one in Iraq:

But do you see anything related to the true reason for the season? Perhaps this is the reason:

Several churches were bombed in Baghdad, and a priest in the northern city of Mosul was kidnapped and later found beheaded. This year, Sunni Arab militants began knocking on doors of Christians living in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood, demanding that they pay a "tax," convert to Islam or leave. In April and May alone, an estimated 500 families fled Dora. - Los Angeles Times

And it is no excuse to say that the end of the world is just about to happen.  The asteroid rocketing through space is headed to Mars, not Earth.  There is still time.  For those in the US, you have it easy:  an estimated 91% of households have a copy of the Bible.  All you have to do is live in such a way that they will read it (or hear it) and believe.  If nothing else, it now comes in pink:

Conclusion

This was not a chew-out session.  Rejoice with family and friends.  Enjoy the music of the season (I know I did).  Just don't forget what it is really about.

Merry Christmas!!

Under the Sea

I recently bought an underwater digital camera and here are the first images from it. More can be found at my Flickr site.

Fiery Surface

The sun shines a lot down here in the Caribbean, which heats up the water and allows the coral to thrive.

Sea Star

This sea star was right near the shore.

Going Down

This wasn't a scuba dive but just a skin dive

Cool Coral Shot

A little out of focus, still have to learn the camera!

Two Fish

I was trying to get more fish in this shot but most swam away.

Small School

This one was much better.

Fish Among the Coral

Well, it's time to go off and find some more!

Diving and Stars

Diving

I'm taking my PADI Open Water Diving course.  Today I was in the swimming pool doing my confined water dives.  I spent 6.5 hours at the pool.  Needless to say I am wearing after sun lotion.  But it should be worth it.  This week I'll do my open water dives.

Stars

I have always liked astronomy.  I'm still going to find a way to keep it up.  Perhaps I'll buy a telescope.  Anyway, here are two images I wanted to share. 

The first one is the M8 region.

And this next one is not really a photo of stars.  Almost everything in this image is a galaxy of stars.

If you like these images, you can view the astronomy picture of the day at APOD.