Santa Claus around the World

Sung Tan Chuk Ha

(Merry Christmas in Korean)

decorating the Cheonggyecheon stream,

Seoul, South Korea

http://www.nydailynews.com/

I have had a little fun this morning checking out pictures of Christmas

and Santa Claus from around the world.

I found a very nice picture stream at

http://www.nydailynews.com/

Here is another fun picture from Seoul, South Korea

with 2 divers in the Coex Aquarium having a bit of Santa Fun -

yep, those are Santa scuba diver outfits!

Here is a die-hard water ski fanatic,

Maryland National Harbor, Maryland, USA

nydailynews

Evidently some people cannot celebrate Christmas

without getting extremely cold and/or wet!

(I do not count myself in their group! Give me a nice warm fire....)

These popsicles are in the frozen Oranke Lake, Berlin, Germany.

They belong to an ice swim club "Seehunde Berlin".

and yes....that looks like a Mrs. Claus bikini to me!

Another waterlogged Santa:

feeding a sea turtle in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Although it IS nice to remember God's creatures on the special event

of God's gift to us - Jesus Christ.

"Woodland Santa"

A wonderful painting by one of my absolute faves -

Scott Gustafson.

You can find his incredible paintings at http://www.scottgustafson.com/

Why not try your hand at drawing Santa Claus?

Thanks to Dover Publications for sharing!

I'm sure you all know that 'Santa Claus' is called many different names

throughout the world.

In many Eastern European countries,

he is called "Grandfather Frost"

and is accompanied by the "Snow Maiden".

Grandfather Frost (Ded Moroz) and the Snow Maiden (Snegurochka)

Minsk, Belarus

a Russian Saint Nicholas

Here is a traditional (to the USA) Santa Claus,

enjoying some extreme skiing -

Tim Lawler dressed as Santa Claus

Crested Butte, Colorado, USA

That's close to my stomping grounds!

a Palestinian boy lights a candle at Christmas Eve mass,

Gaza City, Palestinian territories

It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas,

When it’s mighty Founder was a child Himself.”

--Charles Dickens

Jirasartwitthay elementary school -

Ayutthaya, Thailand

I have enjoyed this bit of international Santa Claus

and I have much more to share, later!

Have a great day,

and buy a small present for someone you don't usually give a gift to!

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

http://www.inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com/

A mahout with his elephant at

Peace, G-d, a little Hebrew and International favorites

Hasiti

(There is a little 'tent' over both 'i's, but my program doesn't allow me to type those.

Sorry.)

'Hasiti' is Kurdish for

PEACE

So much unrest, cruelty and disunity around the world these last months.

Floods, droughts, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes.

If I did not believe that God has a plan,

and that He is ultimately in control

I would be very depressed.

Fortunately, God left me His Word - His plan for my life, and for yours -

in the Holy Bible.

The Bible has been translated into hundreds of languages,

so for certain I am not getting into any discussions about

'which translation is correct'.

As long as the translation is originated- and keeps the spirit and meanings of-
the original documents, then I am happy.

And I think, so is God.

hackeyscott on http://www.deviantart.com/

I had some questions about an earlier blog, where I used

G-d to represent the word 'God'.

First, the capitalization:

I believe there is only one true God, and that He is

'God over all other gods'.

See the difference in meaning there?

Just as Jesus is mentioned as 'Lord over all other lords'.

The capital letter (G or L) shows the 'top boss' so to speak!

'Earth in Hands'

Second, the missing vowel:

In the original, ancient language that the earliest Words of God were written,

there was no word for 'God' as we use it today.
In ancient biblical Hebrew, the closest English equivalent is
YHVH {called the tetragrammaton}.

Biblical Hebrew contains no vowels, so we don't know for sure how the name of
GOD was pronounced.

YHVH means "I AM"

Some scholars believe the pronunciation to have been
"Yahweh"
but this is only an educated guess.

Jews have traditionally believed that it is wrong to mention God's name and will not do so.
It is in extreme respect for God that He was so holy- that He did not have a name that we, as unholy peoples, could say aloud much less write down.

Some people call it "the Name that cannot be spoken"

or

"the Name above all other names".
Very Orthodox Jews, even when writing in other languages,
will leave out the vowels.
In English, "God" will be written
"G-d". 

As a result, many Jewish people (G-d's chosen people) would be offended if I were to write the word "God", as this is disrespectful.

As a "goyim" (Gentile, non-Jewish person)

 you will find that I vary between

God and G-d.

I want to thank Mrs. M. Walker for her kind response to my questions.

www.jewsforjesus.org

An ancient document written in Hebrew on papyrus. Dated around 100A.D.

And now for something competely different!

I do hope all of you have been at least introduced to

"Fawlty Towers", a British comedy series.

This is John Cleese in one of the programs.

He is so hilarious, and his superb crew backs him up perfectly!

Or sets him up perfectly I should say...

In case you missed this from an earlier blog,

Here is Phil Keaggy playing a wonderful song with guitar and vocals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27GUZsrhxJ8&feature=related

Such an incredible talent.

c.1919

Oman Bedouin woman casting vote in the state of Bidiya, east of Muscat.

Pakistani boy, 10/2011

Thanks to my Pakistani readers!

Minsk, capitol of Belarusia, 10/2011

Well, the day keeps getting later, so I need to post this

before it is tomorrow!

:0)

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

"Camera Savvy"

original Collage Art Doll by inkspired