Saturday, March 28, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Fighting the Dragon
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Five Europeans rescued Saturday after an Indonesia diving trip went wrong had to fight off a Komodo dragon while they were waiting to be found, according to reports.
The group was found at Mantaolan, on the island of Rinca off the Komodo National Park, after going missing Thursday.
The divers -- three Britons, a Frenchman and a Swede -- spent two nights on the deserted island, which is home to the large Komodo dragon, before rangers found them Saturday.
Frenchman Laurent Pinel, 31, said the group had to fight off one dragon with rocks and scavenged for shellfish as they waited to be rescued, Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.
"On the beach a Komodo dragon came amongst us [Friday] afternoon," Pinel said, describing how the group had to pelt the dangerous reptile with rocks to scare it away.
"We had nothing to eat. We ate some kind of mussels scraped from the rocks," Pinel told the newspaper.
The husband of one of the other divers said he was told they were in good condition, although dehydrated.
"I'm just so relieved," said Mats Kohler, husband of Helena Neva Lainen. They are both from Sweden.
An official said they were being taken to a hospital for examination.
Searchers using boats located the missing divers at 11 a.m. Saturday (11 p.m. ET Friday), the official said.
They arrived at a hospital in Labuan Bajo, on the western tip of the island of Flores, about two hours later, an official said.
They were one of two groups of divers who entered the water off Komodo National Park on Thursday and were supposed to be gone for an hour, said an employee of the dive company, Reef Seekers. The second group came back after the hour passed, but the first group failed to resurface, she said.
Earlier, an official with the Komodo Divers Association said the group that returned comprised six snorkelers.
Among those who went missing was one of the owners of the dive company, Kathleen Mitchinson, the employee said.
The seas that the divers were in are known to be dangerous because of their strong tides, and that's one theory being investigated in the divers' disappearance, the employee said.
taken from:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/07/missing.divers/index.html#cnnSTCText
Revelation 12
The group was found at Mantaolan, on the island of Rinca off the Komodo National Park, after going missing Thursday.
The divers -- three Britons, a Frenchman and a Swede -- spent two nights on the deserted island, which is home to the large Komodo dragon, before rangers found them Saturday.
Frenchman Laurent Pinel, 31, said the group had to fight off one dragon with rocks and scavenged for shellfish as they waited to be rescued, Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.
"On the beach a Komodo dragon came amongst us [Friday] afternoon," Pinel said, describing how the group had to pelt the dangerous reptile with rocks to scare it away.
"We had nothing to eat. We ate some kind of mussels scraped from the rocks," Pinel told the newspaper.
The husband of one of the other divers said he was told they were in good condition, although dehydrated.
"I'm just so relieved," said Mats Kohler, husband of Helena Neva Lainen. They are both from Sweden.
An official said they were being taken to a hospital for examination.
Searchers using boats located the missing divers at 11 a.m. Saturday (11 p.m. ET Friday), the official said.
They arrived at a hospital in Labuan Bajo, on the western tip of the island of Flores, about two hours later, an official said.
They were one of two groups of divers who entered the water off Komodo National Park on Thursday and were supposed to be gone for an hour, said an employee of the dive company, Reef Seekers. The second group came back after the hour passed, but the first group failed to resurface, she said.
Earlier, an official with the Komodo Divers Association said the group that returned comprised six snorkelers.
Among those who went missing was one of the owners of the dive company, Kathleen Mitchinson, the employee said.
The seas that the divers were in are known to be dangerous because of their strong tides, and that's one theory being investigated in the divers' disappearance, the employee said.
taken from:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/07/missing.divers/index.html#cnnSTCText
Revelation 12
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Miserable Messes of Pottage
Many literary societies are in reality young theaters on a cheap scale, and they create in the youth a taste for the stage. While writing upon this point, my eye falls upon the following striking incident from real life:-
"'It is of no use, Mrs. W., I have tried again and again, and I cannot become a Christian.'
"'So you said a year ago, yet you thought there was nothing in the way.'
"'I don't think there is now, but I don't feel any different from what I did then, and I don't believe I ever shall be a Christian.'
"The first speaker was a bright girl somewhat over twenty, who, on a previous visit nearly a year before, had confided to her elder friend her earnest desire to become a Christian. Of her evident sincerity there could be no doubt, and the visitor was sorely puzzled to understand why her young friend had not yet found peace. The two were standing by the half-opened door of the Sunday-school room, where a rehearsal for an 'entertainment' was in progress; and the girl, looking in, seemed suddenly to find there a suggestion for further thought.
"'I believe,' she said hesitatingly, 'there is one thing I cannot give up.'
"'Give it up at once, dear.'
"'But I can't.'
"'Come to Jesus first then, and he will give you the power.'
"'I don't want him to. I believe if I knew I should die and be lost in three weeks from tonight, I would rather be lost than give up my passion.'
"'And what is this dearly loved thing, worth so much more than your salvation?'
"'Oh, it isn't worth more, only I love it more, and I can't and won't give it up. It's that I--I want to be an actress; I know I have the talent; I've always hoped the way would open for me to go upon the stage, and I can't help hoping so still.'
"'Do you think it would be wrong for you to do so, provided the way did open?'
"'I don't know that it would be a sin; but I couldn't do it and be a Christian; the two things don't go together.'
"'How did you come by such a taste? I am sure you do not belong to a theater-going family?'
"'Oh no! my father and mother are Methodists; they always disapproved of the theater. I've been in Sunday-school all my life. They used to make me sing and recite at the entertainments when I was four years old, and I acted the angel and fairy parts in the dialogues; and when I grew older, I always arranged the tableaux, charades, etc. Then I joined a set of sociables got up by our church young people. At first we did "Mrs. Jarley's Wax-works," and sung "Pinafore" for the benefit of the church; and then we got more ambitious, studied, and had private theatricals, and last winter we hired Mason's Hall and gave a series of Shakespearean performances, which cleared off a large part of the church debt. But that's only second-class work, after all. I want to do the real thing, to go upon the stage as a profession. My father won't hear of it; but I hope some time the way will be opened that I may realize my heart's desire.'
"'And meantime, will you not come to Jesus and be saved?"
"'No, I cannot do it and keep to this hope, and I will not give this up.'
"And so the visitor turned sadly away, thinking for what miserable messes of pottage men and women are willing to sell their glorious birthright as children of God; thinking also of the seeds which are being sowed in our Sunday-schools, the tares among the wheat, and the terrible harvest that may yet spring up from this well-meant but injudicious seed-sowing." {RH, January 4, 1881 par. 23}
"'It is of no use, Mrs. W., I have tried again and again, and I cannot become a Christian.'
"'So you said a year ago, yet you thought there was nothing in the way.'
"'I don't think there is now, but I don't feel any different from what I did then, and I don't believe I ever shall be a Christian.'
"The first speaker was a bright girl somewhat over twenty, who, on a previous visit nearly a year before, had confided to her elder friend her earnest desire to become a Christian. Of her evident sincerity there could be no doubt, and the visitor was sorely puzzled to understand why her young friend had not yet found peace. The two were standing by the half-opened door of the Sunday-school room, where a rehearsal for an 'entertainment' was in progress; and the girl, looking in, seemed suddenly to find there a suggestion for further thought.
"'I believe,' she said hesitatingly, 'there is one thing I cannot give up.'
"'Give it up at once, dear.'
"'But I can't.'
"'Come to Jesus first then, and he will give you the power.'
"'I don't want him to. I believe if I knew I should die and be lost in three weeks from tonight, I would rather be lost than give up my passion.'
"'And what is this dearly loved thing, worth so much more than your salvation?'
"'Oh, it isn't worth more, only I love it more, and I can't and won't give it up. It's that I--I want to be an actress; I know I have the talent; I've always hoped the way would open for me to go upon the stage, and I can't help hoping so still.'
"'Do you think it would be wrong for you to do so, provided the way did open?'
"'I don't know that it would be a sin; but I couldn't do it and be a Christian; the two things don't go together.'
"'How did you come by such a taste? I am sure you do not belong to a theater-going family?'
"'Oh no! my father and mother are Methodists; they always disapproved of the theater. I've been in Sunday-school all my life. They used to make me sing and recite at the entertainments when I was four years old, and I acted the angel and fairy parts in the dialogues; and when I grew older, I always arranged the tableaux, charades, etc. Then I joined a set of sociables got up by our church young people. At first we did "Mrs. Jarley's Wax-works," and sung "Pinafore" for the benefit of the church; and then we got more ambitious, studied, and had private theatricals, and last winter we hired Mason's Hall and gave a series of Shakespearean performances, which cleared off a large part of the church debt. But that's only second-class work, after all. I want to do the real thing, to go upon the stage as a profession. My father won't hear of it; but I hope some time the way will be opened that I may realize my heart's desire.'
"'And meantime, will you not come to Jesus and be saved?"
"'No, I cannot do it and keep to this hope, and I will not give this up.'
"And so the visitor turned sadly away, thinking for what miserable messes of pottage men and women are willing to sell their glorious birthright as children of God; thinking also of the seeds which are being sowed in our Sunday-schools, the tares among the wheat, and the terrible harvest that may yet spring up from this well-meant but injudicious seed-sowing." {RH, January 4, 1881 par. 23}
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