Lunar Eclipse of 2010

December 2010 lunar eclipse

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The December 2010 lunar eclipse occurred from 5:27 to 11:06 UTC on December 21, coinciding with the date of the December solstice. It was visible in its entirety as a total lunar eclipse in North and South America.

Occurrence

The eclipse of December 2010 was the first total lunar eclipse in almost three years, since the February 2008 lunar eclipse.

It is the second of two lunar eclipses in 2010. The first was a partial lunar eclipse on June 26, 2010.

The eclipse was the first total lunar eclipse to occur on the day of the Northern Winter Solstice (Southern Summer Solstice) since 1638, and only the second in the Common Era.

Related eclipses

This eclipse occurred at the descending node of the moon’s orbit. Lunar eclipses are always paired with a solar eclipse either 2 weeks before or after at new moon in the opposite node. In this case, it will be followed by a partial solar eclipse at the ascending node on January 4, 2011, visible from Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia.

The following two lunar eclipses will also be total, occurring on June 15, 2011, and December 10, 2011.

The next December solstice total lunar eclipse, as a Metonic twin eclipse, will be December 20, 2029 (19 years later), one day before solstice.

A Saros cycle repeats for many centuries every 18 years and 11 days. This eclipse is the 18th of 26 total lunar eclipses in lunar series 125. The previous occurrence was on December 9, 1992, and the next will occur on December 31, 2028.

In North America, the eclipse was visible in its entirety on December 21, 2010, from 12:27 a.m. to 6:06 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. In the Central Standard Timezone and west, the eclipse began the night of December 20. Observers along South America’s east coast missed the late stages of the eclipse because they occurred after moon-set.

Likewise much of Europe and Africa experienced moon-set while the eclipse was in progress. In Europe, only those observers in northern Scandinavia (including Iceland) could observe the entire event. For observers in eastern Asia the moon rose in eclipse. The eclipse was not visible from southern and eastern Africa, the Middle East or South Asia. In Japan and northeastern Asia, the eclipse’s end was visible, with the moon rising at sunset. In the Philippines it was observable as a partial lunar eclipse just after sunset.

Predictions suggested that the total eclipse may appear unusually orange or red, as a result of the eruption of Mount Merapi in Indonesia on October 26.

Are There Any Good Men Left Out There?

Are There Any Good Men Left?

As I read the profiles of women on Match.com (yes, I’m available), an often used line becomes increasingly apparent. This popular inquiry keeps appearing (usually at the end of their post regarding ‘who they are looking for’)… “Are There Any Good Men Left Out There?”

Yes, I am a ‘Good Man’, but it wasn’t handed to me on a platter! A ‘Good Man’ is a man who was forged into that state… not born that way.

Here is my take on what a ‘Good Man’ is.

What is a ‘Good Man’?

You say “There goes a ‘Good Man’”. Yet in the eyes of the Creator, there is NO ‘good man’ of his own accord or by his own hand. No. Not one.

1. Even the most benevolent and charitable men of their age will all fall short if they are Godless. Unless a man comes to know his Master, realizes that he was made to love Him above all others, turns from his own efforts, and then permits his Master to teach him ‘goodness’, compassion and love; that man has already received his reward. His wonderful deeds will not be remembered by the Creator when his time is finished.

2. A ‘Good Man’ is the man who knows he is fallible by himself, and in turn, unendingly strives to follow in the footsteps of Christ. Christ’s attributes include compassion, seeing the needs of His children and giving freely to them. Loving as a mother loves her child.

3. If a man loves his Creator and Savior, and desires above all else, approval of the Father, which inherently includes ‘How to Love’; then his Father in heaven can say, “Here is a ‘Good Man.”

What Women Want From a Man

The following is a summary of what I have painfully learned from a life ill spent.

What Women Long For:

Above all traits, a woman desires a man to be always truthful! To be immediately up front concerning all thoughts, actions and deeds of the man. This is the foundation for a successful relationship! A woman desires nothing less than ‘honesty’.

A woman desires a man who reveals his thoughts, his coming and going, and does not hide his intent or disguise his heart with false words.

A woman longs for a man who is attentive and takes a woman’s words to heart. He is not prone to turning away, or listening half heartedly (or not at all).

A woman longs to be acknowledged for all her works regardless of whether the works are of a charitable nature to others, or they are done exclusively for her ‘good man’, as in doing a kind, giving, and special act.

She desires to be complimented for her efforts to look nice or simply for her smile, and especially for any focused endeavors she has done from her heart. Failure of the man to acknowledge these woman’s doings, is a failed man. Such failure does not merit the love of such a woman as this.

THE BAD AND THE UGLY

I was a young man of confidence, yet a man who failed miserably to see all that I had been given. So much so, that eventually even that which I had was taken from me. I assumed that I knew more than I really did.

I worked hard with my hands, but lacked in wisdom.

I desired to be loved, but was naïve, and failed to realize that love is a two way street.

I foolishly assumed that the world revolved around me.

I was quick to accept (even expect) the kind loving acts of a woman, but came up short with regard to reciprocating it back to her.

I occasioned to hide my doings with silence or vague words, and ultimately suffered the cost and the loss.

I passed judgment where there was no authority given to me to judge, and which only resulted in the continuous renting and stretching of the very fabric of love.

THE GOOD

Above all things, I am humbled.

God, used my failings to teach me the intricacies of love, and instilled their attributes into my heart. Now I know what being ‘A Good Man’ demands of me. I’ve allowed God to remove the ‘amber clouds’ from my eyes so that I can see more clearly ‘How to Love’. I shudder as I recall my past. My heart is convicted to return to my foolish ways NO MORE! I may be forgiven for my past, but my past will always be branded into my mind, as a sign to remain vigilant in the ways of love.

Now my God may say, regarding me, “Here is my child who seeks me out, and is mindful to be ‘A Good Man’”.

Any love I receive, I do not deserve. Therefore, shall I cherish the one who would freely extend her heart to me. That Woman will be regarded by me as greater than the most precious jewel! She will  be my strengthener for all the days that I breathe.

See also article: Why You Can’t Find a GOOD Man; at http://davidisms.wordpress.com/2009/05/26/why-you-cant-find-a-good-man/