Saturday, May 30, 2009

City of Truth - "Poverty" with Cynthia Irizarry

Here is another beautiful writing from one of the participants in the City of Truth Leadership Academy. This is a reflection on the class, "What is Poverty?"

Introducing our guest blogger, Cynthia Irizarry:


The walls of my reality slowly crumble as i look upon their faces

the suffering crying silently through their eyes.

Mother, Brother, Sister, Father...

Person.

Made in the image of god just like me each one made

with a purpose just like me.

My inner being torn to shreds as my spirit weeps for theirs.

As i look at the faces of all the almost me's i see my blessings.

I see all the places and all the faces i could have been and i am angry with myself

how could i have ever let them fade into the background.

I remember that they are put here for a purpose and i wonder if their purpose is to suffer

and for a moment i am angry with god why would he choose these people to suffer?

Then quickly i realize it is so that he can be known because in our weakness he is glorified.

I close my eyes and as the images are imprinted in my memory i say a prayer......

My lord may i never take another blessing for granted, comfort the hearts of your children and may they know that they are your glory

In Jesus name i pray

Amen.

- Cynthia Irizarry

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Blue Eyes


IMG_3087-1jr
Originally uploaded by JosephDominick

This is a sample portrait from a photo shoot I did last month. I am testing how images can be embedded from my Flickr account here into my blog.

Coming soon will be a website for Joseph Dominick Photography.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

City of Truth - "Poverty" with Melissa Cruz

Two weeks ago "City of Truth" had a great class where we discussed "What is Poverty?" I had the privilege to teach the class to some wonderful young adults. We were challenged visually, orally, and emotionally to really consider what is poverty globally, nationally, and locally. How should we respond? And how does this connect to our faith?

I asked one of the participants to share her experience via poetry. Below is our special guest blogger, Melissa Milagros Cruz:



In the center of Poverty I sat and I stared
At the Hunger and pain that goes on out there
The tears fill my eyes as I looked to my left
And seen a baby feeding on his mothers breast
A malnourished human feeding on another who's the same
In a world with a great God, who gets the blame?
The strongest men couldn't stand the sight of their pain
The pictures have embedded themselves in my brain.
Immediately I remembered all the food I put to waste
Never Have I stopped to put myself in their place.
What If I didn't have enough food to eat?
Or enough water to keep hydrated?
Or a decent place to sleep?
What if I didn't have the chance to bathe everyday?
Or make the money that I basically throw away..
With each picture I saw, My heart ripped to shreds,
Each person not knowing the next time they'll be fed.
My mind wandered to the Lord and I asked him why?
Whats his purpose for creating a beautiful birth
in a world where he is destined to die?
No chance of survival in a world with less...
What a Beautiful, Horrible Life they were blessed..
Horrible in sight, materials and health..
Beautiful cause these people actually have wealth...
Not wealth with money or food or favors
But the wealth of knowledge of The Lord Our savior.
Though its hard to paint a pretty picture out of that place
But what they lack in food.. they make up for with FAITH

Melissa Milagros Cruz

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Joseph Dominick Photography

The photo shoot in Central Park (New York City) went very well. The models were lovely and I have over 1,200 pictures of great portrait and wedding images.

The lovely assignment is now sifting through all those pictures to find the best of the best of the best (a la Will Smith in "Men in Black").

Photoshop Lightroom is a great software program which I highly recommend. I recently purchased it and it provides so much latitude in tweaking images as well as establishing metadata and keywords in the photography.

The portrait and wedding images from that shoot are amazing. Check out the sample portrait at my Flickr account here.

- Joseph Dominick

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Mr. Robeson

"The problem of talent is the problem of opportunity." - Paul Robeson

"Maxed Out"

This "Maxed Out" video is a sobering look at the personal side of our economic crisis.

Enjoy the video here.

- Joseph Dominick

Twittering in Academia

This is a really good video of how a professor experiments with bringing Twitter into the classroom at UT Dallas:

"UT Dallas History Professor Dr. Monica Rankin, @monicarankin, wanted to know how she could reach and include more students in the class discussion. She had heard of Twitter... The following is a short video describing her "Twitter Experiment" in the classroom with comments from students about the pros and cons of Twitter in a traditional learning environment."

Enjoy video here.

- Joseph Dominick

Glory of Christ

"Every culture is dominated by idols that is not dominated by the glory of Christ" - Tim Keller

The Secularist

"The secularist may genuinely believe that he loves his neighbor, but in the end he may love him so much that he decides to put him out of his misery (assisted suicide, infanticide, abortion, death chamber, etc). Without a biblically based set of ethics rooted in the sanctity of life, without the established natural order clearly expressed in law & practice, we are left to the tender mercies of those in authority." - Chuck Colson in The Faith

Reproduction

"We can teach what we know, but we reproduce who we are." - T. Winston

Twittering @ Church?

Do you twitter while in Church?

Personally I don't. But I read an article, "4 Reasons to Stop Twittering in Church". The author's arguments are not the strongest but it is a great read to stimulate conversation. :)

- Joseph Dominick

Mainstream Gen Y isn't Buying Into Web 2.0

It seems "Mainstream Gen Y isn't Buying Into Web 2.0":

"According to Comscore, the majority of Twitter users worldwide are 35 or older. Young adults 18-24 only make up 10.6% of the Twitter population in the US and are less likely than the average user to tweet. 45-54 year olds are actually 36 percent more likely than average to visit Twitter.

The traditional social media early adopters are 18 -24 and Twitter is the new social media darling. Why isn't Gen Y biting?"

Read the full article here.

- Joseph Dominick

Love During Recession

Pope Benefict in Deus Caritas Est: "The state that would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself would ultimately become a bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing the suffering person needs, loving personal concern."

Keeping it Real

"If the church you attend disappears tomorrow, will the neighborhood even miss it? If not, perhaps the church is not really doing God's work." - LLC @ ACTS