Results tagged “essay” from expressions

"Thankful"

|
24502.jpg
24502
December 28, 2009  8:15pm
D50  f5  1.6s  ISO800  40mm


It's Thanksgiving Time!

No, not the whole eat Turkey at Grandma's house kind of Thanksgiving; but a time to thank God for our nation. 
Now, I'm not the type that thinks that I live in a "Christian" nation, or thinks that a conservative, evangelical President would trigger a nation-wide revival; but I'm amazed at how few Americans are aware of the liberties that they enjoy due to our God fearing, freedom loving Founding Fathers.  So, I'll just write a few things that I am thankful as they relate to our nation's leadership and freedom:

-  God's grace toward our nation.  We as a nation are not the receivers of any special Biblical prophecy, and yet God has shown mercy and immense blessing on our nation.

-  Our God-fearing founding fathers and leadership for over 200 years.  We have been guided by so many leaders that respected the Bible as the ultimate authority and recognized God's authority in the world.

-  Our nation's allowance for many people to enjoy our freedoms by immigrating to our nation.  Without these people groups our nation would be a much less powerful and resourceful nation; keep in mind that if you have any European blood in you, then you yourself have immigrants as ancestors.

-  Our desire to see the world as a more peaceful and unified community.  While the Bible promises wars and disunity in the end times, I'm thankful for a nation whose leaders care about all human kind, and not just their own citizens.  It is this compassion that will set America apart in the world's eyes.

-  Our Founding Father's desire to see that all men are treated as equals, and the movements that have extended those rights to women and then to minorities.  It really is amazing that we have Barack Obama, a black man married to a black woman, as our President.  Very few nations have elected a minority to leadership.

-  Our ability to peacefully elect officials every year and to elect a nation-wide leader every four years.  This also is not the norm among most of the world's population; most people live in a nation where there are no elections or they are not peaceful; and when our country was founded this method of government was almost unheard of.

-  Our right to worship as we choose.  Don't ever underestimate our freedom to worship God as we choose.

In the USA, we enjoy so many freedoms that we seldom think of - this Saturday as we remember our Founding Fathers and our nation's founding, try to remember the boldness that it took to sign the Declaration of Independence and the courage that it has taken millions of men and women to defend our freedoms over the years.

And be thankful...

Why "FourPointedStar"?

|
FPS.jpgIt all started in high school.  I wanted to be an architect; I was going to be famous, and Smithson Architectural Design Firm was going to be the team that you wanted to design your house. Sounds similar to any other high schooler's dream, right? 
During my senior year, my interest in architecture declined rapidly, but I kept my symbol - the four pointed star.  I used it on my notes in college, on my sketches for fun, on designs that I threw together in Photoshop after college; it became my artistic symbol.  
When Brad and I decided to learn about websites and webdesign, I started searching the web for a domain that I could use:  smith.com, smithfamily.com, etc.    fourpointedstar.com was available and unique; and while I now own joshualsmith.net, smithsondesign.com, and many others, FourPointedStar has become my artistic release - my canvas. 

Now it would be foolish to switch to something easier; a Google search for four pointed star shows why...  Of course joshualsmith is equally well-searched.

Proud of the U.S.A.

|
16166.jpg
"Sunset Flag"  16166
Town of Maine, WI
©2007 Joshua L. Smith

It's safe to say that most Americans aren't happy with America's current politicians.  But in a year of grumbling about our country; let's take one day and remember what made this country great:  a resolute desire for Freedom.
Journey back to 1770 with me:  The world was ruled by empires.  Britain had the momentum, and seemed to be all-powerful;  France's monarchy had all but destroyed it's own economy, and was about to face the fruit of its labor;  Spain was conquering what we now know as Mexico and California; and the Russian and Ottoman Empires were at war. 
Quite honestly, the outlook was grim in any empire if your religion or ideology disagreed with the ruling monarchy.  The only beacon of hope was the Dutch Republic; they enjoyed a representative government, of sorts.
But across the ocean, in the New World, there were a group of radicals that felt that a government should guarantee certain natural rights to everyone.  It was that ideology that led Thomas Jefferson to write:   "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights..."
A radical?  Yes, those words were treason in his day.  God grants everyone equal standing?  That was a liberal concept...
Those that signed the Declaration of Independence risked their lives.  The majority were captured as spies, had their fortunes destroyed or lost their lives. 
Why do I rehearse all of this?  Because of one simple and powerful fact:  I enjoy every single one of those freedoms today.  Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; I relish in them. 
Our nation's Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights are still used as the yardstick for other emerging governments.  And for that I am proud. 


080704 17780 In the Breeze 070707.jpg
"In the Breeze" 17780
Menominee, WI
2:51pm, July 7, 2007
Nikon D50
©2007 Joshua L. Smith

Trusty Companion

|
In May 2007, my wife was pregnant, we had moved out of our apartment but our house wasn't ready so we were homeless (living with her parents), we were trying (and succeeded) in becoming debt free before our daughter was born, and we had just taken a "vacation" to see my brother-in-law's fiance graduate from college.  But when I saw a Nikon D50 for $499, I couldn't let it go.  The D40 had just been introduced as the D50's replacement, and Walmart was selling the D50 for almost 40% off of retail.

Shannon and I talked about our finances extensively that night.  We planned and planned and replanned so that we could get an extra $525 purchase into our budget...

I bought that D50 on May 9th; today I took the 20,000th image.  I really think that purchasing the D50 is one of the wisest uses of "fun money" that I've ever made, and the D50 itself is a joy to use - I love it's size and the quality of the low-light images that it takes...incredible for $500. 

If you account for all the purchases that I've made to support my habit (70-300mm lens - $135; spare battery - $50; tripod and pistol grip - $250; external flash - $35; Aperture 2 - $199; SD cardreader - $30), each photo has cost me roughly $.06  ...

But really, can you put a value on shots like this one:

 
29167 Daddy and Me 080603.jpg
29167 "Daddy & Me"
June 3, 08

BTW:  "Trusty companion" is in reference to my D50, not to Cynthia; she's my "Quarter Size" buddy.  :)

Tags

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

Categories

Pages

Powered by Movable Type 4.1