david j. garcia

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” – James 1:22 (KJV)

Last weekend I sang in a choir for a church conference. The song (and theme of the conference) was “Have I done any good in the world today?”

The lines struck me:

Have I done any good in the world today?
Have I helped anyone in need?
Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?
If not, I have failed indeed.
Has anyone’s burden been lighter today
Because I was willing to share?
Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?
When they needed my help was I there?
Then wake up and do something more

There are many ways to apply those verses to your life. Right now, I’d like to discuss just one.

By now you’ve heard of the suffering in Haiti. You’ve watch the accounts of millions of lives affected by a devastating earthquake. If you’re religious, you’ve probably prayed for them. Maybe you’ve passed along a message calling for donations–even given something yourself.

Now I’m asking you to do something more. This is not just a feel-good “awareness” campaign. There is something you can do to change things.  I quote the LDS Church’s First Presidency:

We are keenly aware that many in America are dealing with economic challenges caused by the recession. However, we are appealing to members to donate to Church Humanitarian Services as their means allow in order to help our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Despite the funds already raised, more money is still needed, and we’ve been asked by a prophet to give. While I mention religion because it informs my understanding, this is a human issue.

As your means allow, please donate to Humanitarian Services and/or other organizations to support the relief efforts. When we’ve done all we can do there, other locations will still need our support.

I know that your life will improve as a result of your donation (I’ve seen it and studies prove it), as will the lives of those suffering in Haiti. Please take one more step and share this on Facebook or post your own message encouraging donations. The more reminders we send, the more good we can do.

THANK YOU! (Tomorrow we’ll return to our regularly-scheduled communications-oriented programming).

Creative Commons photo by Agência Brasil.

Don’t get me wrong: I strongly advocate learning how to do high-quality video, and we’ll talk some in future posts about how to achieve the best possible video on a reasonable budget.

But my focus here is on creating video even if you don’t have any budget.

Just get started and get going. As you prove the value with cheap video, the budget for nicer video will come along. Good luck!

(photo courtesy of Canon USA)