This is clearly a personal blog of my thoughts, but details of the ins and outs of my days don’t really show up here. For example, you might not have known that the school year is almost over for most of the kids I work with, my brother just graduated college, my sisters gonna get her license in a few months, I live in a house full of people (not just my wife), I bike to work, and in about a month or less I’m going to be a father.

That last one is the Big Day I’m thinking about. With it so close on the horizon priorities and time management is being shifted around. I still love to write, so I’m not saying the blog will disappear, but it is likely to change forms. For example, I might just start posting links to things I find interesting each day. I’m not really sure at this point, but I just wanted to give you for warning. I love the consistency of a daily post, but if it’s too much work that might be gone as well.

No need to make this long and drawn out, just wanted to leave you with a little something. Who knows, as inspiration strikes me right now I might write enough posts to fill up the month of June. If you want to be on the immediate notification about the baby list your probably going to have to get in touch with me.

So, I guess the only thing left to do is get some predictions on the birth time. Dates are boring, I want to know what time (hour and minute) you think the baby is coming…

Seeing a movie like, Blood Diamonds is enough to move anyone to rethink their views on Diamonds. I’ve posted other posters, facts and videos about it in the past as well. There’s a line in that movie that says something to about how when something becomes valuable people our oppressed. They said something much more eloquent. Today, I want to envision what might happen if tomorrow, like the Emperor’s new clothes, everyone realized Diamonds are just rocks, and overnight the diamond industry is over, not a single additional sale of shiny rock things, not for wedding rings, necklaces, grills, nothing.

Honestly, I think things would change extremely quickly. The flow of money into diamond galleries, diamond companies (De Beers), and the oppressive armies and regimes that enslave people to mine the diamonds would suddenly be gone. I’m not sure what would happen to the guys in suits who have lived lavishly off the diamond trade, they might be able to survive on their spoils from years past, but maybe they’ll find themselves head over heels in debt. I’d rather talk about the people in the mines.

Time and time again, when I talk about oppressive situations, be it sweatshops, diamond trade, child labor, etc. A common response is, well if ‘Walmart’ (insert other oppressive companies here) didn’t employ them, nobody would. And “25 cents an hour might not be great,but it’s better then nothing, besides it can buy you a lot more over ‘there.'” I think people use the justification a lot, and I have no doubt, it’s one of the reasons the realities of the diamond industry haven’t pricked more hearts.

If diamonds lost their value over night, somewhere around a million people would lose their ‘jobs’ mining diamonds. For some though, that ‘job’ was working as a slave for no pay and very little care for their well being; with the diamond industry gone, they would be free! The money used to fuel war in multiple countries from the diamond trade would also be gone. Oppressive regimes would need to find some other way to make money, or maybe, with the lack of a valuable commodity to fuel their greed and oppression, they would simply cease to exist.

What if all it took to end Slavery for hundreds and thousands of people in our world, was for us to stop attributing monetary value to shiny rocks?

Some how I haven’t written for the last week or so, and I don’t have the time this week to process any worthwhile thoughts either, so I thought I’d just highlight a few other blogs and maybe that would spur on some discussion. Here’s a couple clips worth checking out…

Life of Linne:

It seems strange what seeing $150 in your bank account can make you think. When I first saw, I thought “oi – we’re poor.” But we’re not poor. We don’t have a right to claim being poor at all. We have no idea what it really means to be poor.

I almost struggle with knowing what poor means. If we only had $150 and no paycheck coming next month… then maybe I’d have a sense of being poor. I have hope, though, because I know that money is coming. I don’t know what it feels like to not know when the next time we’ll have money is. College was only a few years ago… and yet have we been so “successful” that we’ve forgotten what it’s like to be struggling for money, having friends pay for dinner and being content with just what we already have?

I’ll be honest – I don’t want to be poor.

PeacefulVeganMom (Who some how manages to quote Jim Wallis in one blog post and me in the next; I’m honored):

Unfortunately, in our current culture, we have exemplified with our lifestyles that war is sometimes just, a child who hits others deserves to be hit, a man who kills others deserves to be killed, and when another country commits acts of violence against us, we should return that violence in kind. Why does the myth of redemptive violence run rampant in our hearts when Jesus clearly came to teach us there is another Way?

Where is the love and grace when we, as the wealthiest 20% of the world’s population, own and consume 80% of the world’s resources while the other 20% of the world live in utter poverty and despair? Where is the justice? What happened to the golden rule?? What are we teaching our children about the importance of compassion and the evil of the love of money??

iHajj:

As a church leader, I am very well aware that political conversations are dangerous. This is especially true in our current cultural setting where people are so divided between “red” and “blue.” I have no desire to politicize my church (as many other pastors have done). I want my church to be a place where people find their identity in Christ, not in their class, party, race, etc. I would never, for instance, even suggest which candidate a person should vote for, or what party they should support. Further, I don’t see that any politician or political party well represents my understanding of Christian political ideas.

All that said, it just seems that our government must hear the voice of Believers. For me, that means I am currently writing a personal political statement. Not a “red” or “blue” statement, but a statement of political values that I hold. I have also decided that I need to express some of these values on this blog. I am not interested in attacking any politician or party. However, I think there are issues that, as a Christian, I must speak about.

Last week for Corporate Responsibility Monday’s we talked about purchasing generic brand items over name brand when you were unsure of the ethics of the companies and their human rights history. I’ll encourage you to continue in that capacity but I want to take even another step away from Corporations and emphasize the value of buying second hand.

I know some people have an apprehension to buying used items, whether it’s clothes, kitchen items or toys, but I’ll just say right here, get over it. There are a few isolated unique situations were for sanitary health concerns or otherwise you need to buy new, but the vast majority of items can easily be used second hand. Here are three reasons why I think buying second hand whenever possible is the way to go.

1. It’s More Environmentally Friendly– No matter how ‘green’ your household items become, there is still production, packaging, shipping and more that is done to get them to you. The items you buy second hand have already gone through that stage and are ready to be loved a second time, packaging not included. Since most of the items that are in thrift stores got there by being picked up or dropped off as donations, the same amount or less of travel and energy that would have taken the items to a landfill, I’d argue that thrift store items have nearly a zero environmental impact (relative to new items).
2. It’s Cheaper. My goal is never to spend more money. If the product is good, fair trade, and environmentally sound, I’m willing to pay a higher premium, but I don’t go out and throw my cash around just because. Buying second hand will keep tons of money in your pocket, which you can then pass out to the valuable causes you wish to support. I would argue that shopping second hand rather then Target will save you 80% easily of what you would have paid if you bought things new (how do you like that ambiguous number?).
3. You Support Local Business. Isn’t it brilliant that we can create businesses and entire industries out of reusing products? Goodwill has some great billboards up around Nashville lately that say, “When you give it to Goodwill, you give me a job.” They speak to the very practical impact thrift stores have. Supporting Goodwill and Salvation Army, among other local businesses, is a way to create a sustainable world beyond a charity check or donation.

Get over yourself and start shopping at the Thrift Store. Find some bargain duds and empty your closet of the things you don’t need at the donation center while you there. Take the money you saved by not buying new and take a person without a home out to eat. Give Target your business when your looking for toothpaste and TP, thank them for their services and tell them you’ll be back in a month or two, maybe.