Diamonds

I have a list of movies that are in the category "won't be particularly pleasant to watch, but would probably be good for me." Last weekend I decided to watch one of the movies on the list- Blood Diamond. It came out a few years ago and presents a very violent depiction of African civil war and the way diamond smuggling makes it worse. The real issue isn't actually diamonds- it is greed. The same horrors of civil war: villages burned, people killed and maimed, children being forced to become soldiers, masses of people living in refugee camps in terrible conditions... all of these also happen in places where there are few resources as well. I think one thing I took away from it was a needed reminder about how much injustice there is in the world and how often I insulate myself from thinking about it.

It also made me think about wedding rings. I actually anguished for a while about whether to buy anastasia a diamond engagement ring. Partly because of the shady side of the diamond industry but mostly because of questions about money. What if we both just got gold bands and used the rest to help people in Africa get clean drinking water? I decided to go the traditional route. I didn't want my wife to have to engage in social commentary everytime everyone asked about the ring for the rest of her life. I decided rather than flouting social conventions in that way, the real issue is how we use the money that God brings our way over the course of a lifetime. Put another way, I realized that generosity toward the world doesn't always have to come at the expense of generosity toward my wife.