Diamonds Aren't Forever

For those who have watched "Kingdom of Heaven", you would remember this sign on the blacksmith's workshop : Nemo vir est qui mundum non reddat meliorem ( What man is a man who does not make the world better? ). Leaving my office at 7pm, I certainly did not feel that I have lived up to that quote. For most of the time spent in office, I was trying to clear as much work as I could so that I did not need to work overtime. And when the clock struck six, I breathe a sign of relief that I can finally go home before the sunset.

Work has to be more than just meeting deadlines and going off early. There must be a purpose to it. The first thought that always come to my mind is - full time ministry in church. What can be better ? You do God's work, and you have everything else thrown in (Matt 6:33) , including , making the world a better place.

But luckily the choice is not that limited. In the article "Diamonds aren't Forever" from the dec issue of Fortune, I saw what was the possible alternative for the people who are in the workplace. Quoting from the article "the $60 billion-a-year diamond industry which was built in its dreams of love rather than of raw survival. Koidu, whose diamonds have been mined since the 1930s, is thousands of miles away - and a galaxy removed - from the glittering displays in jewelry stores in New York. It is set in a country where the average man earns $220 a year and dies at 39......Shaken by the chasm between the diggers and diamond buyers, Rapaports are trying to start a Fair Trade association of producers along the lines of Starbucks, which buys coffee beans for a premium price from some growers , then sells them for more money to socially conscious coffee drinkers."

".. and what does the Lord require of you ? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8). And that is exactly what is happening here. People are working to push for a fair trade to help the diamond diggers whose standard of living is way below that of the average person in Singapore. There is a way to glorify God even in the most mundane tasks that we do, or even the most unlikely industry where money is the most important thing. If only we are willing to think hard enough and to put our heart and soul into it, there is certainly a way which God's love may be shown.

"All man are like grass and all their glory is like the flowers of the field ... but the word of our God stands forever". Diamonds aren't forever, but God is forever.