My co-worker and good friend Jeremy is presenting at this year's Greenbelt Festival in Cheltenham. He's leading a time of worshiping Jesus with Indian music and forms. It should be really good. We're hoping to go this year, at least for part of the time. Trying to get Somer to go camping...that'll be interesting.
Friday, June 22, 2007
300
Hey, so I logged in to make my next post, and discovered that I've posted 299 times...so this is 300! Do a little happy dance with me.....c'mon, you know you want to.
There, didn't that feel good? You're smiling now, aren't you?
There, didn't that feel good? You're smiling now, aren't you?
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The cost of gold
Ever wonder what it takes to make a gold ring? Last night I discovered that the process of extracting 10 grams of gold from the earth produces on average 3 tons of toxic waste, including chemicals like mercury and cyanide. To give you an idea, my wedding band weighs 8 grams...so that's 4,800 pounds of toxic waste to make my ring.
I was at a gathering of entrepreneurs at a small pub on the Thames. One of the presenters at the evening was Greg Valerio from Cred Jewellery. They have managed to produce one of the world's only ethical lines of gold and platinum jewellery. They are able to trace the gold they sell directly back to the mine that produced it, and can demonstrate that all parties involved - miners, the environment, and the craftsmen - have been treated in a just and equitable way. They are working to implement practices that would allow them to sell fairly traded diamonds as well (currently they sell conflict-free diamonds, mostly from Canada, but these are still not fairly traded).
Just to give one example of the inequity in the diamond trade, Greg told of a diamond miner in Africa who mined an 8-carat red diamond. He was paid $2000 for the diamond. When that diamond was sold in New York later that year, it fetched a price of $200,000,000. Now, $2000 may be more than enough to live on for an entire year in his country, but is it really equitable that the miner only received .001% of the final sales value of his product?
So what am I, a church-planter, doing at an entrepreneurial gather, and why am I going on and on about fine jewelery? Well, I was at the gathering for the sake of meeting people who are starting new initiatives, hoping to get ideas, make connections...all in an effort to clarify the vision for new churches here. And as for ethical jewelery, I care about it because God cares. God hates it when people destroy his planet. He hates it when the poor are exploited and patronized by the rich. And he hates it when global economic structures that maintain poverty go unchallenged. We shouldn't merely sit back and wish children weren't forced to work in mines, we should do something about it. Cred is doing something about it.
I was at a gathering of entrepreneurs at a small pub on the Thames. One of the presenters at the evening was Greg Valerio from Cred Jewellery. They have managed to produce one of the world's only ethical lines of gold and platinum jewellery. They are able to trace the gold they sell directly back to the mine that produced it, and can demonstrate that all parties involved - miners, the environment, and the craftsmen - have been treated in a just and equitable way. They are working to implement practices that would allow them to sell fairly traded diamonds as well (currently they sell conflict-free diamonds, mostly from Canada, but these are still not fairly traded).
Just to give one example of the inequity in the diamond trade, Greg told of a diamond miner in Africa who mined an 8-carat red diamond. He was paid $2000 for the diamond. When that diamond was sold in New York later that year, it fetched a price of $200,000,000. Now, $2000 may be more than enough to live on for an entire year in his country, but is it really equitable that the miner only received .001% of the final sales value of his product?
So what am I, a church-planter, doing at an entrepreneurial gather, and why am I going on and on about fine jewelery? Well, I was at the gathering for the sake of meeting people who are starting new initiatives, hoping to get ideas, make connections...all in an effort to clarify the vision for new churches here. And as for ethical jewelery, I care about it because God cares. God hates it when people destroy his planet. He hates it when the poor are exploited and patronized by the rich. And he hates it when global economic structures that maintain poverty go unchallenged. We shouldn't merely sit back and wish children weren't forced to work in mines, we should do something about it. Cred is doing something about it.
Monday, June 18, 2007
The cost of living...
While it might cost you an arm and a leg to live in New York City, you'll have to throw in your nose and a pair of ears if you want to survive in London. That's according to the most recent cost of living report from Mercer Human Resources. Well, not really - they simply say that London is the second most expensive city in the world for expats, behind Moscow. Glad to know that, though it still doesn't help me afford that $7 cup of iced coffee.
I've got to get back to helping my daughter learn to add using counting stones, mostly so that when she grows up she'll be able to know how much she can't afford to live in London!!
I've got to get back to helping my daughter learn to add using counting stones, mostly so that when she grows up she'll be able to know how much she can't afford to live in London!!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Waffles
It's waffle morning at our house! One of our friends said she had never had a waffle before, so we decided to rectify the situation. Somer made a huge batch, and we were expecting several friends. A couple texted to say they weren't feeling well, but the one who had never had one before still came. We had multiple toppings: strawberries, powdered sugar, maple syrup. Awesome.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Camden Green Festival
The Camden Green Fair was today at Regents Park. We took the girls after church and met up with our teammates. The girls rode the planet-friendly go carts (i.e. carts that were pulled by humans) and we watched a sheep get sheered at the local city farm exhibit. The weather's been really nice the last few days, and it's amazing to see how many people turn out to sit in the park and soak in a few rays.
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