Diamonds in the Desert

The artwork is provided by Isabella Baker

2020, November 15,

This dream told the story of an African king that was very wealthy; however, the people in his domain were destitute. Feeling pity for his subjects, the king took the entirety of his wealth, in the form of diamonds, and had it buried in a desert. So vast was his wealth that the entire nation was able to live without fear for a year on whatever they were able to dig up. The following year, fewer people returned to the desert, where much of the king's riches remained buried beneath the sand.

A documentary crew followed the story of a people who continued to sift the desert sands for diamonds and thus could make a living for themselves. However, their search was not limited to the desert; anywhere they went became a place worth checking for the valuable lumps of carbon. In this way, I learned a valuable lesson. So true is the old adage, "If you give a man a fish, you feed a man for a day; if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime." This quote comes from a book called Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.

The reality, however, is a bit more complex. One man that learns to fish may fish for a day, whereas another man who learns to fish may fish for a lifetime. Both received the same lesson. One is satisfied with a life of fishing; one is not. One is satisfied with a life of digging; one is not. Thus the king's generosity is not waisted for the one that keeps digging, and it is available for the one that stops. Neither is wrong, and there are consequences for both.

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out, Proverbs 25:2. How rich is the wilderness that we find ourselves in? What lies beneath the surface of these shifting sands? Are we satisfied with what we have uncovered? For the one who is not satisfied, the wilderness is far from empty.

Photo by Patrick Schneider on Unsplash

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