Sunday Service: Diversity Is Our Strength

Galatians, 328, there is neither Jew nor Greek slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ, Jesus. What does that even mean? How does it apply to your life? If it even does, that’s what we’ll explore today. Welcome to the Sunday service. People say lots of things, don’t they? People are always saying things. Always saying stuff. Sometimes stuff we say is just because stuff that we’ve heard at some point and sounds good, it resonates. Or maybe I knew what it meant when I first heard it, but now I just keep saying it because it seems like it’s a good thing to say, not that you and I ever do things like this, which, of course, we don’t, one of those things that we’ve been saying a lot for probably pretty long time. And I don’t even know if it’s true or it’s not, but it’s this is that diversity is our strength. Diversity is our strength. That’s what I wanted to dig into a little bit today. To think about that, to interrogate it. Does it make sense? Has it ever made sense? Is it true? Is it not true? Does it apply to you and your life where you are? Diversity is neither good nor is it bad. It’s just diversity. Like everything pizza, it’s not good or bad, it’s just pizza, divorce. It’s neither good nor bad, it’s just divorce. Very, very Buddhist approach to things. Just take them as they are. It’s that diversity is fault that it’s being used in the way that it’s being used to talk about, in the way that it’s being talked about. And frankly, there’s lots of different kinds of diversity. There’s cultural diversity, and that comes from, or is and speaks to a kind of food that we eat, and the kind of music that we like and the clothes that we wear, it can be just the way that we speak, and also our religious diversity, the different practices and spiritual ideas, obviously just racial and ethnic diversity, which we sure do spend a lot of time talking about these days, so I don’t think I need to talk a lot about that. There’s gender diversity, another one of those topics that seems to really be an important thing these days. Age diversity is is always a thing. It’s different people from different generations or ages. Obviously we have socio economic diversity. We’ve got super affluent people. We’ve got the 1% we have working class people. We have people that live in abject poverty, even on the streets of the United States. We’ve got ability diversity, people with different, different capabilities. We’ve got sexual orientation diversity. We have educational diversity, just what your learning experience has been. We obviously have geographic diversity, which is where you live, workplace diversity, what you do, political diversity, I don’t think there’s a lot of that, just kind of two at this point here in the United States, of course, kidding lots of different philosophies. And I think cognitively, let’s just call this diversity of thoughts, diversity of ideas, the way that we think and the way we make we make decisions about things, which really is probably one of the most constructive and positive kinds of diversities, because we are using our brains. It’s above and beyond simply my immutable characteristics. But anyway, same is not good or bad any more than different is good or bad, therefore diversity is not good or bad, it’s just diversity. Question is, when is it actually a strength or an advantage? When is diversity an actual strength or advantage, and when is it a weakness or a detriment. So at some level, I think it’s very simple, simple act of two different things coming together is not a positive thing. It’s just two different things coming together. When does it become a strength? When does that become a positive thing? Well, when two human beings meet and create something that is better. That’s a strength. When two people with different ideas come together and build upon those ideas, that’s also a strength. We have done something constructive. I think it’s also obvious that when two different things come together and something bad happens, that’s not a strength at all. You. So you think about whatever goes into making an explosive let’s say that there’s three ingredients that go into an explosive device. I have no idea individually each one of those ingredients is fine. It’s totally benign, not going to hurt anybody, just on its own. But when you mix those three things together, a highly explosive and very, very dangerous substance is created. That’s the wrong kind of diversity. Still, things coming together, something being created, but that thing is not good. It is inherently a destructive thing. Here’s a much more elegant, probably a better way to say it, there is a book called The Story of the coffee bean by Damon West, and it’s a great story, very motivational, and like so many great stories, it explains difficult concepts in an easy to understand method. It’s written in the form of a story, and it’s a young person who’s just having a hard time making it all work, and so he’s talking to his teacher, and his teacher asks him to ask him about what happens when you boil a carrot. And he’s not sure what happens. So he goes home and he boils the carrot, and in the hot water, the carrot, the carrot softens, and then the next day, she asks him to boil an egg. What happens? And so he does it. And in that environment, the egg hardens, so the carrot and the egg were both impacted by their environment. In one, the boiling water, or in the metaphor life softened the carrot and the other the adversity of life, the cauldron, the heat hardened the egg, so both were impacted by the environment. And then on the third day, she asks him to boil a coffee bean and figure out what would happen. And as we probably know, you boil a coffee bean, everything changes. Coffee is made. So the coffee bean, while it’s impacted, certainly, by the environment, it also changed its environment. So it modified everything around it. It’s interesting. So some things, when you add them to a recipe, work great, and some things don’t work at all. So just bringing things together for the sake of bringing things together does not it’s just not obvious to me that it’s a simple net positive put salt and pepper on something. Sometimes it’s going to be great. Sometimes it’s not. I think if you put it on eggs, delicious, put it on ice cream, less so ketchup is great on a burger. Not great on steak. Do you think it’s good on steak? Mayonnaise can take a hike regardless. Some things are good on their own, steak, ice cream. So some things are better together. Put all the ingredients of chili on a nice cold day, chicken noodle soup, delicious, lots of different things, living harmoniously together, coming together, making something delicious, smells great. We can all enjoy it together. Salads, salads, if you’re a salad person, it’s a great metaphor for what we’re talking about here. Some foods are great if they’re prepared correctly, and others and deadly if not think pork, cook it great. Cook it well. It’s delicious. If you don’t cook it correctly, it’ll kill you. Some things are just crappy at all. Some food is just bad. The Internet tells me there’s something called gamutra, and that is cow urine from India drinking gamutra has been practiced for 1000s of years, apparently been practiced for 1000s of years, usually consumed for therapeutic purposes medicine. There’s health benefits. So there you go. Turns out that not just any cow urine is is good. It’s all good, but pregnant cow urine, especially good. So there you go, treat psoriasis, leprosy, fevers, liver ailments and cancer. All right? So there’s not a yes or a no answer to these questions. Lot of nuance, lot of different ways to think about it, and that’s the whole purpose here is to get you thinking about these different things. America has long been referred to and thought of as a melting pot.

I asked chat, G, P, T, about this. What is when they talked about the United States as a melting pot, what does it say? And our artificial intelligence, soon to be overlords, told me that it means that it’s. Is where people from different cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds, come together and mix in this metaphor, just like different ingredients melt and blend together in a pot to form something new. The idea is that people from diverse backgrounds come to the United States and contribute their unique traditions, languages and customs. Over time, these differences blend to create a shared American culture that’s aligned to what I think also. Chatgpt also wanted to add on. They said, however, it’s important to note that this concept has evolved. Some people now prefer the term salad bowl to emphasize that while people live together in the same society, they retain their unique cultural identities, much like the distinct ingredients in a salad. Okay? I used the salad analogy reference a minute ago. You may bristle at the idea of changing the way that we talk about the United States from melting pot to a salad. And I initially did be honest with you, but I think the more I thought about it, think about it and thought about it, that is that is not inaccurate, and I think that it is maybe even a better way to think about the United States, because we’re not looking for same I don’t want everything to get boiled down and to come out of the oven or whatever, all being identical. Talked a week or two ago about the value of different and the value of weirdness and how I don’t want everything to be the same, because that would really destroy so much of what is wonderful about life, which is different. So again, so much going on here. When I was in college, I learned about or I was, I was taught this. And the long and short of it is, it’s, it’s, for lack of a better term a poem, and it says that friendship among people sharing a common belief in an ideal and possessing different temperaments, talents and convictions, is superior to friendship among people having the same temperaments, talents and convictions, and that genuine Friendship could be maintained without surrendering the principle of individuality or sacrificing one’s personal judgment. So very much aligned with the salad idea that while people live together in the same society, they retain their unique cultural identities. And this poem talks about friendship among people sharing a common belief in an ideal. So the linchpin to this is that common belief in an ideal, and so long as we share that it’s better, that so much else is different. So the linchpin, again, the thing, the cornerstone that holds it together, common belief in the ideal. So long as we have that, we’ve got the opportunity to make that delicious stew or that delicious salad without the common belief in an ideal. Don’t think that we stand much of a chance. I think that that our cake or our stew is not going to be very good. Acts 1034 Peter says, I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism that accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. So this underscores that God’s love and acceptance extend everyone, regardless of their background or nationality, so long as their followers or believers, so along the lines of that common belief in an ideal, what about Islam? What does Islam say about diversity? In Prophet Muhammad’s last sermon? In his final sermon, he said, all mankind is from Adam and Eve. An Arab has no superiority over a non Arab, nor does a non Arab have any superiority over an Arab. White has no superior over a black, nor does a black have any superiority over a white. None have superiority over another except by piety and good action. So that’s the differentiator. Black people are not better than white people. White people not better than blacks. Arabs, not better than Christians. Christians not better than Arabs. It all comes down to the piety and good action. So it’s the idea that all humans. Are equal before God, and the diversity in ethnicity and race should not be a bias for discrimination or prejudice. So it’s wise wisdom. I really do believe, and know it to be true, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that diversity can be a strength different ingredients can, in fact, come together and make something delicious and wonderful and better and productive and beautiful and extraordinary, but that’s all predicated in the idea that there’s a shared belief, a common belief, in an ideal and the food metaphor, it’s that making that delicious meal coming together, it’s wonderful ingredients, and making something that everybody can enjoy, that nourishes you, celebrate over brings people together in a positive fashion, beautiful banquet, everybody can can enjoy roll Thanksgiving in the best possible way, the context of a group of people or a country. It’s the desire to pursue a good or better life for our families, and it’s an understanding that we all share in a social contract, and that social contract that means shared values and something else been talking a lot about lately. Traditional Christian values say that love God, love your neighbor as yourself, forgive others who have wronged you, love your enemies, ask God for forgiveness of your sins. Jesus is the Messiah and was given the authority to forgive others. Repentance of sins is essential. Don’t be hypocritical. Hypocritical. Don’t judge others. Kingdom of God is near. It’s not the rich and powerful, but the weak and poor who will inherit the kingdom enlightenment or Western values. It’s reason. It’s using logic and reasoning to analyze truth. It’s believing in nature as a source of inspiration and value. It’s believing in intellectual progress. It’s advocating for individual liberty, freedom of expression and the pursuit of happiness. It’s advocating for tolerance and for fraternity. The Enlightenment also advocated for constitutional governments, separation of church and states, democracy, the ratification eradicate eradication of religious authority, the Enlightenment helped the foundation for modern, rational, democratic societies, civil society, human civil rights, separation of powers. So let’s try to summarize all of this. Dawn bounced around a little bit on this one, let’s try to summarize. It is diversity a strength. Think it absolutely can be so long as there are shared values and that common belief in an ideal, or it can just be a bunch of different things that don’t go together at all, that just fundamentally don’t work. Food for thought. Love to know what you think about this as always. Is diversity a strength? Has it been in the past? Is it now? Will it be in the future? Can it be in the future? I think that the answer is yes to all of them, but only if we think about it and focus on it the proper way, and that we demand, that we have shared values. Everything that I’ve been talking about today as always, do your part, but doing your best. You.

george grombacher 16:00
So if I want my iPhone, and my Tesla and my Bitcoin to work, we need to get the metal out of the ground.

Pierre Leveille 16:07
Absolutely. Without it, we cannot do it.

george grombacher 16:13
Why? Why is there a Why has production been going down.

Pierre Leveille 16:21
Because the large mines that are producing most of the copper in the world, the grades are going down slowly they’re going there, they’re arriving near the end of life. So and of life of mines in general means less production. And in the past, at least 15 years, the exploration expenditure for copper were pretty low, because the price of copper was low. And when the price is low, companies are tending to not invest more so much in exploration, which is what we see today. It’s it’s, it’s not the way to look at it. Because nobody 15 years ago was able to predict that there would be a so massive shortage, or it’s so massive demand coming. But in the past five years, or let’s say since the since 10 years, we have seen that more and more coming. And then the by the time you react start exploring and there’s more money than then ever that is putting in put it in expression at the moment for copper at least. And what we see is that the it takes time, it could take up to 2025 years between the time you find a deposit that it gets in production. So but but the year the time is counted. So it’s it’s very important to so you will see company reopening old mines, what it will push also, which is not bad, it will force to two, it will force to find a it will force to find ways of recalibrating customer, you know the metals, that will be more and more important.

george grombacher 18:07
So finding, okay, so for lack of a better term recycling metals that are just sitting around somewhere extremely important. Yeah. And then going and going back to historic minds that maybe for lack of technology, or just lack of will or reasons, but maybe now because there’s such a demand, there’s an appetite to go back to those.

Pierre Leveille 18:33
Yes, but there will be a lot of failures into that for many reasons. But the ones that will be in that will resume mining it’s just going to be a short term temporary solution. No it’s it’s not going to be you need to find deposit that will that will operate 50 years you know at least it’s 25 to 50 years at least and an old mind that you do in production in general it’s less than 10 years.

george grombacher 19:03
Got it. Oh there we go. Up here. People are ready for your difference making tip What do you have for them

Pierre Leveille 19:14
You mean an investment or

george grombacher 19:17
whatever you’re into, you’ve got so much life experience with raising a family and doing business all over the world and having your kids go to school in Africa so a tip on copper or whatever you’re into.

Pierre Leveille 19:34
But there’s two things I like to see and I was telling my children many times and I always said you know don’t focus on what will bring you specifically money don’t think of Getting Rich. Think of doing what you what you like, what you feel your your your your your, you know you have been born to do so use your most you skills, do what you like, do what you wet well, and good things will happen to you. And I can see them grow in their life. And I can tell you that this is what happens. And sometimes you have setback like I had recently. But if we do things properly, if we do things that we like, and we liked that project, we were very passionate about that project, not only me, all my team, and if we do things properly, if we do things correctly, good things will happen. And we will probably get the project back had to go forward or we will find another big project that will be the launch of a new era. So that’s my most important tip in life. Do what you like, do it with your best scale and do it well and good things will happen.

george grombacher 20:49
Pierre Leveille 21:03
Thank you. I was happy to be with you to today.

george grombacher 21:06
Damn, tell us the websites and where where people can connect and find you.

Pierre Leveille 21:13
The it’s Deep South resources.com. So pretty simple.

george grombacher 21:18
Perfect. Well, if you enjoyed this as much as I did show up here your appreciation and share today’s show with a friend who also appreciate good ideas, go to deep south resources, calm and learn all about what they’re working on and track their progress.

Pierre Leveille 21:32
Thanks. Thanks, have a nice day.

george grombacher 21:36
And until next time, keep fighting the good fight. We’re all in this together.