January 2026 – The Pull Of The Land

I believe God’s Word, the Bible.

And believing it, I know that Good will triumph over evil because God is good and He, the Creator and Redeemer has told us how it will all end, with His Kingdom triumphant and His people as kings and priests.

He has also made it clear that the route to that end will not be an easy one and will very well see much evil and disappointment along the way. A classic example of this is the well-known story of Joseph and his sale as a slave to Egypt by his own brothers.

But what did the same Joseph say to his anxious brothers, who feared revenge from Joseph after the death of Jacob, their father? “Fear not … ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good…. Genesis 50:19-20).”

Some 16 centuries later, Peter spoke in similar fashion when he told the men of Israel at Pentecost, that Jesus was “delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” and in the same breath goes on to say, “ye have taken, and by wicked hand have crucified and slain…. (Acts 2:23).”

The sale of Joseph was an evil act; infinitely more so was the betrayal and crucifixion and murder of the Son of God.

Nevertheless, in both cases, as in all cases, God is on the throne, ensuring that such actions will abound to the triumph of His good will and to the good of His own people.

Our duty is to persevere in the good fight. To the end. We may not see the victory. But we know that it will come and that we will have had a part in it.

So as we read about mayhem in Minnesota, including a church invaded and children terrorized:

“Agitators blocked stairs so parents were unable to get to their children at Sunday School. One screamed at a kid, ‘Do you know your parents are Nazis, they’re going to burn in Hell?’ Other agitators continued to scream and get into women and children’s faces while they were crying…. Other testimonies told of agitators following them and surrounding them in their car and would not allow them to leave … and that their children are traumatized…. One woman’s arm was broken….” Etc.

As we read about events around our country and in other parts of the world, it is easy to get discouraged and become “defeatist”.

That would be the wrong response.

While we are not called to be Pollyanna, we certainly are called to be faithful and to be confident in our eventual victory in Christ, even if our current circumstances are not rosy.

My children convinced me — well, “convinced” is not the right word, as I did not need much convincing — to watch the current release of The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, now in theaters, some 25 years after their worldwide premiers at the turn of this century.

At the end of The Two Towers, as Sam and Frodo, with Gollum in tow, are about to leave Osgiliath, Frodo, who shortly before barely escapes death, says, “I can’t do this, Sam.”

This all-too-familiar and all-too-real lament, is the catalyst for Sam’s monologue, which he delivers while, intermittently, the film shows scenes of their friends engaging in fierce battles taking place in far away lands but all having roles to play in the little Hobbit’s quest:

“I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.”

Frodo then asks, “What are we holding onto, Sam?”

To which Sam replies, “That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo … and it’s worth fighting for.”

Although my children have heard me criticize the director, Peter Jackson, more than once for presenting a much weaker Frodo in the movies than the Frodo J.R.R. Tolkien created in his books, I also happily compliment Mr. Jackson for having included in his movie this decently condensed version of the speech written by Tolkien in his book.

The three books and the three movies have a good number of memorable lines and speeches; however, in my view, Sam’s Monologue is the highlight.

Samwise Gamgee as portrayed by Sean Astin

Good friends have asked for my reaction to the recent events of which, unless we have been living under a rock in a desert, we are all aware.

In a post a few weeks back (here) I explained why I leaned against a military intervention.

One can respectfully disagree with actions or policies taken while still honoring those who planned and executed such, which in this case were indeed a wonder to behold!

As you can see in the above link, the situation in Venezuela, for practically the entirety of the 20th Century is not as clear cut as most pundits present it. The ideological convictions of the land of my birth have been steeped in the revolutionary principles of the French Revolution, as has been the case with much of South and Central America (see here and here and here and elsewhere in this blog).

Even today, after the events of three days ago, we have conservatives friends in Venezuela who insist that the expropriations of the iron ore and petroleum industries by the Venezuelan state were fair and agreed-upon by all. That is simply not true. I was in Venezuela when the iron ore and petroleum enterprises were “nationalized”. It was robbery — they in effect paid book value, not market, and this after decades of royalties paid as agreed. But that’s what one would expect with a people imbued with French revolutionary ideology. The negative results of such actions were seen almost immediately.

But President Carter did nothing and, sadly, neither did President Ford before him when it was obvious this was going to happen. I don’t mean they should have invaded! But they could easily have negotiated on behalf of American companies with a stronger hand.

However, wittingly or not, both presidents followed Woodrow Wilson’s footsteps, abandoning United States interests while siding with revolutionaries. William F. Buckley, Sr. testified before Congress in 1919 concerning early 20th Century Mexico’s upheavals, “… the abnormal element of the present series of revolutions is the active participation in them by the American Government.”

Clearly, President Trump’s actions are the opposite of Wilson’s, Carter’s, and Ford’s.

Related to the above, it is very important to remember that Venezuela is not a sovereign country. Over the years, throughout this blog I believe I’ve made that case abundantly clear. One book that explains this very well is La invasión consentida [The Invited Invasion]. Others include, El Delfín de Fidel, El imperio de Fidel, La conspiración de los doce golpes, and more. In addition, this blog has numerous posts that elaborate on this reality.

Ever since Chavez, Venezuela invited Cuba to take over. This is not an exaggeration. For some information see here and here. When I last visited Venezuela in 2005, the Cuban takeover was so obvious it was frightening. As Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado put it: “We have already been invaded.” In addition, major inroads and influences by China, Russia, and Iran are also evident.

As for family and friends who I’ve been able to contact, they are happy but apprehensive. The shouting in Caracas since these events tells us that my family and friends are not alone. Nevertheless, they are greatly concerned with what lies ahead.

I watched the press conference Saturday and wish the president would have explained the Monroe Doctrine better. That has not been taught properly in our schools for generations now. We needed a Reagan explanation but it was greatly lacking, unfortunately.

In summary, that doctrine advised the world that attacks, military or otherwise, against the United States via Central and/or South America would not be tolerated. It was primarily directed against European powers at the time, but ultimately against nations and empires beyond the Americas who would seek to do us harm via our neighbors. In my view, with the Venezuela action, President Trump defended that doctrine, as did President Reagan in the Grenada landing in 1983.

Nevertheless, if you take the time to read the linked posts you will see my concerns about our ability to remove an entrenched Communist political infrastructure in a large country such as Venezuela and to do so quickly. Not impossible, but certainly a highly formidable enterprise.

For example, the acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, although she has emitted conciliatory utterings, is a dyed-in-the-wool radical Communist. She is the daughter of the late Jorge Antonio Rodriguez, a leftist radical who engineered the kidnapping of William Niehous, an American executive in Caracas, in 1976. Mr. Niehous was held for over three years before his rescue.

Delcy Rodriguez’s first executive action since taking the reins has been to unleash the Chavista “colectivos” — motorcycle-riding armed thugs — against public demonstrations celebrating the US action. Of course, Chavez disarmed the Venezuelan people two decades ago. Only the colectivos and the armed forces can carry weapons.

Interim President Rodriguez is no stranger to revolutionary guerrilla warfare and terror. Now, multiply her by the tens of thousands and you have an idea of the difficulties ahead.

Bottom line, as difficult as it may seem, I do hope this is a Grenada situation and not another Iraq! But we also must be sure to not let the Venezuelan people high and dry as we’ve sadly done to others too often during the Cold War. In the case of Grenada — a much, much smaller country to be sure! — our troops landed on October 25, 1983, and our last remaining troops were withdrawn in December, 1984, when elections were held and all Cuban Communists were gone.

By the way, October 25 is a public holiday in Grenada. It is called, Thanksgiving Day.

To be clear, I still wish we had not intervened militarily even though I grant that there are complexities.

One thing we can be united in doing is to pray for the Venezuelan people and to pray for wisdom and grace for President Trump and his administration as he deals with this situation.