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The World and Everything In It
1.7.26 The just war question, the deadly fire in Switzerland, and Ellie Holcomb’s musical path
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- [00:06]
Myrna Brown
Good morning. Lawmakers debate the constitutionality of the Venezuela operation.
- [00:11]
Kent Covington
It's just not the kind of mission that you can pre notify because it endangers the mission.
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Lindsay Mast
And we'll talk about the Christian response. Hunter Baker is standing by for Washington Wednesday. Also today, singer Ellie Holcomb builds on her father's CCM legacy. Some of my music, some of his music, and then this body of work that we've created together.
- [00:38]
Myrna Brown
It's Wednesday, January 7th. This is the world and everything in it from Listener Supported World Radio. I'm Myrna Brown.
- [00:45]
Lindsay Mast
And I'm Lindsay Mast. Good morning.
- [00:50]
Myrna Brown
Up next, Ken Covington with today's news.
- [00:53]
Kent Covington
Debate continues on Capitol Hill over the operation in Venezuela captured dictator Nicolas Maruro. While Republicans defend the action, Democrats continue to criticize it and voice concerns going forward. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
- [01:09]
Hunter Baker
When the United States engages in this kind of regime change and so called nation building, it always ends up hurting the United States. I left the briefing feeling that it would again.
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Kent Covington
But fellow Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen has a different take, saying she does not see this as traditional forced regime change despite removing Maduro.
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Marco Rubio
This was not regime change.
- [01:34]
Lindsay Mast
We haven't seen that the people around Maduro have been removed or that they're going to behave differently. So that's the question. What's going to happen next?
- [01:42]
Kent Covington
The Trump administration says it was a law enforcement action to bring Maduro to justice. And as for the future of Venezuela, the United States plans to use continued pressure and the threat of possible further force to compel the Venezuelan regime to change its behavior. President Trump huddled with Republican lawmakers at a GOP retreat Tuesday to strategize ahead of this year's midterm election. There, he laid out what he called a roadmap to victory for GOP lawmakers, calling on them to highlight successes from the past year. Among those successes, he said, was that weekend operation in Venezuela.
- [02:19]
Hunter Baker
But the United States proved once again that we have the most powerful, most lethal, most sophisticated and most fearsome. It's a fearsome military on planet Earth and it's not even close.
- [02:32]
Kent Covington
US Forces captured Maduro and his wife at a Venezuelan military base over the weekend. They now face federal drug trafficking charges in the United States. President Trump also remarked on the death of GOP Congressman Doug Lamalfa of California. He reportedly died during an unspecified emergency surgery.
- [02:51]
Hunter Baker
He was a fantastic person. Man, that, that was a quick one. I don't know. I don't know quite yet what happened, but boy, it's a tough one. He was, he was just with us. He was our friend, all of us, every one of us.
- [03:03]
Kent Covington
The 65 year old Congressman served seven terms representing Northern California's 1st district. His death further trims the narrow GOP majority in the House from six seats to five. La Malfa was a former state lawmaker and rice farmer. California's governor will call a special election to fill the seat in France. US Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner gathered Tuesday in Paris with other allies of Ukraine. They were there to talk about security guarantees for Kyiv as part of a possible peace deal with Russia. Witkoff had one message for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and others in attendance.
- [03:42]
Hunter Baker
President Trump's mandate is that he wants a peace in Ukraine, and we are determined on his behalf to do everything possible to attain that peace.
- [03:50]
Kent Covington
But so far, Moscow has shown no signs of budging from its demands. The Kremlin insists there can be no ceasefire before Ukraine agrees to a comprehensive settlement. And as part of that comprehensive deal, Moscow wants Kyiv to cede Ukrainian territory that Russia now occupies, something Ukraine has said is out of the question. Abortion will remain legal in Wyoming after the state Supreme Court struck down two pro life laws. World's Kristin Flavin has more.
- [04:20]
Lindsay Mast
The court ruled the laws violated Wyoming's constitution, siding with the state's only abortion clinic and abortion rights groups. The justices said a voter approved health care amendment gives adults broad authority over medical decisions. And even though it was not written with abortion in mind, they added that lawmakers could ask voters to clarify the constitution. Republican Governor Mark Gordon criticized the ruling and urged legislators to pursue a constitutional amendment. And some state lawmakers say the matter is far from settled. And they do intend to give voters the last word. One of the blocked laws would have protected the unborn, except in limited cases. Another would have banned abortion pills. For world I'm Kristen Flavin.
- [05:07]
Kent Covington
I'm Kent Covington. And still ahead, lawmakers debate the constitutionality of the operation in Venezuela. And Hunter Baker is standing by for Washington Wednesday, this is the World and everything in it.
- [05:37]
Lindsay Mast
It's Wednesday, January 7th. Glad to have you along for today's edition of the WORLD and Everything in It. Good morning. I'm Lindsay Mast.
- [05:44]
Myrna Brown
And I'm Myrna Brown. Time now for Washington Wednesday.
- [05:49]
Lindsay Mast
First up, the aftermath of the Maduro capture. In the days since the US Captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, the Trump administration has worked to make its case for the operation. Here's Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
- [06:02]
Kent Covington
We are not going to be able to allow in our hemisphere a country that becomes a crossroads for the activities of all of our adversaries around the world. We just can't allow it. We can't have a country where the people in charge of its military and in charge of its police department are openly cooperating with drug trafficking organizations. We can't. We're not going to allow that. These things are direct threats to the United States, and we intend to use every element of leverage that we have to ensure that that changes.
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Myrna Brown
On Capitol Hill, the administration briefed lawmakers on the operation. World's Carolina Lumeta has more.
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Carolina Lumeta
One thing Republicans and Democrats can agree on Nicolas Maduro was an illegitimate president and a dictator. But they differ on whether Saturday's operation was constitutionally proper. On CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday, Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton said both the Maduro capture and the Iran strikes over the summer fall under Trump's authority. As the chief law enforcement officer for.
- [07:00]
Marco Rubio
The country, he has the inherent authority under our Constitution to protect these American.
- [07:04]
Kent Covington
National interests and as the chief law enforcement officer to make sure that indicted.
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Marco Rubio
Drug traffickers face justice whether they're indicted in Venezuela or indicted in the United States.
- [07:12]
Carolina Lumeta
Earlier this week, Trump administration officials met with top leaders in Congress and members of key committees to answer questions about Operation Absolute Resolve. After the two hour briefing, lawmakers appeared divided, mostly along party lines. Many Democrats have questioned whether President Donald Trump had the authority to bomb Caracas without first seeking congressional approval. Congressman Gregory Meeks is the Democratic ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He's critical of both the orders and the plan moving forward.
- [07:42]
Arsenio Arteza
The military did its job, it had.
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Marco Rubio
A plan, et cetera. All of that was great as far as that's concerned.
- [07:48]
Arsenio Arteza
I don't like the orders that they.
- [07:49]
Marco Rubio
Were given, but I can't say the same for the plan after President Trump.
- [07:54]
Carolina Lumeta
Has said that for now, the US Will run Venezuela and get the ball rolling for elections later. Maduro's handpicked vice president, Delsey Rodriguez, has taken the oath of office as the interim president, but Trump said he could authorize a second strike at any time if Rodriguez doesn't cooperate. Senator Roger Wicker is the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He he says the operation was in the national interest.
- [08:19]
Hunter Baker
The president's justifications, as stated to the press, were correct.
- [08:24]
Marco Rubio
It was a necessary thing to do.
- [08:25]
Hunter Baker
To protect the United States.
- [08:27]
Carolina Lumeta
He also expressed his trust in the administration's ability to handle transition I think.
- [08:32]
Hunter Baker
We have a lot of professionals running this and I have confidence in them.
- [08:35]
Carolina Lumeta
House Speaker Mike Johnson has called the operation both decisive and correct. He says Trump complied with a requirement to report to Congress within 48 hours of a military engagement. Article 1 of the Constitution says Congress must make the decision to go to war. But in a news conference announcing the operation, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was a law enforcement action, not an act of war.
- [08:58]
Kent Covington
We called members of Congress immediately after. This was not the kind of mission that you can do Congressional notification on. It was a trigger based mission in which conditions had to be met night after night. We watched and monitored that for a number of days. But it's just not the kind of mission that you can pre notify because it endangers the mission.
- [09:13]
Carolina Lumeta
Some lawmakers argue that this still violated the legislative branch's authority to advise and consent. Here's Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.
- [09:22]
Marco Rubio
It's a way of saying we're going to commit war, but we're going to call it a law enforcement operation. You could say, well, then we don't.
- [09:28]
Hunter Baker
Have to ask Congress or the people.
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Marco Rubio
For a declaration of war against Saudi Arabia. We could just fly in there, swoop in there, bomb the Capitol and take them.
- [09:36]
Carolina Lumeta
Democrats, including Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy say even indictments and secret operations do not justify the administration's actions.
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Arsenio Arteza
It doesn't, doesn't matter.
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Marco Rubio
The Constitution doesn't have a carve out for sneak attacks on countries that don't present an imminent threat to the United States of America.
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Carolina Lumeta
The Senate is expected to vote this week on a resolution demanding the White House to end hostilities in the Caribbean until Congress approves. Similar resolutions in both chambers were voted down last year. Reporting for WORLD I'm Carolina Lumeta in Washington.
- [10:10]
Lindsay Mast
Joining us now to talk about it is political scientist Hunter Baker. He is a world opinions contributor and provost at North Greenville University. Good morning, Hunter.
- [10:18]
Hunter Baker
Good morning, Hunter.
- [10:20]
Lindsay Mast
There were months of increasing pressure on Venezuela. The US Escalating pressure against Venezuela designating a cartel group allegedly tied to President.
- [10:29]
Marco Rubio
Nicolas Maduro as a foreign terrorist organization.
- [10:32]
Hunter Baker
Surprise US Military deployment is on its way to the coast of Venezuela. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announcing the US.
- [10:39]
Marco Rubio
Carried out a new military strike on.
- [10:41]
Hunter Baker
An alleged drug trafficking boat.
- [10:42]
Lindsay Mast
Today. The world's biggest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, arrived in the Caribbean Sea. But I don't know that many people saw a direct operation like this coming. And I suspect there were big political moves going into it and probably more to come. So walk us through what you see as the politics here of Trump's decision to remove Nicolas Maduro from power.
- [11:05]
Hunter Baker
Well, I want to note, you know, we've Been talking about this for quite a while in terms of the drug boats and the US Military presence outside the country. There was tremendous telegraphing being done. The administration tried to build off ramps. It won't be stated this way, but they tried to give Maduro opportunities to take a lot of money with him basically to go away. Because if you're the administration, you really want to avoid the messy part of this that we are now in. But Maduro did not accept any kind of deals or opportunities to go off to Cuba or Russia or whatever. And so now we've done the part that we're really good at the quick military action as we saw in Iran and as we've now seen in Venezuela. But what comes now is the hard part, what we're going to actually do in Venezuela now that we have removed Maduro. And in terms of the politics of it, of course it affects Donald Trump. I mean, Donald Trump is at the top of this. But there's also Marco Rubio. Marco Rubio, I think a lot of people sense that he is sort of a prime author of this action. He is the person who is obviously the most keenly interested. Rubio is a classic Cuban American who has strong feelings about communists and socialists in Latin America and who wants to reverse the progress they made to make sure that people are free. J.D. vance, you know, it's been pointed out to me by serious Washington insider, Vance is maybe on the other side of this thing. You know, he's making the right noises, but he has been largely absent. And that's because he may feel differently. You know, as a former enlisted man in the US Military may be much more reserved about the kind of things that could lead to boots on the ground. So right now it's almost like we're looking at a sort of a high risk venture. And if it works out well, it's going to look really good for Donald Trump and it's going to look really good for Marco Rubio.
- [13:18]
Myrna Brown
While this was a law enforcement action, Maduro being forced to answer an indictment in an American court Monday, there are obviously greater matters at hand. Donald Trump has already referred to oil and a renewal of the Monroe Doctrine with regard to foreign powers in the American hemisphere. Hunter, how should Christians be thinking about this situation?
- [13:43]
Hunter Baker
Well, there was a guest on the show yesterday, Admiral Montgomery, who used the phrase we need to fixate on the democracy issue over against maybe the oil issue or the money issue. And I think as Christians, we do need to be doing that. It is important what kind of rights the people of Venezuela have. The moral credibility of the United States is important, and I think that the idea of rescue is important here. There was a great Wall Street Journal editorial earlier in the week that pointed out that, no, this is not like we just went in and toppled some legitimate head of state. We toppled somebody who I think that. I think a person like Augustine would describe as a gangster, somebody who is ruling purely by force and without justice. And we've gone in and we've rescued these people, or we're trying to rescue them from that regime. And I think that that's entirely valid. And the fact that the people who were elected and repressed have kind of given their approval lends credence to. But. So people are going to be watching what we do and where we put our attention. And it needs to be on more things than just the oil.
- [15:01]
Lindsay Mast
Well Hunter. The Venezuela intervention comes from a president who made a name in part in 2016 by promising not to get involved in foreign entanglements of the type in Iraq and Afghanistan that cost trillions of dollars and many lives. Some, though, are predicting the same situation could play out in Venezuela. So what are your thoughts on the Trump administration's capability and desire to bring about change in Venezuela?
- [15:27]
Hunter Baker
Given our recent history, I was not at all surprised that the immediate sort of commentary, especially from Democrats, with regard to this action in Venezuela, centered on our experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. And certainly, I mean, so there are some parallels. I mean, in Iraq and Afghanistan, we were very confident. I was one of those people, you know, our way of life, democracy, human rights. This is so appealing. We're going to be able to spread this model around the world. Even as the Soviet Union fell, we're going to be able to take this everywhere. China, the Middle east, we're significantly chastened now relative to how we were then. However, it's really important to look at Venezuela and to see it as different. Venezuela has a different history, a different people, a different religion. Venezuela is formerly a very prosperous country with a formerly booming economy, and they have had a functioning democracy in the past. So I think it's going to be a totally different kind of a situation to help them to recover what was lost in this quarter century of socialist authoritarianism in the region. Nevertheless, it is tricky. People may see, you know, you took out Maduro, okay, why aren't we immediately putting in Machado or Gonzalez? Why don't we immediately have a new election? And the answer is we are not in control on the ground. I mean, we are able to exert pressure. We have leverage significant leverage. But we are not actually there with our military calling the shots. And so I think it's going to have to be worked out. Right now we're working through this. Vice president. There are a number of other figures in the Venezuelan government who are very powerful. And so we're going to try to work with them right now in the short term, but I think that longer term you're going to have to try to find some way to bring about elections.
- [17:34]
Lindsay Mast
Hunter, I want to follow up with that real quick. I know in recent months the president has taken a lot of criticism for being so involved in foreign affairs as opposed to domestic ones. And although there was the increasing pressure on Venezuela, it's not like he wasn't paying attention there. But here we have yet another very real, very serious situation that's going to require that attention. How do you see that affecting his presidency and maybe his effectiveness here at home?
- [18:03]
Hunter Baker
Well, it's interesting. The American psychology is highly affected by things like gas prices and gas prices affect other prices in our economy. I don't know about you. I have felt just a little bit better because I paid 215 at the pump recently. And so, you know, people may be experiencing that a little bit. We've had some good economic reports with regard to the growth of the economy. So maybe a little bit of pressure has been relieved there. I think that hopefully we're going to avoid another government shutdown. So on the economic side, things are maybe feeling a little bit better here in the short term. But yes, I mean, Americans are sensitive. Certainly, we saw I think they disapproved of George H.W. bush when they felt that he was far too focused on international matters instead of American things. But this is easier for Americans to understand, I think, than the stuff that's off in Asia or the Middle East. This is our neighborhood and Americans, I think, have typically understood that it matters what's happening in our neighborhood, whether it's Cuba or or other parts of Latin America.
- [19:11]
Lindsay Mast
Hunter Baker is provost at North Greenville University. Hunter, thank you so much.
- [19:15]
Hunter Baker
Thank you.
- [19:25]
Kent Covington
Additional support comes from Pre Lutheran Bible College, grounding students in the Word of God for life in Jesus Christ on campus and in person in Plymouth, Minnesota. Flbc edu World from Commuter Bible, the Bible podcast series that matches weekly schedules on podcast apps and commuterbible.org annual plans begin this week. And from Dort University, Dort's online Master of Social Work program equips students for faithful service in their local communities until all is made new.
- [20:06]
Myrna Brown
Coming up next on THE WORLD and everything in it World tour with the chief of our European desk, Jenny Lynn Schmidt.
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Jenny Lynn Schmidt
We start today here in Switzerland, where the nation is still reeling from last week's New Year's Day tragedy. A fire at the Constellation bar in the Alpine village of Komontana killed 40 people and left more than 100 severely injured. Most of the victims were teenagers and young adults. Eight of those killed were under the legal drinking age of 16. The youngest to die was 14. On Sunday, hundreds of mourners held a procession through the town's streets out of respect for the victims. They filled the square outside the church where the service could be heard. Prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the two proprietors of the bar. They could face charges of homicide, bodily harm and causing a fire through negligence. But local authorities admitted Tuesday that the last safety inspection of the bar was five years ago. Although the law requires annual inspections, authorities believe the fire started from sparklers held too close to the ceiling, which was covered with highly flammable sound insulating foam panels. The panels ignited and then spread, the flames quickly engulfing the basement bar. Panicked revelers tried to flee up a narrow staircase to the exit, but many succumbed to the smoke and flames. The scale of the emergency quickly overwhelmed small local hospitals. Medical teams have transferred the wounded to burn units across Switzerland and abroad. Swiss President Guy Parmelin called for a national day of mourning on Friday. Church bells will toll across the country at 2pm Calling citizens to remember the victims of the fire. Still in Europe, we head up to Berlin, where climate extremism is moving from protest to sabotage. Left wing militants claimed responsibility for an arson attack that left more than 45,000 homes without power. Authorities reported that several high voltage cables near a power plant were in flames. The outage also left many homes and businesses without power as temperatures fell below zero. Martin Strahlau of the Berlin police, he says detectives are treating the attack as arson and are still investigating. An extremist organization called the Volcano Group claimed responsibility, saying it wanted to, quote, cut the juice to the ruling class in response to climate concerns and AI electricity consumption. Though they framed it that way. The blackout endangered hospital patients, stranded elderly residents, shut down heat and transit during a winter freeze and hit working class neighborhoods the hardest next to Nigeria, where terror attacks have continued in the northern part of the country after airstrikes by the United States. Gunmen killed at least 30 people at a market in north central Niger state on Saturday evening. The terrorists also abducted several people. Malam Mohammed witnessed the violence. He says the insurgents took all five of his children. Meanwhile, fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province torched several homes in a village in the northeast on New Year's Eve. They burned dozens of homes and asked the residents to either convert to Islam or pay a tax or be killed. Days earlier in the same state, insurgents killed 11 Christians, targeted a church, and burned more than 100 homes. Islamist groups also attacked people in other northern states. Some experts say the terror groups likely staged the attacks in response to U.S. airstrikes. On Christmas Day, the U.S. action targeted operations of a terror group known as La Kurawa. But residents say it also brought fear and confusion to their community. We wrap up in Iran, where authorities are trying to quell the impact of widespread protests. Demonstrations that began over rising prices of food and gasoline cut across nearly all of Iran's 31 provinces. A U. S. Based rights group said that at least 35 people have been killed in the protests and that Iranian authorities have detained more than 1,000 others. This week, in a sign of desperation, the government announced plans to hand out the equivalent of US$7 to every Iranian over the next four months. She says here that the plan will begin on Saturday with monthly deposits into bank accounts. Iran's economy has battled against years of economic sanctions over its nuclear programs. The currency has lost more than one third of its value against the US Dollar in the past year. That's it for this week's world tour. I'm Jenny Lindschmidt in Paltry, Switzerland.
- [25:41]
Lindsay Mast
Here's a fish story that's no tall tale. A quarter ton bluefin tuna sold for a record $3.2 million at a Tokyo fish market. Winning bidder, a sushi mogul named Kihoshi Kimura. He described the auction as a kind of coaster ride. The price just kept going up, but evidently never down. Roughly translated, Kimura is explaining he may have funding issues, admitting his bid was much higher than his budget. Oh, but that nice looking tuna with its fine grained fat and luscious texture was just irresistible. This may be what it looks like when a sushi master's eyes are bigger than his bank account. Ah, it's the world and everything in it.
- [26:41]
Myrna Brown
Thank you for turning to World Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I'm Myrna Brown.
- [26:47]
Lindsay Mast
And I'm Lindsay Mast. Coming next on the World and everything in it, Ellie Holcomb keeps her famous father's Christian music legacy going strong. Holcomb and her husband Drew, have been making music solo and together for over 20 years. Last fall, she released her latest album, Far Country. Next month, the couple will begin a joint tour that will take them across.
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Myrna Brown
The US World's music critic Arsenio Arteza caught up with Ellie Holcomb to discuss the album, the upcoming tour, and what it was like growing up as the daughter of a famous contemporary Christian music producer.
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Arsenio Arteza
Successful second generation musicians are less common in contemporary Christian music than they are in mainstream pop. Ellie Holcomb, however, is one such performer. She's the daughter of the Dove and Grammy Award winning producer Brown Bannister, and from the albums that she's made with her husband Drew to her growing solo discography, she's doing her father proud.
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Lindsay Mast
Some people need to go find the.
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Arsenio Arteza
Far country this is Far country, the title cut of Holcomb's latest solo album. The song, like the album, is an exuberant yet probing meditation on the intersection of faith and doubt, particularly the kind of doubt that can spring from getting blindsided by tragedy. I asked Holcomb what inspired her most recent batch of songs.
- [28:22]
Lindsay Mast
When I was writing this record, the heaviness of the time, of the divided sort of nature of the time we're in was on my heart, but also lost a dear friend to a long battle with cancer. And then really the kicker, I have a precious niece, Bailey, who was eight years old when she was diagnosed with a pretty rare soft tissue cancer. And man, we lost her just after she turned nine. It just that that kind of thing will rock you and then you throw.
- [28:56]
Arsenio Arteza
That wasn't all that rocked Holcomb. There was also the one year anniversary of the Covenant School shooting. The occasion was particularly traumatic for her for two reasons. She had friends whose children were students there and one of the victims had been Holcomb's third grade teacher.
- [29:13]
Lindsay Mast
I think it's been a gift for me to get to sing through the sorrow and through the shadows and to wrestle. I felt really thirsty and really sad. So I went looking for, you know, that kind of living water. The peace that I felt like I'd once known. And so Far country tells the story of what I encountered in the wilderness.
- [29:35]
Arsenio Arteza
And it's compelling. Holcomb wrote heartfelt lyrics, but the music represents a notable departure from the Americana timbres that fans of the Holcombs have come to expect.
- [29:49]
Lindsay Mast
It's the loss of control It's a landslide of losing my religion Going blind to find my vision of art it was my my job to know where the flowers would grow when it turns out Lightning in the thunder the easy breeze of summer doesn't feel like I got control.
- [30:12]
Arsenio Arteza
I asked Holcomb about Her decision to pivot to such a big sound.
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Lindsay Mast
My dad, in this executive producer meeting was like, what if you put the guitar down? Because I love to dance and I love to surf. And so the kind of music that I want to listen to when I'm doing that generally has this, like, kind of bigger pop moments. And he was like, what if you put your guitar down for some of it and, like, let yourself dance around on stage?
- [30:40]
Arsenio Arteza
I asked Holcomb what it was like to grow up as Brown Bannister's daughter.
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Lindsay Mast
The two things that I gained that I'm really grateful for growing up in the world of music was one, I had a very keen understanding that the right song at the right time for somebody could change the course of things for them, to help people feel hope and less alone. Like, I just heard story after story of that, so. And then number two, I grew up being zero percent enamored with fame.
- [31:13]
Arsenio Arteza
Holcomb says she saw that the performing life could be extremely hard on families, and she resolved not to marry a professional musician or even become a professional musician. She ended up doing both. And beginning in February, she and her husband Drew, will launch what they're calling the Never Gonna Let yout Go tour.
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Lindsay Mast
It's sort of like some of my music, some of his music, and then this body of work that we've created together. We're bringing Drew's band, the Neighbors. And then every night is different because we always do sort of a section of the night where people just can tell us what they want to hear. It's fun, it's funny. We laugh a lot, tell some stories, and play a good number of songs. So it's a blast.
- [32:03]
Arsenio Arteza
It may be premature, but if Ellie really is going to play what people tell her they want to hear, I'm putting in a request for my favorite track on Far Country Small Boat. I'm Arsenio Orteza.
- [32:18]
Lindsay Mast
It only takes a small boat it only takes a small boat it only takes a small boat to get across a big sea it only takes one.
- [32:34]
Jenny Lynn Schmidt
Word it only takes the one word.
- [32:39]
Lindsay Mast
It only takes the one word for you to hear me the best things in life aren't always.
- [33:02]
Myrna Brown
It's Wednesday, January 7th. Good morning. This is the world and everything in it from listener supported World Radio, I'm Myrna Brown.
- [33:11]
Lindsay Mast
And I'm Lindsay Mast. Well, intentions aside, the new year has already begun. To tell the truth about us, here's World's Janie B. Cheney. On change that does not depend on Perth. Perfect follow through.
- [33:24]
Janie B. Cheney
January 1st is notable for gym memberships opened January 7th is equally notable for gym attendance drop offs. By some estimates, when the end of the month rolls around, less than half of the new members are still showing up to work out. The same might be true of your resolution to cut back on sugar or read one book per week or to call your mom more often. January 1st looks no different from December 31st. Starting the year in midwinter is only a tradition going back to the Roman Republic and the Julian calendar. Why should a month named for Janus, the pagan God of new beginnings, have any influence on a Christian? Well, it just does. There's something about hanging a new calendar and clearing the books that pushes us toward trying to do better. And there's something about human nature that resists improvement when it comes is mostly a matter of gradual steps rather than dramatic leaps. This shouldn't surprise us. The Christian life is often described as a walk, as being rooted and grounded, as slowly conforming to the image of our Lord. And we are transformed as much by circumstances we can't control as by those we can. That's not to say that resolutions are worthless, only that we may need to trim our expectations. Arthur Brooks suggests that dieting and exercise resolutions fail because they don't pay off right away. It takes time to see the results on your scale or waistline, time that eats away your good intentions. Resolutions that offer an immediate hit of happiness are more likely to succeed. And and by happiness he doesn't mean every guilt laden spoonful of midnight ice cream. Brooks studies happiness for a living and believes it's mostly a matter of fine tuning one's outlook. He recommends two resolutions anyone can make and anyone can keep first, to forgive. Second, to be grateful. God has the same idea, but not in that order. Forgiveness can be complicated, but gratitude is simple. We can truly forgive only when we're forgiven. To be thankful, we just need to open our eyes. Gratitude is the oil that enables the Christian virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, harmony and love. Colossians 3:15 adds, and be thankful to all these qualities as though it were an afterthought. But gratitude is often the first step to a renewed spiritual life. Does that mean giving thanks for a cancer diagnosis first? Thessalonians 5:18 says to give thanks in all circumstances, not necessarily for all circumstances. Bad news is bad from any angle. But God knows how to bring good out of evil. That's his specialty. Gratitude begins with acknowledging how he brought you and me out of evil, and from there it's grace upon grace. Arthur Brooks recommends listing five things you're grateful for at the beginning of the year, adding two more each week, and taking time every day to rehearse your list. That's sound advice for anyone, but no one has more reason for thankfulness than a child of God. Happy New Year. I'm Janie Buccane.
- [36:59]
Lindsay Mast
Tomorrow, a new overhaul of the recommendations for childhood vaccines. We have a report and changes coming for the Haitians who migrated to Springfield, Ohio. That and more tomorrow. I'm Lindsay Mast.
- [37:12]
Myrna Brown
And I'm Myrna Brown. The world and everything in it comes to you from World Radio. World's mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates and inspires. The Bible says, trust. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. The book of Proverbs, chapter 3, verses 5, 6 and 7. Go now in grace and peace.
- [37:52]
Lindsay Mast
Sam.