Monthly Archives: October 2025

The headline here is from the New York Post. Personally, I didn’t believe, although it was deserved, that he would win it. Some of the following information is from the article, with additional commentary by me.

President Trump lost out on this year’s Nobel Peace Prize despite brokering a historic cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas after more than two years of war.

However, it wasn’t a snub, it is said, but rather a case of bad timing: The Norwegian Nobel Committee made its decision on Monday, two days before the peace deal was signed, to award the prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. I won’t comment on Machado because this isn’t about her. There also seems to be a rule all nominations for consideration had to be made by January 31, 2025, just eleven days after the start of his new term. I’m putting this aside because the NY Post didn’t mention it. 

Trump has also garnered widespread peace accolades during this second term in office for his efforts to tamp down the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine. It too will end with Trump guiding the effort.

In addition, many of the president’s allies believed he should have received the award for bringing about peace in long-standing global conflicts, including those between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Cambodia and Thailand, India and Pakistan, Serbia and Kosovo, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Azerbaijan and Armenia. He also has received kudos for his work in trying to stop the Ukraine-Russia war. As mentioned, he’ll eventually stop, just not yet.

I can accept the timing argument and say this was not a snub, and he’s in a position to get it next year. However, in my opinion, it was a snub after brokering the Abraham Accords. That was a big deal and will hold. This is Phase 1, and who knows if it will be. I say this because I do not trust Palestine.

Let’s face it, the Nobel Peace Prize lost its value the moment it was awarded to Obama for merely showing up to work. A lasting peace is more important than the award. With that said, congratulations, María Corina Machado.

Erika Kirk forgave the man who assassinated her husband, a thought I’ve wrestled with, and continue to wrestle with.

I shared my thoughts with my wife last night, she felt I might be inviting controversy. Maybe so. So here I am, adding this brief note this morning: These are my thoughts, and this is where I am right now. I may be wrong, but it’s my journey. And I don’t walk it alone.

Starting with Jesus’ words: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34, and the Lord’s Prayer, which teaches us to forgive our trespassers, tells us that Jesus forgives for the purpose of salvation. Erika, on the other hand, forgave without absolving the offender, which she really couldn’t do, but for the sake of self-healing. And no doubt she offered forgiveness because it’s part of her faith.

What Erika did was extraordinary, but it doesn’t set a standard that everyone must meet, or at least not meet quickly. I believe God understands my struggle, especially because I can acknowledge it. And because of that, I trust He’s walking with me through it. For some, the journey will be short. For others, it will be long. But He won’t abandon us in the quest.

So, knowing God doesn’t demand perfection, He offers partnership, is the first step. We know this from Jonah. Jonah knew God would extend mercy to his enemies, even though Jonah himself didn’t want them to have it. As in the poem “Footprints,” God remains with us at all times, even through our anger, grief, confusion, and resistance. I love that poem, by the way.

Forgiveness isn’t about forgetting or excusing; it’s about finding peace. And that peace is something God promises us. I see what Erika did. I admire it. I’m not there yet. But I believe God is walking with me, and for now, that’s enough.