An old man used to say in an old-man-wisdom sort of way, “Ah Lord, a lot see but a few know, a lot start but few go.” See it. Know it. Start. Go.
Donald Trump recently raised eyebrows with a classic “mean tweet” by suggesting the U.S. should consider reclaiming the Panama Canal. You might wonder what all the fuss is about. Why would Trump say something like that about a mere canal? The answer is a tale of a time when visionary American leadership knew something, started something, and changed the world.
History is filled with legends of those willing to step out into the unknown and just start, rather than stay stuck in a siege mentality. A siege mentality involves cowering down, barricading the gates, and fretting over your resources. In a siege mentality, it’s all about preserving the status quo. It’s hard to start anything hunkered down in a siege mentality.
Ronald Reagan said, “Tear down this wall,” and soon after, the Iron Curtain fell. Bill Gates started a little company called Microsoft in his garage, and it became a world leader in technology. A little-known company called Sun Records changed the world of music by taking a chance on a young guy named Elvis Presley. In every one of those moments, someone had to get out of the siege mentality. They had to start, never knowing if it would work.
One of my favorite passages in Scripture comes from 1 Samuel 14. It tells a battlefield story of heroism against the odds, illustrating what happens when a leader will see it, know it, start something, and go all in.
The Philistines were at war with Israel. King Saul’s army was outnumbered, poorly led, and despondent. But Saul’s son Jonathan couldn’t abide by what he was seeing. Looking across the valley at the Philistines, Jonathan got a notion, turned to his armor-bearer, and said: “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”
“I have an idea,” Jonathan essentially said. “Let’s go pick a fight and see if it works.” Two men went up against an army, unsure if they fully understood the outcome. But they started.
Teeth and hair were flying as Jonathan and his aide wiped out the entire garrison of Philistines. The ruckus even caught the attention of Saul across the valley. The victory galvanized the nation of Israel, whose army rose up with a renewed sense of purpose.
The broader victory was huge, though the outcome was originally uncertain. The desire was great, the talent was strong, the need was there, but it all originally made no sense. The difference between Jonathan and everyone else in the entire nation of Israel was that he was bold enough to see it and just start.
And that, my friends, is what happened with the Panama Canal. President Teddy Roosevelt had a notion. Congress, the press, and the public all thought it was crazy. The French had already tried to dig the canal, losing an estimated 22,000 men during their attempt.
The debate raged. Roosevelt said that if he gave the project over to the debate of the naysayers, it would be 50 years before dirt was moved. He determined to start the canal and let the naysayers debate him instead. He could see it, and he started.
Americans lost 5,609 men during the canal’s construction. The U.S. government spent $375 million to build it, making it the most expensive project in U.S. history at that time, and the equivalent of $15.2 billion in today’s dollars. The outcome was uncertain, but they started.
Today the Panama Canal is the gateway to commerce in the Western Hemisphere. It is so important that the shipbuilding industry uses the scale of the Panama Canal to determine the ship size through a standard known as “Panamax.” Six percent of all global maritime trade travels through the Panama Canal with 73% of that to and from U.S. ports. Forty percent of all U.S. shipping goes through the canal. Over $270 billion dollars of cargo transits through the canal that was started by a crazy idea from an American president.
The Panama Canal has become the world standard. It changed global commerce by opening trade and removing barriers. For nearly a century the United States built, paid for, and maintained the Panama Canal. It all happened because Roosevelt just started.
But in 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter agreed to give away what the U.S. built. In 1999, the canal zone was turned over, and within a few years China began initiating the next phase of its “Belt and Road” initiative with new port operations, infrastructure, and influence. In recent years the U.S. Navy and commercial shipping have been forced to pay exorbitant fees for rite of passage through the canal that we built – even going so far as to auction entry to the highest bidder.
Trump’s “mean tweet” is a leader putting the world on notice that we will not be taken advantage of. Not in our own backyard. Not in the canal that we built. Not in a way that impairs our economy and impedes our military. He is absolutely right. We started it. We went there. We built it.
Sometimes, amid the siege, a leader must step out and see what happens. It might mean going across the way and getting skint up a mite. But in the seeing, knowing, starting and going, that leader might get neck deep and find that God is in it. The people might get roused up from their siege mentality. It might just change the world.
To contact Phil or request him for a speaking engagement, go to www.rightsideradio.org.
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