"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
Part of this year’s assignment was to read the Monitor and pick a situation to pray about. I read about North Korea where they are so closed off, and are testing and developing nuclear weapons, whilst the people in the country are being terrorized by Kim Jong’s dictatorship and living in very poor conditions. I felt so concerned and sickened at first when they started testing missiles, and also couldn’t understand how in this world of communication any country could be so closed. After my initial fluster about it I started to think over and over a passage from Science and Health which we had been given to memorize for association a few years ago:
One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, "Love thy neighbor as thyself;" annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry,--whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed. SH 340:23
I went through the passage realizing One, just One, infinite, never ending, all- encompassing good God, who is Principle and Love. How does this fulfil (or fill full) the Scripture “Love thy neighbour as thyself:?” Well that’s where it hit me. Love of course. If some one feels loved, how can that person (or country) be unresponsive and closed down? Those are cold, bitter, and defensive thoughts.
Every night when I went to bed I practised loving, and seeing that Kim Jong and his followers were receptive to that wonderful thing of Love with the big L. I had to see that as a spiritual idea they were included in Gods love, not shut out from it. Then I remembered that Love dissolves the adamant of error. Wow! So good, that. Instead of feeling annoyed at Kim Jong’s attempts to display human power and pride, I could know that Love alone is life and power.
This response is a bit like when one of the children has done something bad, and instead of shouting you catch them off guard and give them a big hug and tell them how much you love them! You know they’ll feel and remember that more than the rollicking you could have given them! And they grow this way, like watering and tending to a flower.
Well, Kim Jong was my flower! So every time I heard bad news about him, or felt fearful for everyone’s future, I tried to stay firm in seeing that Love can permeate anything, even the thickest of skins! After all, one infinite God Good rectifies what ever is wrong in social and political situations, and annuls the curse on man. Nothing is impassable for Gods love.
Then recently I heard North Korea is gently opening up, and as in the new birth it’s the little steps that lead to greater strides forward to spiritual Love. I will be grateful to God for every little step that country takes in expanding their communication with the rest of the world. Again this is where love comes in. If we get to know people, we stop fearing them, and truly start to love them as our selves This is applicable to all world conflict. We have to find a way through prayer to be able to love unconditionally.