Browsing through my old meditation notebooks I came across this short poem that I wrote about the people of North Korea. This year of our Lord 2015 marks the 70th year of Korea’s independence from nearly 40 years of Japanese occupation. But it also marks this nation’s 70th year of tragic division into North and South. Two nations but one people.

Many people have forgotten this tragedy, created not by Korean people themselves but by people of more powerful nations who sought their own interests and not those of this nation loved by God.

These thoughts came to my mind as I slowly followed the path beside China’s Tumen River, stopping frequently to look across the river and ponder the fate of the people of North Korea, less than 50 yards from where I was standing.

Following the Tumen River on a crisp autumn day in October  of 1998, walking more slowly as I gazed into North Korea, I could see people, houses, roads, very big signs such as 위대한 수령 김일성 만세 (Mansei to the Great Leader Kim Il Sung). Sambong Village was very peaceful looking, snuggled beneath small but rugged mountains. My overriding thought was, “Forgotten but not by God. Lord, may I never forget.”

 Forgotten but not by God

 Forgotten but not by God,

Inscribed in His hands of eternity,

Carved into His heart of wondrous love.

Left behind by streams of power,

Swallowed by the play of men of pride,

Unmarked in the pages of influence.

Forgotten but not by God,

Who walks in silence amidst the ruins of shame;

Preparing His people

To walk in glory when He appears.

                                                                                                                David E. Ross