'Love' Keeps Journalists Going in N. Korea

The New York Times photo

This was a momentous week for America. Not only was the first Hispanic person confirmed for the Supreme Court, but Congress also resuscitated the moribund auto industry while removing thousands of polluting cars from the road with the Cash for Clunkers program. Today, too, unemployment figures showed signs of dipping slightly, and it seems that the worst may be over.

The most moving, news-clip worthy event, however, was the release of two journalists from a North Korean prison. The women, who had accused of spying, had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. Through the intervention of former President Clinton, and the grace of God, Euna Lee and Laura Ling were freed and back on American soil to tell the tale.

When I heard about the release of the women on the radio, though, what struck me most was the emotional remark made by Ling, which I felt just as strongly when I saw the news broadcast.

“We could feel your love all the way in North Korea,” she said during the press conference. “It is what kept us going in the darkest of hours.”

Love was what sustained them. Love. It’s so rare for people to say that in public, when that’s the most powerful force in the world, and what Christianity is all about. To me, it was the most meaningful statement made all week. They were saved by the love of those who knew them who would not give up -- and who thereby made it possible for something of a miracle to happen in their return. That's the kind of love that Christians feel in fellowship in a tightknit parish. It's the kind of love that causes people to lay down their lives for strangers.

It made me reflect on the role of love in the Bible. Also on the latest scientific research on love's healing properties, which I plan to write about in the coming weeks. Mostly, though, it made me feel love for all of those strangers out there who cared about the fate of these women who they'd never met. When so much of the news is taken up by reports of terrorism, murder and theft, it was a welcome change.