‘Tis the season of love again. In America everyone is rushing out to buy flowers and candy for their beloved "others." People thus loved can endure the rest of a bitter winter and blossom with the flowers of spring. That's the idea anyway. And it's all voluntary and fun, as true love ought to be. Our own Heavenly Father delighted in loving His pathetically needy creation so much that He surrendered the best He had for us.

In North Korea, there is little of this voluntary impassioned personal sort of love, at least when it comes to "loving" those two men who are supposed to be on the receiving end of all such devotion. In their case, devotion is quite often forced and punishable if not lavish enough.

Of course "lavish" is not a term one sees much in NK. There aren't a lot of birthday presents to go around the family, much less to be given up to the head of state. But the magnanimous leader graciously accepts a minimum of three flowers from every child. Not just any flower, mind you. The specifics of size and type are delineated, and children are sent to the nearby florist to be sure the order is met. If they have the wherewithal to purchase three flowers. If they do not, children are left with some stark choices. They can steal. Or they can refuse the gift, saying truthfully that they could not afford to buy three flowers.

Hyok Kang [This Is Paradise] and his friend decided one year they would just have to take their chances. They showed up in class empty-handed. It turns out they were not alone. These poor unfortunates were asked to line up and face the consequences of their horrid actions. When it came to be their turn, the children were beaten with a cane or the teacher's fists about 10 blows. On the head, in the stomach, in the face. Then it was silence the rest of the day in a nearly impossible position, as "at attention" on their knees, or hands up in the air in surrender mode.

Senseless beatings do not cause little ones to love but to hate and fear. And normal leaders do not demand this sort of "love" anyway. It is so difficult for us to imagine our national leaders, or church leaders, or our Jesus, behaving in this way. What a price the North Koreans pay just for being born there.