Article October 24, 1953 Issue

Signs of the Times

with contributions from Lawrence Zellers, George M. MacLean

Lawrence Zellers Methodist Missionary in Korea in an article in The Christian Century Chicago, Illinois

During my three years of internment ... I had countless opportunities, as did my companions, to witness the unmistakable power of the Christian faith. For many of us this internment was a religious experience. We did not always consider it so, ... even when we were unable to measure up to the demands made upon us. But I now can look back on these years in captivity as one of the most rewarding periods, from a spiritual point of view, in my life. ... At first prison life had only a negative aspect. ... I had grown up in a country where one had certain inalienable rights to freedom and liberty. ... [Here] there was no question of such rights because they simply did not exist for anyone.

It was in this situation that we began to realize that there was only one source of help for us. We cannot be commended for this realization; there was nothing else to do. God's help was the only help that could reach us. Under these conditions God's reality became more meaningful to me than it had ever been before. The old veneer was gone, both in a physical sense and in our prayers. There was no need to pretend any longer, either to God or to man. Our friends knew us for what we were, and we came to realize more strongly than ever that God knew our every thought. In our prayers the frills and superfluous words were reduced to a minimum.

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