When Life is Cheap

When life is cheap
And times are hard
You dare not sleep
Lest a life they discard...

The police entered
And got my attention
With a poor babe's head dented
Their ounce of prevention

Held by the ankles
Then slammed on its head
A life they did dangle
Then tossed away dead...

It should be no wonder
We're all urged to pray
For countries crushed under
Tyranny's heel today

Our prophet has urged
Let our prayers be heard
That closed hearts might turn
And let in the gospel word

For though the blood that's shed
Does cry out today
Naught to God is said
As they know not how to pray

May those who rule
Learn a better way
Life is our school
And power falls away

A leader today
Is a prisoner tomorrow
When tyranny slays
And brings God great sorrow

...And Falun Gong
God bless you
For your people long
The spiritual too

People seeking
But know not where to find
Are now gathering
With likeness of mind

You've been arrested
And sent to labor camps
Your organs invested
As tyranny more clamps

Your persecution
Has been heard
Through executions
And the spoken word

It's our charge, to pray
For easing your trouble
That love today
Might make us humble

For we have taken
What cheaply has been made
And we need to awaken
To the price that's truly paid

Everything's made in China
It is an empire as such
But, where does that find us?
Having accumulated stuff

Let our pursuits
Be for what is lasting
Unto nourishing fruits
As our eyes to God are casting

Let unused hands
Get back to work
To understand
Laborer's perks

Strong backs that toil
Value possessions
And don't let them spoil
They're gift's expression

Each thing that we own
Is but a gift from God
And pray this be known
On the Chinese sod

Let them come and sample
Our country that's been blessed
Let us be an example
Of where gratitude's expressed

Each time we hold something
That's come from a sweat shop
May we hold it treasuring
The laborer who never stops

Think of their hunger
And lack of day's sunshine
Then too remember
To pray for them in kind

Think of the prayers
That would go up to heaven
If for each thing we purchased
We'd said a prayer to make it even

I went to the library and I saw beautiful paintings that said it all.
A Holocaust in China.
July 20, 1999- May 20, 2005

2300 dead from torture
millions illegally arrested
200,000 sent to labor camps
without trial
1,000 abused in mental hospitals


I believe in the power of one- that I can do something. I spent all that afternoon, which would have been spent writing my poetry, reading books about China and falling in love with the country and its people. My heart has turned to them. They are so much a part of us and there must be a better way. My thoughts were of this people all night and I awoke to this poem the next day.
And offer my faith, prayers and talents for these persecuted people.

Please forward

Please click on above title- when life is cheap- to be linked to the Church News regarding our prophet asking us to pray for other nations. I came across this and had forgotten or missed his urge for us to do so. And it hit me that I should. And the next day I went to a random library to get out of the heat because I have only a nightly room while waiting for our house. And it is hot in Las Vegas- need I say more.
I hope this poem inspires you to pray for nations who at this time are without the gospel, and religious freedoms for that matter...