We still hoped that the examinations would be able to be taken, but before long it was clearly seen that it would not be wise to go on so we closed down. The examinations were put off till September! It was rather a damper to have the work suddenly closed like that, but on thinking it over there were some things that could be said for the students. . . .
The trouble fortunately passed over. The advancing southern force was stopped and ever since has seemed to lose rather than gain power.[36]
What neither Eric nor the recipients of his letter could have known at the time was that “power” would soon take on a new meaning and “trouble” would fall upon his world in ways that would test even the strongest of believers.
Christmas 1928 came, and Eric sent out a number of Christmas cards to family and friends in Scotland, including one to the little Sunday school class of Effie Hardie. As 1929 dawned, Eric found himself faced with a new decision—his four-year commitment to TACC would meet its completion in June. His mother and father planned a furlough in June, and he thought to go with them to receive additional training and then return to the students—and Miss MacKenzie—in China. By then, she would be over eighteen. The timing seemed perfect.
But an announcement by Dr. Hart in late January 1929 changed all that.
In a February 1929 letter to Miss Hardie’s Sunday school class, Eric wrote,
Dear Miss Hardie,
Thank you for the beautiful calendar which came for Christmas, it was good just to see a bit of Old Edinburgh once again. . . .
This year I should have been returning home but I have decided to wait on another year. This decision has been aimed at owing to the ill health of our Principal. Dr. Hart has been at this college for 25 odd years and was hoping to stay another year, but this winter he has been seriously ill & the doctors advise him to return in May. I am staying on for the next year so as to save any trouble as regards two of us from the Science department being away together.
The rest of my family all go home at the same time in a month so that I will be left on my own here. The pleasure of looking after a house will be mine?!![37]
Within days of writing the letter, an unexpected change came to the Liddell home. James left for Tsangchow to attend the annual LMS District Committee meetings only to return a couple of days later, aided by Dr. Arnold Bryson. Mary gasped as she saw the condition of her husband and listened intently as Dr. Bryson explained to her that James had suffered a mild stroke not long after his departure.
James assured Mary that he now felt fine, but after a visit from their doctor, he was told to return to Scotland sooner rather than later for extended rest and relaxation. The following month, Rob arrived back at Tientsin. He and Eric escorted their parents, Jenny, and Ernest to Taku so the family could say their good-byes. This time their parents and siblings left China for Scotland, rather than the other way around, yet still leaving Rob and Eric behind as they had done so many times before.
“We’ll see you back home soon,” James assured Eric, gripping his hand. “Come when you feel the time is right.”
“And we’ll be back here as soon as your father gets better,” Mary said to Rob as she hugged him for a final good-bye.
Eric and Rob watched the family board, then remained on the dock as the ship set sail, wanting to watch and stay as close to their loved ones as possible, for as long as possible.
[35] Russell W. Ramsey, God’s Joyful Runner (South Plainfield, NJ: Bridge, 1987).
[36] Eric Liddell, circular letter, 1928, Eric Liddell Centre, accessed September 19, 2017, http://www.ericliddell.org/about-us/eric-liddell/personal-correspondence-of-eric-liddell/.
[37] Eric Liddell to Effie Hardie, February 19, 1929, Eric Liddell Centre, accessed September 19, 2017, https://www.ericliddell.org/about-us/eric-liddell/personal-correspondence-of-eric-liddell/.
CHAPTER 11
ORDINARY TIME, EXTRAORDINARY DAYS
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:7
Early Summer 1929
“How about a game of billiards?”
Eric glanced up from the evening meal he’d been enjoying with his three flatmates, surgeon Dr. George Dorling, grass widower Gerald Luxon, and newcomer David McGavin, a handsome bloke by anyone’s estimation.
Eric glanced from George to Gerald, then to David. “Are you speaking to me?” he asked.
“To all of you!” David exclaimed. “The evening is still young. What do you say?”
“Well . . .” Eric hemmed and hawed. “I’ve often enjoyed the order and geometrical precision of the game . . .”
David cocked his head. “The what?”
Eric threw his napkin next to his plate, as though dismissing his own words. “Sure, why not?” He pushed himself up from the chair. “Gentlemen? Shall we have a go at it?”
He raised his brow casually toward George and Gerald, who bit their lips to keep from laughing.
A short while later, after standing by idly while Eric won three out of three games, David turned to Gerald. “I may as well have asked if I could watch him sink ball after ball into the pockets.”
The laughter Gerald and George had managed to withhold for too long now erupted from their chests. “We learned a long time ago,” one of them quipped, “that playing billiards with Eric
