These changes for Eric would serve him well in the hard days to come.
[46] D. P. Thomson, Scotland’s Greatest Athlete: The Eric Liddell Story (Barnoak, Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland: Research Unit, 1970), 121.
[47] Ibid.
[48] David McCasland, Eric Liddell: Pure Gold: A New Biography of the Olympic Champion Who Inspired Chariots of Fire (Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House, 2001), 163.
[49] Ibid., 164.
[50] “Stuart Sanderson (1887–1971),” Initiatives of Change, January 14, 2014, http://uk.iofc.org/stuart-sanderson-1887-1971.
[51] Ibid.
[52] D. P. Thomson, Scotland’s Greatest Athlete: The Eric Liddell Story (Barnoak, Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland: Research Unit, 1970), 126.
CHAPTER 14
PATIENCE AND TACT
We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5:3-5
June 22, 1932
The morning arrived with private pomp and cloistered circumstance. Ordination day vacillated between endings and beginnings as Eric sat in an isolated chair at the front of the sanctuary in the Scottish Congregational College chapel—the chair designated for the ordination candidate.
Eric pressed his lips together, staring out at those who sat before him. His parents—both beaming—his younger brother, his sister and her new family, and a few other family members. He smiled toward them. His mother smiled back; his father nodded.
Principal Hughes walked forward, bid Eric to rise, and began the litany of questions Eric had been prepared to expect.
“Do you believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and do you boldly declare Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and acknowledge him Lord of all and Head of the church?”
“Yes,” Eric answered.
“Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the Word of God, and, inspired by the Holy Spirit, the unique witness to Jesus Christ and the authority for Christian faith and life?”
Again, Eric replied, “Yes.” Because he did.
“Will you be a faithful minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ by proclaiming the Good News, teaching the faith, showing the people God’s mission, and caring for the people?”
“I will, with the help of God,” Eric confirmed.
Once the examination questions were answered, D. P. Thomson invited Eric to kneel. A warmth ran through him as D. P. placed his hand upon Eric’s head and offered up a prayer of blessing. Tears welled in his eyes. Oh, how God had blessed him with D. P.’s friendship. With his encouragement. With his example and love.
The prayer over, D. P. changed guard with Professor Russell Scott, who proclaimed the gospel charge, his eyes never leaving Eric’s. “Go, therefore, and be a shepherd of the Good Shepherd’s flock; administer the holy sacraments; offer prayer for all God’s people; instruct, watch over, and guide the flock over which the Holy Spirit has placed you. Do it not for earthly gain but with great joy, for you have been called not to lordship but to serve his flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory.”
Scott bowed his head, and Eric did likewise. A slow breath eased from him as the professor prayed, “Merciful God and Father, you have graciously promised that through the preaching of the crucified Christ those who believe in him will be saved. Guide and bless your servant, Eric Henry Liddell, sent forth to witness in China. Graciously look with favor upon him for the sake of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Grant him confidence and great boldness; uphold and sustain him in hardship, and grant him faithfulness in all his labors that through the speaking of your Word, the nations may come to worship before your throne in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.”
Eric stood, and Russell extended his hand. “Rev. Liddell,” he said, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Eric’s heart swelled. He was no longer Mr. Liddell. He was now Rev. Liddell, like his father before him. And as his father had been, Eric felt more confident than ever in the call to continue in service to the people in Tientsin, China.
Soon enough, he stood at Waverley Station, preparing to say good-bye—yet again—to his family. His mother waited, wanting to be the last one to hug her son before he boarded.
“Out in China,” she spoke against his temple, “we dreaded the long good-byes.” She leaned back, placing the palms of her hands on both sides of his face. “So as not to cry, we made them joyful.”
Eric’s heart was heavy. He would not see this face again for another seven years. She would miss his wedding to Flo . . . the birth of their children . . . and he would miss her. “How’s that, Mother?” he asked past the knot forming in his throat.
“We always said, ‘Those who love God never meet for the last time.’ That made it a meeting, not a parting.”
Eric slipped from her embrace. “I love you.”
“And I love you, Rev. Liddell.”
“REVEREND” DENOTES AN ACADEMIC DEGREE. “Pastor” designates a calling to a specific group of people in the body of Christ. Eric knew the subtle distinction—while the seminary forms the theologian, the people whom the theologian serves form the pastor.
Rev. Eric Liddell looked forward with vested enthusiasm.
Eric’s time in Scotland had been the most special of seasons. But the time had
