The menacing murmurs of foreigners being made to leave had graduated to an indisputable cry of inevitability. Eric’s call was his call, though. The perplexing role of a servant of the Lord is the dichotomy of battling weariness in ministry while never feeling worthy enough to rest for too long. After two weeks with his family over the holidays, he headed back to Siaochang.
Nurse Annie endorsed that one could hardly argue with the value of his unique skill set and ministry. “Eric’s methods in systematically visiting the churches,” she wrote years later,
preparing plans, drawing maps, and holding regular conferences with the Chinese preachers, were never complicated, but simple, clear and direct, like his own character. In preaching he never expounded elaborate theories, but suggested the possibility of a “way of life” lived on a higher plane, to use his favorite expression, A God controlled life. In Siaochang, our preachers, nurses, and students hung on his words, and the common people heard him gladly.[73]
When speaking of Eric, Dr. Ken McAll recalled,
He would just shoot off on bicycle and go anywhere and everywhere, all over the countryside. He was an evangelist to the villages. He didn’t stay put. He was out most of the time, very rarely was he staying with us in our houses. And he kept his wife and babies in Tientsin where they were safer because it really was dangerous. We were constantly being shot at or locked up by the communists for identification.
He was an extraordinary fearless person, he had this awareness of Jesus being with him all the time. If you ever asked him a question of should we do this or that, he would lower his head, and say, “Yes. Well, just be quiet for a little while,” then would raise his head come out smiling. . . . He gave me a new discipline, because I had someone to check things with.[74]
Eric often thought of subtle ways he could assist the local Chinese pastors, more than through one-on-one interactions. He began to develop structured ideas for writing his own devotional book during the long intervillage bicycle rides. He thought the work would ideally be for young Christians but could also serve as a tool for area pastors.
In March, during another Tientsin pop-in with Florence, Eric shared his writing ideas and thoughts. Florence was excited for him, but she had an announcement that she thought might trump his news. They would have another baby soon.
The great news of a third child also brought more serious discussions of what their life together would and should look like. The violence of the war had escalated. Eric had been shot at on more than one occasion. Foreigners returned home for fear of detainment or of being forced out of their work. The missionary community had shrunk and continued to grow smaller. Even Tientsin was no longer considered safe for raising little ones, let alone the most suitable place to bring another tender soul into the world. Many missionary families around them were sorting out their own judgments and priorities of what to do.
The time had come for Eric and Florence to face a major life decision. Unlike the choice of whether or not to run on a Sunday, this one demanded to be wrestled with.
[68] D. P. Thomson, Scotland’s Greatest Athlete: The Eric Liddell Story (Barnoak, Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland: Research Unit, 1970), 166–7.
[69] Ibid., 170–1.
[70] Ibid.
[71] David McCasland, Eric Liddell: Pure Gold: A New Biography of the Olympic Champion Who Inspired Chariots of Fire (Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House, 2001), 223.
[72] D. P. Thomson, Scotland’s Greatest Athlete: The Eric Liddell Story (Barnoak, Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland: Research Unit, 1970), 168–9.
[73] Ibid., 148.
[74] “The Story of Eric Liddell: Olympic Champion—Man of Courage,” Day of Discovery, season 32, episode 22, aired December 5, 1999 (Grand Rapids, MI: Day of Discovery, 2008), DVD.
CHAPTER 19
TOGETHER APART
The LORD watch between you and me, when we are out of one another’s sight.
Genesis 31:49
Spring 1941
As they had so often done, Eric and Florence put their daughters to bed at night, then stole away to their own room to talk. There never seemed to be any other time. The days were spent with work or with family and friends. And Tricia and Heather, of course, were always keen to hear.
Some things were best left out of a child’s equation, like war and the decisions it forced upon the adults who weighed its consequences.
As soon as the door closed behind him, Eric crossed to the dressing table, removed his watch, and laid it next to his wife’s hand mirror. His fingers traced the scrolled gilded outlines of the mirror. “Oh, Flossie,” he sighed.
“Should I make us some tea?”
He looked at her. She rested, her shoulders against the panels of the door and her feet crossed at the ankles. Eric couldn’t help but wonder whether she was too tired to walk the rest of the way into the room, or too afraid. “No. I’m fine.” He sat in the nearby chair and removed his shoes. “We’ve got to make these decisions, my girl.”
Florence sat on the bed, curling one foot behind her knee. “What do you think best, Eric?”
“We could stay here. Together. All of us. Keep up the work.”
“Or we could call our work here done,” she countered. “And go home to England or to Canada.”
“Or . . .” Eric raked his teeth over his bottom lip. Their third option was one he didn’t want to consider.
“Don’t say it, Eric.”
“I have to.” He looked at her fully. “You could return to Canada, and I can stay. Finish what needs to be finished.” He blinked. “Not forever. Just for a season.”
Florence shook her head. “I can’t think about it right now.”
Eric scooted up to rest his elbows on his knees. “I have to
