Tag: books

ERIC LIDDELL (CHARIOTS OF FIRE MOVIE)

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Eric Liddell (1902–1945)

The movie, Chariots of Fire (1980): The movie is about the struggles of 2 British athletes competing in the 1924 Paris Olympics. Harold Abrahams was a Jew and struggled with anti semitism. Eric Liddell refused to run in the 100 m heat b/c it was on Sunday, which he considered to be the sabbath (many Christians have considered Sunday to be the “Christian sabbath”). He was under great pressure from the prince of Wales to compete, but Eric stayed true to his convictions. He ended up swapping his 100 m event with another British runner and won gold in the 400 m even though he wasn’t accustomed to running the 400 m. Here is the black/white actual footage of him winning the 400 m in world record time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYNUxdoIacA He would probably have won the 100m also if he had competed in it. Liddell set a British record of 9.7 seconds in the 100-yard sprint at the 1923 AAA Championships, a record that stood for 35 years. Being true to one’s convictions and overcoming adversity are the morals of the movie. Eric is considered by many to be the most popular Scottish sports hero of all times. He was nicknamed “The Flying Scotsman” due to his speed and athletic prowess. 

The theme song from the movie is inspiriing, especially as you watch Eric run. Here is a good youtube of the song and clips from the movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eYGl8PNjlU

“Eric Liddell is probably best known for the 1980s film Chariots of Fire. The film mainly focused on his life as an Olympic runner, yet the story of Eric Liddell as a missionary is important. Liddell was born to missionary parents in North China. His parents were Scottish missionaries serving with the London Missionary Society. Though he was born in China, he spent his school years in Scotland.

After school and his time as an Olympic athlete, he returned to China as a missionary in 1925. He worked as a school teacher as well as a minister. By 1941, British nationals were encouraged to leave China by the British government because of the coming Japanese invasion. Liddell’s wife and children returned to Canada, which is where she was from. (His wife died in 1984). Eric remained to work in a hospital with his brother. In 1943, he was put in a prison camp by the Japanese and continued to teach children and preach the Bible. (The children called him “Uncle Eric”).

Mr. Liddell died of a brain tumor in the Weihsien Internment Camp on February 21, 1945. He died of an inoperable brain tumor. I recently had the privilege of meeting a lady who was a young girl in the same camp as Eric Liddell. She said that as children (she was with him from the time she was 9 to 11 years old), they knew nothing of his fame as an athlete. The children only knew that he was a kind, gentle man and one of their favorite teachers.” From article by David Peach. Eric’s wife was pregnant with their 3rd child when she left China: Eric never got to see his 3rd child or his wife ever again.

A quote from the actor who played Eric in the movie: “Wherever we go we either bring people nearer to Christ or we repel them from Christ. I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast! And when I run I feel his pleasure. You will know as much of God, and only as much of God, as you are willing to put into practice.” The self sacrifice and commitment of Eric is inspiring. I can’t imagine sending my family off to never see them again, and staying behind in China to help people in the name of Jesus, eventually dying in China. According to a fellow missionary, among his last words to a friend who was at his bedside were, “It’s complete surrender.” Liddell was not announcing his last breath. Instead, he was proclaiming how he had lived his life in complete submission to the Lord. From the movie: Eric Liddell: [reading from Isaiah, Chapter 40] “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up – with wings as eagles. They shall run – and not be weary.”

The story of Eric Liddell is so inspiring from both an athletic and Christian stand point. Paul spoke a lot about being true to your convictions, even if you might be wrong in what you believe (Romans 14). Conviction“ is defined as “a firmly held belief or opinion“, not being swayed by peers or others opinions. There can be a big difference between “belief” and “conviction”. One might believe that Jesus is the Son of God but might not have the conviction to confess that belief in the face of persecution. One might believe that something is morally and Biblically wrong but might not have the conviction to not do that thing in the face of peer pressure or temptation.

Athletics can be a purely prideful thing. It is always amazing to see an athlete who truly believes that he/she is using their God given athletic ability to glorify God and not themselves. Paul used “running in a race” to illustrate how Christians need to exercise the same self control as a runner. 1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. So they do it to obtain a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Therefore I run in such a way as not to run aimlessly; I box in such a way, as to avoid hitting air; 27 but I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” But Paul also reminds us, 1 Timothy 4: 7 discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; 8 for bodily training is just slightly beneficial, but godliness is beneficial for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

The title of the movie reminds us of Elijah ascending. 2 Kings 2:11-12 As they (Elijah and Elisha) were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” 

PLAYLISTS

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

I’m a little behind on technology. When I was at UA in 1967 starting my engineering degree, one of my first classes was using IBM punchcard machines to run simple programs.To run a simple program you would have a stack of punchcards. If any one of them was done incorrectly, your program would not run.

Texas Instruments (TI) invented the first handheld calculator in 1967. I had one of those. It would only do math. It had no trig functions or anything like that. I wish I had kept mine.

One of my first classes was learning how to use a “slide rule”. (AI) “In 1967, a slide rule could be used to perform basic mathematical operations like multiplication, division, square roots, cube roots, logarithms, and trigonometric functions (sine, cosine, tangent) with a good degree of accuracy, making it a valuable tool for engineers, scientists, and anyone needing to perform quick calculations without relying on an electronic calculator which was still relatively new and not widely available at the time.”

Actually I never got very far past all that in technology! I do remember a lot of things about the 60’s. The JFK, MLK, Robert Kennedy,and Malcom X assassinations. The Freedom Writers and the Civil Rights Movement. The Cuban Missile Crisis and Bay of Pigs Invasion. Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong taking our first steps on the moon (I have a few of my students who really don’t think that happened). The 1967 summer riots in many major cities, Detroit being the worst (40 dead, thousands injured). The Soviet Gagarin was the first to orbit the earth in space. Woodstock, marijuana and LSD. Miniskirts introducted. The Vietnam “Conflict”, the draft, and war protests (and war protest songs like Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ In the Wind”: my favorite was “Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire).

Speaking of songs from the 60’s, I finally (several years after most people learned how to do this) learned how to do a simple Amazon Music playlist. I had already picked my favorite 200 songs of the 60’s, and now I have them all on 2 playlists. Some of my favorite groups were The Righteous Brothers, The Lettermen, The Association, Herman’s Hermits, and The Mamas and the Papas. My wife to be and I would listen to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass in my 64 1/2 white Mustang (the first mustangs sold) on my 8 track tape player that we installed in the car (that was before cassettes and CD’s). It wasn’t my favorite song back then , but perhaps is now is When A Man Loves A Woman” by Percy Sledge. Maybe my choice is influenced, not so much by memories of the 60’s, but by watching the Muscles Shoals documentary. The song was cut in the small studios in little Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Percy was an orderly in a local hospital. Percy Sledge said that when he originally sang this, he had in mind Lizz King, his girlfriend of three years who left him for a modeling job in Los Angeles. Said Sledge: “I didn’t have any money to go after her, so there was nothing I could do to try and get her back.”

BTW we are actually listening to “You Can’t Hurry Love” ( an original Supremes song) at our customary Sunday morning Egg McMuffin at McDonald’s. They usually don’t play songs from the 60’s, so that has to be a sign of something (not sure what except that it was a good time for this 60’s blog).

Most importantly in the 60’s I began liking and dating my future wife, Deborah. Her parents went to the same church as me. People say that I “married up” (way up according to some). I resent that even if is true. My version is that “she chased me in high school and I finally decided to let her catch me”. We have been married 54 years. God has blessed us with 3 great kids who have gone on to marry Christians and we now have a total of 10 grandchildren (5 of whom are adopted). God allowed us to do mission work in Trinidad, West Indies and Colombia, South America. I have been working in Christian Education for 35 years (as a principal or teacher). God has blessed us so much.

So stop right now and write out your memories of your teens and your life. Give God thanks and praise him.

I’ll try to get back to the deeper studies in the divided kingdom or the prophets! My wife just previewed this article and said that I will probably have more readers for this than the Bible articles, especially the history of Baal and Asherah worship!