Posted on 03/17/2021 8:52:49 AM PDT by OneVike
I just finished watching the 1981 Oscar-winning film from England, "Chariots of Fire", on Turner Classic Chanel. Chariots is on my top 5 list of the best movies of all time. Not so much for the acting, cinematography, or directing, those are excellent but for the message it conveys.
He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40: 29-31
For those of you who have not seen this masterpiece, it is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics in Paris. Eric Henry Liddell also known as the "Flying Scotsman" is a devout Christian who runs to honor God and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice.
There are two amazing scenes that are God sent to the film which are true. Kudos to the writer for adding them to the film. One is the conversation Eric had with his sister while he was a student at Cambridge, and the other is the conversation he had with the future King of England at the Olympic games.
Eric Liddell's sister could not understand why he would not give up running, and not return to China to minister with her and their parents to which he tells her;
“I believe God made me for a purpose — for China — but he also made me fast.
And when I run I feel His pleasure. … To win is to honor Him.” Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire
Eric Liddell found out that he was to run the 100 meter dash on a Sunday, and the future King of England could not understand why he would not run to honor his king and country, to which boldly he answered the future King;
There are stories in the many books that have been written about the "Flying Scotsman", and how he would tilt his head skyward as he flew around the track in an expression of praise to our Heavenly Father.
Each of us who live on this sphere we call earth have different bents in life towards different skills and professions but God created us for His purpose and to honor Him within our profession, or passion, until He calls us home. Our problem, and its part of the humanness that God created us with, is that we put ourselves in a box, and demean ourselves because we think we can't can't accomplish anything for God's kingdom.
"For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.
Habakkuk 2:3
Ladies and gentlemen if that were the case, God would not have left us here after our conversion, but instead would have taken us home to be with Him. God is counting on you and I to make a difference in this world with the gifts He has given us. The apostle Paul, in his joy letter to the church at Philippi, said this:
Eric Liddell looked at his life in this way. He had everything this life could offer in the Europe of the 1920s. A pristine education that was only given to the elite of his day. Cambridge/Oxford was the Creme de la Creme of European learning, and accomplishing Olympic Gold is something only a few ever achieve in their lifetime. Yet he chose the humble life of a missionary to China which would cost him his life. Numerous times he had the chance to leave the Japanese internment camp where he was being held choosing only to give his release to other people in the camp.
Even when Winston Churchill was able to intervene on his behalf for the release his body, ravaged with malnutrition and ill health, he refused to leave. Instead giving his spot to a pregnant woman in the camp in a prisoner exchange.
Than on February of 1945, just a few months before his camp was liberated, he passed away probably from a brain tumor that no one knew he had. There is a famous quote by another missionary, Jim Elliot, who also lost his life on the mission field, that exemplified Eric Liddell's life:
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot loose."
We may never have to give our life for our Heavenly Father as Eric Liddell did, but we can honor and glorify our Heavenly Father each day in all that we do.
Thanks for Listening
Below is a link to a short clip
from the movie, "Chariots of Fire"
My favorite movie of all time.
Ian Charleson. A really good actor who died much too young after contracting HIV. Openly gay whose most famous movie roles are a clergyman (Gandhi) and Liddell (Christian missionary). That’s how good of an actor he was.
When I think of CHARIOTS OF FIRE, I think of Clark Griswold.
Oh yes
But which one I forget, yet I remember the part
Huh. I thought it was just a movie about running. Never knew it was something deeper.
This movie only won an Oscar because of its musical score.
Huh. I thought it was just a movie about running. Never knew it was something deeper.
~~~
Most people think of the Vangelis video of people running on the beach in slow motion.
I found parts of the movie a little hard to get to, but the plot dilemma is about personal conviction versus worldly pressures and in that regard it really pulled me in and made me feel a lot of empathy and anxiety for the protagonist.
Makes you wonder if God inflicted him with AIDS to humble him. He had a chance to give his life to Christ before he died. Did he take it, or did he go to hell.
Not many get a chance to know they are during this they know their tomebis up. Most will die much too quick to know their time is up. It is a blessing from God to be given a chance knowing your time is near.
I know many who died in car wrecks, killed in war, or died of heart attacks who never got the chance those who are inflicted with a sickness that puts them at deaths door.
Portraying a Christian missionary, especially this particular character, would have taken his mind into the alway of the truth
Did he accept Christ?
I am curious now, or did he reject Christ even on his death bed?
No it win best picture of the year, along with a few others besides the music
One great one was the conversation Sam Mussabini had with Harold Abrahams early in the movie when he begins working as Abrahams’ coach. Abrahams has a laser-like focus on beating Eric Liddell because Liddell was the only sprinter ever to beat him in a race up to that point.
Mussabini tells Abrahams not to worry about it because Liddell isn’t really geared to run short sprints. “He needs to go further out,” he says.
This has a direct link to the scene later in the movie when Liddell drops out of the 100-meter race at the Olympics due to the schedule of the Sunday heat, and the other British runner offers to give up his spot in the 400-meter event to Liddell. None of the competitors in that race take Liddell seriously because he was always known as a 100-meter sprinter, but — well, the rest is history!
It was so popular the (instrumental) theme song was played all the time on Top 40 radio.
Great insight
The message?
Sacrifice to God that which is Him and she will bless you in things you do desire, as long as it does not conflict with God’s desires
His tells us to worship Him and Him alone and He will give us our desires.
Within that perimeter, is following God and thus you will learn that in your heart, a transformation will take place. In that His desires will override your desires so that you will obey Him. By doing so you just might be blessed by Him giving you your desires.
He obeyed God by giving up the chance at gold. God blessed him for his obedience by giving him what he needed to attain the one thing he coveted.
But God did one better, he had him win against the Wirkds fastest man, the America. In doing so he set a new Worlds record
Give it up to God and you will find that the rewards are greater than anything you sacrificed for the one who sacrificed it all for you.
I believe it was the first time an Oscar was given to a movie score that was all electronically produced.
Seriously, though, I need to watch that film again; I was only 17 at the time, so I’m sure I missed the heart of it.
I think 80% of he audience did
This was one of my favorite scenes.
Eric quoting Scripture after he’d dropped out of the Sunday races juxtaposed against the other Olympians running their races. It was such a powerful representation of God’s way versus the “normal” way of the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjF59VB0h6g
I never watched until a few years ago. Yes, I think you need to watch 2 or 3 times to catch it all.
The opening scenes including the running on the beach is St.Andrew’s golf course. The hymn at the end is Jerusalem. One of the few perfect movies.
They had eyes to see but did not see, they ears to hear but did not hear.
A testement to the fact that we can only see and hear the obvious when God allows us to.
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