In an article by his son-in-law, Lord Fred. Catherwood, the following insight into the Doctor's thinking and faith is given.
"In
1979 illness returned and he had to cancel all his engagements. He was
even-minded about the prospect of preaching again. He had seen too many men
going on well after they should have stopped. In the spring of 1980 he was able
to start again, but a visit to the Charing Cross Hospital in May revealed that
his illness demanded more stringent treatment which kept him from preaching.
Between wearing sessions in hospital, which he faced with courage and dignity,
he carried on working on his manuscripts and giving advice to ministers, but by
Christmas he was too weak for this. To the end, however, he was able to spend
time with his biographer (his former assistant, lain Murray).
Towards the end of February 1981, with great
peace and assured hope, he believed that his earthly work was done. To his
immediate family he said: 'Don't pray for healing, don't try to hold me back
from the glory.' On March 1st, St. David's Day and the Lord's Day - he passed on
to the glory on which he had so often preached to meet the Saviour he had so
faithfully proclaimed."
My own personal appreciation of this servant of Christ is published here. I never met the man, though I had met Sir Freddie Catherwood (as he then was, if my memory serves me well) while a student at Leeds Poly (as it then was), though I did hear him preach in Leeds in 1973.
No comments:
Post a Comment