Page 155 - GFA – A Different Drumbeat
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GFA – A Different Drumbeat 155
In October 1966, when the Bentley-Taylors were in Canada, they record that:
Jessie made the long journey by train to spend a few days with him at the hotel. "He
has a little flat down in the basement", she told me. "His bed pushes up into a
cupboard, leaving a nice sitting-room, kitchenette and bathroom. He brought me a
cup of tea at 6:30 a.m. He is such a dear. 'Do your typing down here', he says, 'you
won’t disturb me and I'd rather have you here than away in your room'. Everything he
says is interesting. I do admire him and while his memory is unimpaired someone
should be writing down all his memoirs. They would make up a great tale if the
historical background was sorted out.
In May 1967 Dawson Kwauk visited him. At their final parting at Saskatoon Airport
GFA said to him, "God gives us memory, so that we may have roses in winter". In
1967 he actually came to London with Leslie to help Butterfield and Swire draw up
their centennial book. He visited his brother Arthur in Cornwall but we were again
unsuccessful in persuading him to come to Herefordshire, so Jess and I met him at
his hotel in London In 1968 I was able to call on him for an hour in Saskatoon. Finally,
in 1970 Michael (Bentley-Taylor) made the 3650-mile round trip from Toronto by car
with John and Mary Beaton, Carolynn and Jennifer, little children then.
David Bentley-Taylor writes:
A remarkable feature of his twelve-year retirement was that he completely recovered
his Christian faith which had seemed to become clouded in the course of his varied
and adventurous life. He entered into a new peace and joy. Earthquakes, famines,
floods, refugees, bandits politicians, generals and two world wars had gone into the
past, taking with them most of the friendships of those tumultuous years. This left
him with a certain sadness in old age, but he
overcame it by turning back to what he had most
valued in youth - the Lord Jesus Christ, the CIM,
the life of faith and prayer, and pastoral care for
others.
His wonderful talent for getting through to people
reasserted itself. "He made a great many
friends in Saskatoon", Leslie told us, "a lot of
whom treated him as a Father Confessor, relying
on his help and advice to solve very real personal
problems." I myself began to appreciate him
much more, corresponded with him frequently,
and now treasure the 23 letters he wrote me from
Saskatoon.
In October 1966, when the Bentley-Taylors were in Canada, they record that:
Jessie made the long journey by train to spend a few days with him at the hotel. "He
has a little flat down in the basement", she told me. "His bed pushes up into a
cupboard, leaving a nice sitting-room, kitchenette and bathroom. He brought me a
cup of tea at 6:30 a.m. He is such a dear. 'Do your typing down here', he says, 'you
won’t disturb me and I'd rather have you here than away in your room'. Everything he
says is interesting. I do admire him and while his memory is unimpaired someone
should be writing down all his memoirs. They would make up a great tale if the
historical background was sorted out.
In May 1967 Dawson Kwauk visited him. At their final parting at Saskatoon Airport
GFA said to him, "God gives us memory, so that we may have roses in winter". In
1967 he actually came to London with Leslie to help Butterfield and Swire draw up
their centennial book. He visited his brother Arthur in Cornwall but we were again
unsuccessful in persuading him to come to Herefordshire, so Jess and I met him at
his hotel in London In 1968 I was able to call on him for an hour in Saskatoon. Finally,
in 1970 Michael (Bentley-Taylor) made the 3650-mile round trip from Toronto by car
with John and Mary Beaton, Carolynn and Jennifer, little children then.
David Bentley-Taylor writes:
A remarkable feature of his twelve-year retirement was that he completely recovered
his Christian faith which had seemed to become clouded in the course of his varied
and adventurous life. He entered into a new peace and joy. Earthquakes, famines,
floods, refugees, bandits politicians, generals and two world wars had gone into the
past, taking with them most of the friendships of those tumultuous years. This left
him with a certain sadness in old age, but he
overcame it by turning back to what he had most
valued in youth - the Lord Jesus Christ, the CIM,
the life of faith and prayer, and pastoral care for
others.
His wonderful talent for getting through to people
reasserted itself. "He made a great many
friends in Saskatoon", Leslie told us, "a lot of
whom treated him as a Father Confessor, relying
on his help and advice to solve very real personal
problems." I myself began to appreciate him
much more, corresponded with him frequently,
and now treasure the 23 letters he wrote me from
Saskatoon.
