We Pay You
James Goodson was a nineteen-year-old American who went to England early in the war. He was sure that his country would eventually join the fight, and he wanted to get a head start. He was inauspiciously introduced to the war when his ocean liner, the
Athenia, was torpedoed and sunk off the Hebrides Islands. He arrived in England with none of his possessions.
I found a RAF recruiting station and immediately asked if any American could join. No one seemed to know at first if I could but later was told I could but would probably lose my American citizenship when I swore allegiance to the King of England. I told the recruiters that if the king needed my allegiance, he had it. The question of pay arose and I think the fellow said it was seven shillings and six pence a day (less than $2.00). I was heartbroken. I said, ‘I’ve lost everything I have. I don’t think I can afford it.’ The fellow said, ‘No, no, no. We pay you seven and six.’ I remember thinking, ‘These lovable fools. They could have had me for nothing.’ To be able to fly a Spitfire and be paid for it was just beyond my wildest dreams.262
Goodson flew with the 43rd Squadron of the RAF and eventually with the American Eagle Squadron. He didn’t lose his enthusiasm for flying even as the war went on.
During my early years as a Marine officer I often had the identical thought articulated by this young pilot. I couldn’t believe that someone was paying me to do what I was doing. Jumping from airplanes and swimming from submarines, I seemed to be living an adventure that most people would pay to experience. I never seemed to lose this enthusiasm for working with other Marines on any kind of mission. After leaving the Marine Corps and working many years for a paycheck, I was blessed to find this feeling again at age fifty-three. When Jesus Christ came into my heart, all the activities in my life became focused on a new mission: living in a way to be worthy of and to advance his kingdom. Every part of my life since then has had a new excitement that transcends any other imaginable adventure.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
—Colossians 3:23–24