Eric Henry Liddell was born on this day in 1902 (died. February 21, 1945).
The story of Scottish missionary, and Olympic athlete Eric Liddell is depicted in the 1981 Best Picture Chariots of Fire.
The 1924 Olympics were hosted by the City of Paris. Liddell refused to run in the heat held on Sunday and was forced to withdraw from his best event, the 100-meters. He trained instead for the 400 meters. The story is told that as he went to start the race, an American slipped a piece of paper into his hand with the verse 1 Samuel 2:30 “Those who honor me, I will honor.”
Liddell won the race breaking the existing Olympic record with a time of 47.6 seconds.
After graduation from Edinburgh University and the Olympics, Liddell returned to China where his parents had been missionaries. As World War II approached, British nationals were advised to leave China because of the aggressiveness of the Japanese. But a shortage of missionaries caused Liddell to stay. He was interned at the Weihsien Internment Camp in 1943 along with others from the China Inland Mission. Family friends, Meredith and Christine Helsby also missonaries with what is now One Mission Society mentioned Liddell in their book He Goes Before Them– Even Into Prison: The Story of Missionaries Imprisoned in China During World War II.
Liddell died from an inoperable brain tumor on February 21, 1945, five months before liberation.
365 Things I Believe is a revisioning of a year long web project. I initially launched the blog 365 Things I Believe because I think there are important things I have to say. There are eternal truths that are non-debatable, although I realize they’re not universally accepted.
So for a year I did a daily post of one thing I believe to be an indisputable truth. I’m relaunching here at The Write Side of My Brain and will continue through the next year to re-post (mostly) from the original project.
This time graphics and commentary are included. You can buy today’s print here. And, by the end of a year, if not sooner, you’ll be able to purchase the entire series in ebook format.