Eric Liddell's Daughter Seeks Her Father Through Faith

Friday October 13 2017

The daughter of Scottish Olympic gold medalist and missionary Eric Liddell has written a book seeking to know the father she never met through the faith that drove him.

Eric Liddell is most famous as the athlete who refused to run on a Sunday but went on to win the Olympics 400m, inspiring the film Chariots of Fire. However, he spent most of his adult life working as a missionary in China.

Maureen Liddell Moore, his third child, was three years old and living in Canada when her father died in a Japanese Internment Camp in China in 1945. Maureen’s mother, Eric’s wife, had been pregnant with her when she fled the Japanese invasion with their two other children.

As Maureen never met her father, she decided to turn to faith and God in what she calls her ‘search for her father’s love’.

"God and Me" is a book of prose, poetry and art which Maureen used to become closer to her father. 

Maureen said: “I knew early on that if I wanted to understand my father I would also have to get to know the God my father loved so well.

“This search led me on an unorthodox and surprising journey that turned my world upside down. I first fell in love with God when I discovered he has a huge sense of humour and I found myself totally surprised, in awe and laughing with relief.

“I wrote the book, hoping to touch hearts, expand minds and make people think about their concept of God, however they may perceive Him to be. My father wanted everyone to know God. This is my wee contribution to furthering his goals.”

Following Eric’s death, various memorials were set up in the athlete’s name, including the Eric Liddell Centre, a care charity and major community hub in Edinburgh. 

John MacMillan, CEO of The Eric Liddell Centre, said: “We are delighted to hear about Maureen’s new book about her father. We have close ties with Eric’s family, including Maureen, her two sisters, and also his niece, Sue Liddell Caton, who is one of our patrons. 

“It’s extremely sad that Maureen never got to meet her father so it’s humbling to hear she has used faith and God to find closure on what is a difficult experience. 

“Eric was a hero so it’s especially important we keep his memory alive by continuing our own work to bring communities together and all work together to tell the world about him and help empower and support people of all ages.”

God and Me is available through Amazon.

Post Tags: eric liddell, eric liddell centre

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Comments

Justin - Monday, December 25th, 2023

“Amen, his story is an inspiration.”

Patrick Dunbar - Wednesday, November 1st, 2023

“Your father has layed the foundation for my life in regard to Jesus Christ and the need of living an uncompromising Faith in Christ. We need more children of God like your father.”

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