Within five minutes of Monday night’s opening service, as Eric spoke, cigarettes and pipes were extinguished. While the men listened intently, none of them asked questions. By Wednesday evening, no one so much as lit a match.
“We will finish with an after-meeting in the chapel,” D. P. told those in attendance. Eighty-plus men followed him and Eric out of the lounge that night.
The Glasgow Herald reported on Eric’s work, saying, “Their leader, Eric Liddell, . . . stands for the Christian youth with a clean breeze about him, and his lungs well filled with the air that blows from the Judean hills. There is not a tincture of conventional piety about any of them; they are interesting and winning.”[30]
As the weeks passed, Eric’s unique path toward China became more imminent. Despite his rigorous schedule, he continued to find it difficult to refuse the appeals of those who wanted a small bit of him. One such request came with an interesting twist at a Wednesday evening church function. A young Sunday school teacher, Miss Effie Hardie, reached out to him with a request. Since Eric was headed to do missionary work, Effie thought it would be a lovely idea if he became a pen pal to her class so they could learn about life for the Christian missionary. Eric, always wanting to help everyone in every possible way, agreed to consider. His intentions were as noble as Effie’s were optimistic.
Other than the short games before a few of the meetings he held with D. P., Eric had given up playing rugby. But he was relieved that spring brought one more go-round on the track and field circuit. The physical exertion through sport and competition was a welcome break from his daily pedagogical aerobics. Simply put, running gave his mind a rest.
He had stayed in strong enough shape for the intense six-week stint. And during his final season, he rarely lost. The public loved him all the more for it.
But running only intensified the public’s interest in hearing him speak. He addressed a crowd with D. P. Thomson at Edinburgh’s St. George’s United Free Church. Between 1,100 and 1,200 people flocked to listen.
Eric had always been intrigued by gospel emphasis, but articulating salvation entirely by God’s work was difficult. He consequently engaged his crowd with strong use of instructions and requirements, demonstrating how to live a good Christian life, which was what he was familiar with. It was easy enough to fall back on. Eric found it simpler to explain abstract truths by offering practical steps listeners should take. This method made complete sense to Eric, yet he would soon discover that relying on human effort would be an exhausting way to live a life of faith in Christ.
Eric’s last meet of the year, and what would be his final race on British soil, took place on June 27, 1925, in the Scottish Amateur Athletic Association, held at Hampden Park in Glasgow with a crowd of over fifteen thousand. Eric walked away with four first-place finishes, in the 100 yards (10.0), 220 yards (22.2), 440 yards (48.9), and one-mile relay—only the fourth person in the history of the meet to do so. It put an emphatic exclamation point on his athletic career and forever marked him in the annals of the sporting world. With that, he headed back to Edinburgh for his last full day in his beloved city.
Eric could now finally set his face toward China, with his athletic career officially behind him. He believed with all his heart that he’d find his real calling in the mission work in China, in spite of escalating tensions there. For most of those who knew him—and even for those who only thought of themselves as knowing him—the idea of walking away without hesitation after achieving the pinnacle of success was unthinkable. Most could not appreciate the full magnitude of what he was doing. The opportunities at his disposal seemed infinite.
Yet Eric Liddell wanted only to follow God, his parents, and his other family members back to the mission field. He traded fame and the potential for lucrative opportunities for a life of comparable anonymity.
The most selfless route is typically the path offering the most peace of mind. Eric knew this truth beyond the shadow of any doubt.
And as the world was about to see, Eric Liddell lived it.
But before a final good-bye, Eric gave valedictory meetings in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. More than a thousand people were turned away from seeing Scotland’s greatest athlete one last time.
June 29, a bleak morning, arrived with much more fanfare than Eric anticipated. First, the Glasgow newspapers ran a poem for his day of departure:
For China now another race he runs,
As sure and straight as those Olympic ones,
And if the ending’s not so simply known—
We’ll judge he’ll make it, since his speed’s his own.[31]
A second surprise came when a carriage pulled by friends arrived at his door at 29 Hope Terrace. After loading him in, the team of young students paraded him through his favorite city, through crowds and cheers to Waverley Station. There, he was astounded to see his principal, T. Hywell Hughes, among the throng. Hughes offered a handshake of gratitude as the well-wishers sang “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” and “Will Ye No Come Back Again?”
Eric stood on the train station platform, surrounded by his fans. When they cheered for him to leave them with some parting words of wisdom, Eric blurted out, “Christ for the world, for the world needs Christ!”[32]
The words had always been Eric’s credo, and he was proud to be given the chance to rattle off the powerful line one more time. Through singing, tears, and cheers, Eric slowly separated from one home and headed for his other.
And he prayed. He prayed
