Chariots of Compassion.

• Author: Hilt, James
• Position: LITERARY SCENE - Eric Liddell

THE LATE Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship said it was the best artistic expression of the Christian faith in the 20th century. He was referring to the 1981 movie "Chariots of Fire" about the Scottish track star Eric Liddell, who won a gold medal in the 400 meters in a world record breaking time of 47.6 seconds in the 1924 Olympics in Paris, France. This film was superbly crafted, winning four Academy Awards, including for Best Picture.

Along with Liddell's track performances, the film focused on his strong Christian faith and decision to serve as a missionary in China after the Olympics. Especially striking was his ever-present humility and kindness toward others, including competitors like Harold Abrahams, who won the 100 meters in the 1924 Olympics. Liddell was favored to win that race, but pulled out of it because the qualifying heats were held on a Sunday. During Abraham's race, Liddell cheered him on and was one of the first to rush to his side to congratulate him.

The following year, Liddell became a missionary in Tianjin, China. His older brother Rob, also an exceptional athlete, served as a doctor in a hospital in Xiaochang. Their parents had been respected missionaries in China as well. Almost two decades later, in March 1943, during World War II, the occupying Japanese forced Liddell, along with 1,800 other internationals--including women and hundreds of children--into the Weihsien Internment Camp.

Sally Magnusson, who authored Liddell's biography "The Flying Scotsman," describes the camp's wretched conditions: "Imagine, then, what life was like at Weihsien. It was an overpopulated camp where the only privacy anyone had was an area of 9 feet by 54 inches round his bed; a place populated by bored children and frustrated teenagers and confused old people, by the widest range of personalities, all rubbing up against each other, queuing for the toilets and the meals and the roll-call and the chores: nerves grinding and personalities clashing, and nowhere to escape to. All the familiar creature comforts were gone, all the structures by which people organize their lives had been turned upside down."

This set the stage for...