A higher perspective of running

Ever since I was a child, I have loved to run. While I enjoy healthy competition, pushing limits, and tracking my workout progress, over time these runs have become less about how fast my body is moving and more about my spiritual growth.

One day, after finishing a run around a lake, I sat down by the water’s edge to stretch. I noticed a lot of buoys along the shore that were apparently arranged in no particular order. “What are those for?” I wondered.

A few minutes later I climbed to the top of the nearby bleachers to take in the view of the lake and noticed the buoys again. I was surprised to see that they were actually arranged in perfectly parallel lines, creating lanes for a boat race.

When I was sitting on the shoreline looking at the buoys up close, I couldn’t perceive any order or purpose in how they were arranged. But that was just my limited viewpoint, which turned out to be deceptive. When I improved my understanding of what was going on by looking from a higher angle, the design and usefulness were clear.

It dawned on me that this was analogous to the understanding of God and His creation as explained in Christian Science: No matter how confusing and messy the world may seem, there’s a spiritual view of creation that is logical and perfect and that we can trust and rely on. When we move past the lower view – a limited, physical perspective – and pray for inspiration from God, we achieve a higher view and gain a better understanding of God.

In “Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” the discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, writes, “To strike out right and left against the mist, never clears the vision; but to lift your head above it, is a sovereign panacea” (p. 355). Would it ever help to take things into our own hands by wading out to the “buoys” and trying to rearrange them in a way that makes sense from our limited perspective? No.

The truth is that God’s spiritual creation is already arranged perfectly and permanently, no matter what appears to be true from where we are humanly standing. When we pray to see a situation as God sees it – from the top of the bleachers, so to speak – instead of as it appears to a material outlook, healing occurs.

Several years ago, I experienced inflammation in the arches of my feet, which made walking and running uncomfortable. At one point, I called a Christian Science practitioner for Christian Science treatment.

During our discussion, it was brought to my attention that in Christian Science, inflammation is associated with fear, and I was afraid of never being able to run again because of the persistent sharp pain in my feet. The practitioner explained that I am a child of God and that the spiritual qualities of God that I reflect cannot be touched by any material conditions or diagnoses.

As the spiritual insights from that phone call sank in over the following days, I found myself letting go of my identity as merely a runner and gaining a clearer sense of my true identity as a spiritual idea of God. As a result, pride and obsession with the sport slowly faded, and so did the inflammation in my feet, which hasn’t returned. My perspective of the situation moved from the lower, matter-based angle to a higher view that approached the true, spiritual reality of my being.

Looking back, I realize that this healing is what started to shift my focus away from the physical aspects of running and toward its spiritual qualities, such as joy, vitality, and agility. Today I continue enjoying rigorous runs, races, and other sports activities whenever I can.

One of the ways it has come to me to pray is to put synonyms for God, as highlighted in the Bible and in “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mrs. Eddy, at the end of the phrase “powered by” and ponder what it means to be “powered by” God. For example, I might pray, “This run is powered by Principle, the divine law and basis for the activity of all of God’s ideas; this run is powered by Love, who tenderly cares for, protects, and guides.”

Whatever pursuits we may be involved in, we can affirm that all-powerful God, good, is ever present to perfectly govern all activity.

Adapted from an article published in the Sept. 4, 2023, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.