Russel Fogg - Testimony from the Christian Science Sentinel, Dec. 18, 2006
After snowboarding for the first time in eighth grade, while I was living in Missouri, I fell in love with the sport and bought all the gear. I snowboarded all the time. I was good at it and identified with it, partly because I got recognition and made friends. But mostly snowboarding felt very much like me being me.
When I graduated from high school, I moved to Utah and joined a team. I snowboarded almost every day, competed, and worked in a snowboard shop. Then, after moving to Colorado the next year, I made it to the US Nationals and went on to compete in the US Snowboard Grand Prix tour for a few years. That’s when I began seriously thinking about making a professional career out of snowboarding.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve made lists of what is important to me in an effort to improve my life. For the past few years, my relationship with God had always been at the top of that list, and yet my life hadn’t always reflected that desire. In a way, I was feeling remorseful about this realization.
So what happened? I came to find that what I most wanted was to improve my understanding of my spiritual identity and serve God, but my actions didn’t always reflect this goal. I’d been spending more time seeking joy and fulfillment in the thrill of extreme sports and a satisfying social life than in humbly seeking to do God’s will. Paul’s words rang true for me: "The good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do" (Rom. 7:19).
I ended up having a change in focus. This was not because of one single event, or some life-altering choice, but more the result of a persistent desire for spiritual growth. As Mary Baker Eddy wrote, "Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds" (Science and Health, p. 1). And I think it must have been consistent desire—prayer—that led me to a more fulfilling life of God-centered living, even if my prayers were not always filled with conscious words of inspiration. I simply began to identify myself more with God. The moments I felt most secure, peaceful, and loved were the times when I turned to God in prayer. In trying to conform to everyone else’s expectations, I found that the promises of material joys were empty.
These experiences turned me more and more to our Father-Mother God, in whom I found joy, power, security, and individuality. Little by little, worldly aims lost their grip on me, and I began to live in Spirit.
So what did it look like to pursue this goal of spiritual growth and service to God? It didn’t mean giving up snowboarding! In fact, snowboarding has continued to be a rich aspect of my life, although my thoughts are not filled with the focus of competition, which I decided to give up. As I made prayer and putting God first a priority, my life took a new direction. I joined my local branch Church of Christ, Scientist, and participated in a 12-day course on Christian Science practice. Now, I’m dedicated to helping others find healing through prayer.
I often remind myself of Paul’s words to the Christians in Rome: "All things work together for good to them that love God" (Rom. 8:28). My experience has shown me that the desire for spiritual living is all that is requisite for progress. Our desires really are "moulded and exalted." The life choices that flowed from this desire came naturally—they were never forced or insincere. And my moments now reflect my priorities far better than they did several years ago. |CSS
Russel Fogg recently graduated from the University of Colorado and lives in Boulder, Colorado.
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