Spencer Keel - Christian Science Sentinel, Aug. 21, 2006
For as long as I can remember, since first joining a running club when I was 11, this is what a Christian Science practitioner has been telling me. Now I’m 16, and to me relaxing and running on the wings of angels means the run will be easy, fast, free of pain or obstacles-that I’ll be free to express God’s goodness and power. And with the wings of God’s angels holding me up, I cannot possibly fall.
Last year, right after my freshman year in high school, I competed in an 800-meter race at the state meet for Junior Olympics Track and Field in Georgia. During track season, just a month before, I’d run the 800 in two minutes and 23 seconds. That wasn’t a bad time for a freshman, but I’d hoped to do better this time and maybe shave off two or three seconds. It felt like another opportunity to prove the all-power of God.
Over the years, with my parents and the practitioner’s help, I’ve learned that improving my running doesn’t mean I have to feel pain. As a matter of fact, I’ve been healed in Christian Science of both shin splints and knee pain. It seems to me that all I need to do is say NO to whatever the difficulty may be and YES to God -because certainly pain is not like God, or from Him. And as His spiritual expression alone, I can’t have what isn’t like God, since He gives me all He is, including the ability to express strength and freedom.
That’s what I’ve learned in the Christian Science Sunday School, too, where I was also taught that we can think of God as having other names, such as Love, Mind, Truth, Soul, Spirit, Principle, and Life. But I guess to me God is all those in one, and I think of Him as God, always there helping me. I think accepting that help and care is like a prayer.
I really wanted to improve my running time at the Junior Olympics’ competition but felt that progress of any kind would be good. Plus, I didn’t want to focus on being faster but rather on relying on God, relaxing on the wings of His angels, and feeling His power moving me.
Well, I was in the second group running the 800 meters. Runners with faster times compete in the first group, but everyone knew that we had to take our run seriously anyway and not mess around on the track.
We lined up, and the race began. I found my place and settled in, knowing not to burn all my energy in the first of the two laps. I was in eighth place at the end of the first lap. Just as I sped up, two guys in front of me fell-they weren’t at all hurt and ran the rest of the race-but it looked like I’d have to run around them, which would have slowed me down.
At the same time, I really felt God’s presence right there. I simply said “NO!” to the idea that I could be limited or that there could possibly be a physical obstacle in the way of my expressing God’s power, His gift to me. My concern vanished. I sped up some more and hurdled right over the fallen runners. All of this took place in a matter of seconds.
Later in the second lap, I suddenly felt like I’d just woken up. I had more energy than ever. I ran right through a group of four runners to take the last curve in second place. As David said to God, and I say now, “For by thee I have run through a troop: and by my God have I leaped over a wall” (II Sam. 22:30).
I finished that race third-having jumped over two people-in two minutes and 14 seconds! Improving one’s time by a few seconds in such a race is not uncommon, but to run nine seconds faster in the space of a month, is!
This experience was special to me because it proved that the concept of time has no power to influence me. And that I could run free, without thinking about mortal measurements or physical obstacles -such as wondering if my knee would hurt or if I’d fall. I’ve begun to really see that nothing can stop or limit the power of God in my life. It’s simply a matter of running on angels’ wings and saying yes to God and no to whatever comes that is not good or unlike God.
Spencer, a high-school junior this fall, lives in Roswell, Georgia, where he runs both track and cross-country events.