True Success

[Written Especially for Young People]

CARL WALTER GEHRING

Young people in schools and colleges often have much to to with competitive sports, and to them, if they are Christian Scientists, there comes the need to understand what success in athletic contests really is. As a rule, too much emphasis is placed upon the necessity for defeating opponents. This is considered to be the mark of success. It would seem to many that there is no victory in athletics which does not bring failure to another contestant. The result is that athletes often accept the suggestion that their main business in sports is to strive to defeat rival athletes.

No young man who has learned something of Christian Science desires to be the agent of defeat or failure. His Christian Science upbringing and Sunday school training have taught him that his own good is directly involved in the good of his fellow men, as Mary Baker Eddy has so clearly stated on page 518 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" in the words, "Blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good." Of course, he wishes to succeed. How, then, can he rightfully, in the light of Christian Science, hope for success? He knows he could not hope to gain health through Christian Science treatment at the expense of one of his fellow citizens. How, then, the young student may ask— and many have asked—shall a person regard athletic competition from the standpoint of Christian Science?

In the first place, the athlete who is a Christian Scientist never prays for the defeat of his competitors. For what, then, does he pray? He should base his praying on what Mrs.

Eddy has written regarding success in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 135): "Doing unto others as ye would they should do unto you, conquers all opposition, surmounts all obstacles, and secure success. If you falter, or fail to fulfil this Golden Rule, though you should build to the heavens, you would build on sand."

Knowing that in his true being he is the expression of divine intelligence, the sports contender should understand the rules of his particular game so well that he will be prevented from committing errors. As one striving to be a true exponent of the Golden Rule, his activities on and off the field should be friendly and helpful to all concerned in the contests, whether of the opposing side or his own. He should never desire to gain an unfair advantage. The saying, "May the best man win," will really express his heartfeld wishes, for he knows that, with each man giving his best, the best of all should take the prize. That, in fact, is the purpose of these contests—to discover the best athletes in each class at that particular time. All the contenders have their share in this accomplishment. With all striving to prove their highest degree of skill, all will be making their necessary contributions to the resulting success of the games.

The experience of one candidate for a football team, who had taken this problem of desire for athletic success to his Christian Science Sunday School teacher, is of interest. The latter spoke to him along the lines presented in the preceding paragraphs, and asked him to study the reference from "Miscellaneous Writings" quoted in this article. This the young man did, and it was not long before he realized that he had not been neighborly, in the Golden Rule sense, with his coach. He had not obeyed the recommendation that he become rule perfect, although he had a desire to improve and to progress from the second team to the first. He now corrected his thinking and began obediently to study the rules of the game until he was letter-perfect. Then he put into practice what he had learned, because he had finally perceived that such correct methods were what he would have asked the players to use had he been the coash. In other words, he did as he would be done by. His playing improved so much that he was moved up onto the list of regulars. He had endeavored to improve himself, not to defeat a competitor, and it had made him into a more useful player and had benefited both him and the team.

In the sports world it is not really of first importance who wins or loses a game. The really important thing is to achieve the requisite skill in a friendly atmosphere. conscientious workmanship and the application of the Golden rule accomplish this desirable end. The athlete who is a Christian Scientist, establishes right ideals in his thinking, and thus is enabled to give a creditable performance on every occasion. His victories are not over others, but over the false belief in man as imperfect and incapable. And he proves in his games, as in his studies, that he can overcome all obstacles through his spiritual understanding of man as the complete and perfect image of God.

The trouble with us is not that we do not know about God and the things of God, but that we have relegated them to second place. Unfortunately [we] have a tendency to judge a man more by his money and other worldly possessions than by his morals or his manners. [We] seem to think that a multiplicity of possessions brings happiness. The honest answer is that it is not the things you have which bring you joy, but how you handle what you possess.

Dr. Henry Darlington

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