Article March 30, 1987 Issue

Exercise and the authority of Spirit

Real strength and stamina require more than physical regimens. They demand spiritual growth.

Jacqueline Simpson

For recreation I enjoy playing tennis. At one point an instructor insisted that further progress in tennis would be impossible unless I began riding an exercise bicycle to develop stamina, strength, and mobility. Before long I had thoroughly committed myself to a regimented exercise program.

One day I was suddenly overwhelmed with pain and pressure in several areas of my lower body. There was no apparent physical explanation for the painful condition. I turned to God in prayer to understand better the truth of harmonious being. Prayer uncovered the error that needed to be removed from thought and replaced with truth. By believing that the body could be improved, strengthened, and developed by reliance on physical exercise, I had unwittingly accepted the concurrent belief that the body could be injured, weakened, strained, or destroyed by overexercise. I needed to place my reliance on the authority and strength of God, Spirit, instead of on the exercise of matter.

Christian Science teaches that Spirit is the substance, condition, and intelligence of man. Spirit alone, not matter, strengthens and maintains man as the perfect, complete, indestructible reflection of God. Understanding that Spirit, Mind, is supreme and governs all begins to free us from materially imposed limitations and allows us to reach toward unbounded heights of accomplishment, endurance, progress, and strength.

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