Article August 2, 1999 Issue

Staying Fit—mentally

Exercise your spiritual might.

By George R. Bonner, Jr.

There's a lot said about the benefits of keeping fit physically. Of course, there's nothing wrong with physical activity. Yet, more and more people see the need to stay fit mentally, too — to balance physical exercise with a kind of mental exercise. And as health-care professionals increasingly acknowledge, there's an important connection between physical and mental conditioning. That idea is not really new, however.

In the book of Isaiah we find the statement, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isa. 40:31). Over a hundred years ago, Mary Baker Eddy, a devoted student of the Bible, expanded on this idea. She wrote, "The meaning of that passage is not perverted by applying it literally to moments of fatigue, for the moral and physical are as one in their results" (Science and Health, p. 218). A little further on, the author speaks of the mental nature of disease and of God's, divine Mind's, healing power. She adds: "When this is understood, we shall never affirm concerning the body what we do not wish to have manifested. We shall not call the body weak, if we would have it strong; for the belief in feebleness must obtain in the human mind before it can be made manifest on the body, and the destruction of the belief will be the removal of its effects" (p. 219).

A recent experience of mine illustrates the benefit of exercising this kind of prayer. In the midst of a busy working schedule, I planned to fly to a city about a thousand miles away from my home in New York. In past years when flying, I had felt the need to request wheelchair assistance because I seemed to tire easily and couldn't walk long distances. This year, however, I chose to rely only on the support of God.

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