An Olympic hopeful's Thoughts on Prayer

Ricky Bower is one of the world's best snowboarders. The 1999 World Champion in the half pipe discipline, and a member of the United States National Ski Team, Ricky has just finished a summer of intensive training. He plans to compete on the World Cup circuit this winter, and in 2002 he hopes to represent the US at the XIX Winter Olympics, which will be held in his hometown of Park City, Utah.

During a recent discussion with Sports Illustrated writer Rick Lipsey, Ricky attributed his boarding success not to physical prowess, but to reliance on God and his lifelong study of Christian Science. "Christian Science has taught me who I really am, and that is not a guy cruising through a half pipe trying to win a trophy," says Ricky. "I am a spiritual idea, God's child, expressing God's qualities—joy, talent, love, and humility—and so is everybody else on the mountain."

Here is Rick's interview with Ricky.

Rick Lipsey: When did you begin to see a relationship between spirituality and sports?

Ricky Bower: I've played many sports since I was a little boy, including baseball, ice hockey, and skiing. My father usually drove me to games and practices. During the car rides, we would affirm what I had been learning in Sunday School: that my identity is spiritual, not material, because I am a child of God. My job was not to worry about winning or losing, but to be aware of the qualities that I, my teammates, my opponents, and my coaches expressed, and of the source of those qualities.

RL: What is that source?

RB: God, and God is good and infinite, so God is continually expressed by all of His children. To me that meant that everybody was expressing God and His rainbow of qualities. We were not really battling a clock, a tough slope, or another team, even though it seemed that way.

RL: Did you pray before playing?

RB: Always. I would find a quiet spot and focus my thought on God. I would affirm that God was right there, guiding and guarding me. That was a very calming and confidence-building way to prepare.

RL: How did you, as a little boy, know that prayer is effective?

RB: Healing through prayer was a normal and regular part of my family's life. I broke one of my legs while skiing when I was six. There wasn't any ski patrol around, so my dad carried me on his back to the gondola, and we went down to the lodge. All the way, Dad was explaining to me that God is my Father and my Mother. I had learned in Sunday School that God was Jesus' Father and Mother, but now I felt and began to understand that God was my true and only Parent, too. This thought was very comforting.

We went straight home and relied solely on prayer for healing. With the help of prayer by my family and a Christian Science practitioner, I was totally well within a week.

RL: Accidents are reputedly an integral part of snowboarding. Is that true?

RB: Most boarders at my level believe that bad stuff comes with the territory. I have had a few accidents in my career, but every time something has happened, I have always been healed through prayer.

I haven't suffered any injuries this year, and I attribute that to prayer and to my constant spiritual identification of myself as Mind's idea. I know—really know—that I am spiritual, and that this is the true nature of everybody. When we look at life from a spiritual standpoint, we see that everything about us, and every law that controls us, comes from God. Because there's no accident, slipping, or haphazard activity in God, there can't be any in us, since we are God's reflection.

RL: Can you describe how prayer has healed you?

RB: A couple of years ago, I twisted one of my ankles pretty badly while skateboarding. The US Ski Team coaches had me get X-rays, because they were concerned. The X-rays showed no broken bones, but the coaches said that the sprain might require surgery, and that my season was over.

My first reaction was to feel stupid for having skateboarded during the competition season. I felt like I deserved the injury. After praying, though, I knew those thoughts didn't have a grain of truth.

I realized that skateboarding is a fun way to express the freedom and talent God has given to me, and that there is no wrong time to express God. God is the only Mind, and because divine Mind includes no ignorance or stupidity, neither could I as Mind's expression.

The morning after the spill, I drove from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, all the while affirming the laws of God, who is entirely good, to be in operation. A couple of days later, I traipsed around a trade show, and ten days after the fall, I had a terrific showing at the US Snowboarding Nationals.

RL: How do you pray?

RB: Every morning I affirm the spiritual facts of my identity, and I ponder them throughout the day. I also regularly study the Bible and its companion book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

RL: How do you cope with the constant activity, the competing, training, and enormous amount of travel that come with being a world-class snowboarder?

RB: Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health, "God rests in action" (p. 519 ), and that truth has long been my bedrock. It is the law that governs me, assuring harmony and joy no matter what.

Life is another name for God, and I know that God is not harried or freaked out. Thus, as God's reflection, I'm not those things either. Prayer along these lines provides a deep sense of home and peace, whether I'm in a hotel in Japan or on a ski slope in Germany. It gives a glorious freedom that, when I see it clearly, allows me to do my best.

RL: Do you get scared before big competitions?

RB: Skiers and boarders are always dealing with fear. But whenever even a smidgen of fear creeps in, I immediately counter it with the spiritual truth of the situation. By that, I mean that I identify myself as God's child, or idea.

For example, God is Love, and as Love's reflection, I express Love's qualities, so I am loving, peaceful, satisfied, and unafraid. As the Bible says, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear" (I John 4:18 ). Fear is a passive giving-in to feelings of mortality and vulnerability, whereas love is a prayerful confirmation of God's good ever-presence, which assures us that there is nothing to be afraid of.

RL: Do athletes need big egos to be successful?

RB: I think just the opposite is true. At the end of the last day of the 1999 World Championships, I had a shot to win it all. Just then, I began to think, "Gosh, you're a great rider." In the past, I had been prone to accepting thoughts like that, and I had fallen apart at the end of competitions. I call it self-love, and it's not good.

Prayer had helped me learn to love and worship God alone. So now, with the World Championship title on the line, I knew that I had to focus not on myself, but on God.

I knew that God is the source of my life, my joy, my talent, and that I was not about to win or lose a title, but to express God. That's a win-win situation, and it totally relieved the pressure. As Mrs. Eddy says, "We have nothing to fear when Love is at the helm of thought, but everything to enjoy on earth and in heaven" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 113 ).

With me out of the way and God blend of humility and fearlessness, and I went out and won the world championship.

RL: How do you define success?

RB: It's easy to get caught up in the trappings of money, fame, and trophies. Sponsors always want to put us in the limelight, to slap our name on a pro model snowboard or get us on TV, so it's easy to start thinking about how amazing you are. That's when it gets dangerous. As soon as I start worrying about all that and wanting more of it, my performance tails off.

The key is to know that God is the only source of good, and that what He gives is spiritual, ever present, and in abundance for everyone. Such thinking frees me up to express spiritual qualities.

RL: If you are really spiritual, and not material, how come you do so much physical training?

RB: Actually, I had never worked out until I was selected to be on the US Ski Team. And today I do not work out to build muscles. I work out because I have discovered that it is another way I can express God.

My dad was a world-class skier who competed in the 1964 and 1968 Olympics in the Nordic combined event, which includes cross-country skiing and ski jumping. He often proved that physical training is not a prerequisite for success.

After a six-month stint in the Army, he came home, and having done no real training on the slopes. went straight to a national competition and won. Prayer was the only training he had been able to do, and it was enough. "Your real training is what you have done mentally, whatever the challenge, Dad always says.

RL: When do you ride your best?

RB: When I am totally conscious of the true and perpetual source of all good and of my being, which is God, I know that I am riding on the wings of Love. Then the riding is effortless, a total expression of joy.

RL: Will you be disappointed if you don't qualify for the 2002 Olympics?

RB: The Olympics is a goal, but it's not everything. Not even close. If the Olympics are where God wants me, I'll be there. If not, I'll be somewhere else doing something equally as good. No matter where I am, my identity doesn't change. A spiritual idea is always expressing its source, God, and living with that concept is amazingly satisfying.