OVER THE TOP

Near my home there is a steep hill where I run. Each time I approach it I feel either tremendous anticipation at the prospect of charging up and over it or total dread at the thought of the long, laborious climb. Once, on a run up this hill, I learned a valuable lesson about the difference between remaining steadfast to the truth and using self-will.

I hadn't been running in a while, so negotiating the grade was pretty daunting, but I was determined not to let the hill get the better of me. My mind was completely focused on not stopping. Then about a quarter of a mile from the top, the thought came to me, "If you think your rest and victory come when you make it to the top of this hill, you are missing the lesson completely."

This came as a bit of a shock because that was exactly what I had been thinking. How else could I be victorious except by conquering this hill? As I continued to run, however, I wondered what other lesson I was supposed to learn. I began thinking about God, and the fact that since He had created all things in His universe in harmony with one another, the mountain and I should not be at cross-purposes. God had not created a mountain as an obstacle or test to wear me out, nor as a challenge for me to overcome in order to improve my health. Nor had He made me a mortal at the mercy of matter and physical strength. Rather, I saw that as ever-present good, God was right there with me—on the uphill side of the mountain as well as on the downhill slope. As the creation of God, Spirit, I was by nature spiritual, one in quality with my Maker.

The thought then came, "Well, if God is here sustaining me, His child, why do I need willpower to make it to the top?" That was the lesson—I didn't need it. I didn't need self-will or personal determination. In fact, they would only hold me back, because relying on merely human abilities would suggest that my resources were limited and material, rather than infinite and spiritual. Trying to will myself to the top of the hill was actually working against my demonstration of the spiritual truths that assured me of my strength and success. I was not a mortal cut off from God, having to fend for myself. I needed to let go of dogged determination and replace self-will with steadfastness in the truth of being—in the omnipresence and omnipotence of God and in the spiritual unity of God and His idea, man.

I remembered this comment about steadfastness from Science and Health: "Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts" (p. 261 ). As I continued up the hill, I specifically refuted the notion that I was a physical being, struggling to prove my mental and physical strength. Instead, I held to the idea that, as a child of God, I was actually spiritual, reflecting His power, grace, and vitality right at that moment, no matter what the physical senses were telling me. I found myself running faster, even though I was on the steepest part of the hill.

When I reached the top, I took special care not to forget about the truths I had been holding to. After all, the victory was not in temporarily utilizing a truth like a tool to achieve a feat, but rather in seeing that man's unity with God sustains us under all circumstances.

Later I thought about the account in the Bible of Peter's effort to walk on the water (see Matt. 14:22–32). As long as he kept his thought focused on the presence and power of Christ, he was able to traverse the waves. But then Peter turned his attention to the storm, and "when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Peter needed steadfastness in order to prove his dominion over the elements. His human abilities—self-will and determination—were too "little faith."

If mountains or storms appear in your path—problems at work or home, deadlines, ethical dilemmas, or illness—remember that God is sustaining you. By holding thought steadfastly to this, you prove your God-given dominion and master whatever difficulty you face.