SPORTS January 26, 2004 Issue

Ever wonder if Oprah reads the sports section?

By Warren Bolon

Have we done the spirituality thing ? Is it now time to move on?

"Everybody ought to know what their spirit is by now," daytime television diva Oprah Winfrey was quoted as saying in a recent magazine interview. She is moving on to "shows reflecting the spirit of people triumphing in their lives or overcoming difficulties" (TIME, December 15, 2003). At least the spirit is still there in the mix.

But let's allow for the possibility that what the magazine printed may not represent Oprah's full statement on spirituality as a talk show topic. Maybe she's only tired of talking about spirituality, and that's not a bad thing. Talk without action, says the Bible (and most football coaches), is cheap. Or as the founder of this magazine wrote, "Inconsistency is shown by words without deeds, which are like clouds without rain" (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health, p. 354).