RUNNING ON WINGS

BY SPENCER KEEL

For as long as I can remember, since first joining a running club when I was 11, this is what a Christian Science practitioner has been telling me. Now I'm 16, and to me relaxing and running on the wings of angels means the run will be easy, fast, free of pain or obstacles—that I'll be free to express God's goodness and power. And with the wings of God's angels holding me up, I cannot possibly fall.

Last year, right after my freshman year in high school, I competed in an 800-meter race at the state meet for Junior Olympics Track and Field in Georgia. During track season, just a month before, I'd run the 800 in two minutes and 23 seconds. That wasn't a bad time for a freshman, but I'd hoped to do better this time and maybe shave off two or three seconds. It felt like another opportunity to prove the all-power of God.

Over the years, with my parents and the practitioner's help, I've learned that improving my running doesn't mean I have to feel pain. As a matter of fact, I've been healed in Christian Science of both shin splints and knee pain. It seems to me that all I need to do is say NO to whatever the difficulty may be and YES to God—because certainly pain is not like God, or from Him. And as His spiritual expression alone, I can't have what isn't like God, since He gives me all He is, including the ability to express strength and freedom.