How many gold medals did you win in this Olympic year?—in the fields of love, good neighborliness, and healing.

How often did you bear witness to the truth, as Jesus did so consistently, and acknowledge the divine guidance and grace at work in your life?

How many “personal bests” did you celebrate in overcoming sickness and sin?

How often did you defy age barriers?—like 15-year-old Lydia Ko, youngest winner in the history of the women’s golf circuit; Neymar da Silva Santos, who at 18 played for the Brazilian national team; or veteran golfer Ernie Els, who came back after ten lean years in major tournaments to win the British Open?

These deeply meaningful and relevant questions apart, one thing sporting years all share is unpredictability and the frustrating tendency to produce more drama off the field than on it. Many people assess the year not on goals scored or points on the board, but by the injury toll, the number of players (and even head coaches) suspended, the magnitude of the fines imposed, and the impact all this has on fans and on teams’ morale and financial stability.

2012 has been no exception, yet somehow sportswriters may have landed more inspiring stories than usual. Of course, Olympic years always help. In London, there were tales of courage and persistence to be found on every rain-soaked stretch of the River Thames, around every bend on the stadium track, on the uneven bars and the balance beam, on the ten-meter diving platform, and amidst the flying grains of beach sand on Horse Guards Parade.  

Think of host country Great Britain winning an unimaginable 65 medals (29 of them gold); Andy Murray taking the gold on the Centre Court at Wimbledon and going on to win the US Open title at Flushing Meadow; or South African double-amputee Oscar Pistorius reaching the final of the men’s 4x400 relay and then winning an individual 400-meter Paralympic gold medal a few weeks later.

We can never venture beyond that metaphorical "diamond" of God's care.

These and dozens of other achievements during the sporting year had many of us reaching into our own spiritual reservoirs to come up with inspiration strong enough to produce more personal bests. Regardless of our sporting interests (from hiking to surfing to games of frisbee) or our favorite teams, we might well ask ourselves: Are we assessing our performances in every walk of life—not just on the sports field—in terms of their validity as God-inspired, God-praising activities?

Are we accepting that in spiritual reality “nothing exists beyond the range of all-inclusive infinity, in which and of which God is the sole creator”? Are we enjoying watching “Mind’s infinite ideas run and disport themselves” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 514)?

A helpful analogy was given by baseball writer John Ritter in an October 15 Sentinel interview in which he spoke of the hitter’s journey as he starts from home plate. He darts off, running alone to reach base after base, but with the ultimate goal of coming home again. In life, said Ritter, we all start at one with God, then venture out. Sometimes life’s challenges seem to separate us for a while from the Father, but His love inevitably draws us home again and we find the deep spiritual peace that has always been ours.

How good it is to know that whatever our field of endeavor, we can never venture beyond that metaphorical “diamond” of God’s care. Our training manual can be based on the ageless truths of the Bible, and whatever our individual regimen, we can always deepen our commitment, concentration, and persistence, especially in our prayer life. We can replace daily distractions with a firm resolve to serve God humbly and trustingly, and to bring “a proper sense of awe and responsibility” to such encounters. After all, “It is God,” the Apostle Paul wrote, “who is at work within you, giving you the will and the power to achieve his purpose” (Philippians 2:13, J.B. Phillips).

And that is a gold-winning purpose worth striving for, on and off the field, in 2013!