INTERVIEWER: There is a great deal of emphasis today on hard-fought competition. One aspect of this is described in an article on school athletics in "The Annals of The American Academy of Political and Social Science." The author, James S. Coleman, says: "The community supports the team, and the team rewards the community when it wins. The team is a community enterprise, and its successes are shared by the community. ..." (© 1961, by The American Academy of Political and Social Science, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.) Now, some young people are undoubtedly taxed very sternly by competition of various kinds. Do you think the teachings of the Bible offer any practical help to young people who want to do their best?

SPEAKER: Yes, I do. There is much practical help in the inspired Word of the Bible that brings release from tension and the bitterness so often found in competition. The Bible shows us the way to get rid of the attitudes of thought that would inhibit us, that would prevent us from doing our best.

INTERVIEWER: What would you say some of those things are which keep us from performing our best?

SPEAKER: Fear of failure, fear of not showing up well under stress, doubt that we can do well under pressure, feelings of inadequacy, of lack of ability, of discouragement, or of uncertainty.

INTERVIEWER: How do we get rid of these things?

SPEAKER: Well, we learn in Christian Science that there is no competition in reflection, and it is by reflection that man manifests the qualities of God, which free him from these restrictive attitudes of thought.

INTERVIEWER: I am not sure I understand the sense in which you are using the word "reflection" here.

SPEAKER: I will expand on that. The Bible, as you know, says that man is the image and likeness of God. Now, as His likeness, the image of God, man is the reflection of God. And the Bible explains that this is the purpose of man—to reflect or to express the nature of God. In Isaiah we read (43:12): "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God."

This is man's purpose. He lives to reflect or to bear witness to the fact that God is perfect Mind, the source of unerring intelligence. It is man's purpose, then, to bear witness to divine intelligence. It is his purpose to express the unvarying qualities of divine Truth. Now, isn't this what the Master, Christ Jesus, did? He said (John 5:30), "I can of mine own self do nothing." He also said (John 14:10), "The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." Thus Jesus lived to glorify God or to bear witness to the power and qualities of God.

The New Testament shows us the basis for doing our best. For example, Paul says (Phil. 2:13), "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Now, as we learn more of what this really means and gain a clearer view of the fact that man possesses by reflection the God-given talents and dominion which belong to him as the child of God, then we do a better job of bringing out our real, spiritual selfhood in our everyday experience. On this basis, we are bringing out the higher nature of man and are better able to do our best. In the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy says (p. 259): "The divine nature was best expressed in Christ Jesus, who threw upon mortals the truer reflection of God and lifted their lives higher than their poor thought-models would allow,—thoughts which presented man as fallen, sick, sinning, and dying."

INTERVIEWER: I gather, then, that what we need is to have a higher view of man, if we want to do our best?

SPEAKER: Yes. We need to understand more of the underlying spiritual nature, the underlying spiritual basis of man's being. We need to accept basis of man's being. We need to accept the fact that man really is spiritual, not material, that in his spiritual relationship to God man is complete, lacking nothing needed for right activity.

Let me draw on my own experience to give you an example of this. When I was still in college and completing my graduate work, I studied accounting and wanted to take the examination to be recognized as a certified public accountant. Now, I had not been a brilliant student. I had done good work, but was not considered outstanding; and my professors were quite frank in telling me that they thought it would be good experience for me to take this examination, but that, really, I should not expect to pass it. As a matter of fact, very few people ever did pass it at that time without having had practical experience in accounting and auditing, and I had not had any.

A day or so before I reported for the examination, I went to see a Christian Science practitioner. He asked me if I had prepared myself well for it, and I assured him that I had. Then we talked of God as divine Mind, the source of limitless intelligence. The practitioner emphasized that as the reflection of God I already included limitless intelligence. All the wisdom, perception, originality, and discernment I needed were mine by reflection.

Finally as I got ready to leave he said, "Now, you tell God you have done all you can do and that the rest is up to Him." This simple little statement lifted the burden off my shoulders. I realized that I could rely on my God-given capacities, and I felt the assurance that the intelligence which belongs to man is limitlessly expressed in each of His children and that I could identify myself as the child of God.

I went to the examination virtually free of fear and of the burden of competition. I found that my thinking was clear, that I could work the problems and answer the questions without too much delay. You can imagine my great joy when about six weeks later I received a telegram notifying me that I had indeed passed the examination.

In every activity in which we engage, whether it is sports or passing examinations or business experiences, we must, of course, do our utmost to prepare ourselves well. But the important thing is that we rely upon our God-given capacities and recognize that God is supporting these capacities.

INTERVIEWER: Does this approach imply using God?

SPEAKER: No. It is not using God, but it is using what God has given us. It is using our God-given talents. This in no sense is an effort to make God work for us; but it is a case of our working for God, working with Him. As we do this, we are worshiping God. We yield to His power and surrender selfishness, self-centeredness, or fearful thinking. We are letting God be more important to us than anything else.

As we do this, we find that step by step the unselfed desire to glorify God brings out the best in us in any competitive situation. It frees our thought from the fear of failure, from the fear of self-consciousness and condemnation about not having done our best; and, place of this, it opens up new opportunities for us, opportunities to continue to improve upon our ability to express our God-given capacities. It gives a better sense of sportsmanship in athletics. It gives more joy to our activity, more enthusiasm, and the result is a much better sense of satisfaction.