Winning an Olympic medal. Rocketing to the moon. Or exceeding normal standards in any field of human endeavor. Are such achievements out of reach for most of us? Not if they are seen in terms of realizing potential.

This phrase has two interpretations. First, it means seeing the possibilities, or recognizing that more can be done. Second, it means fulfilling these possibilities, or actually bringing to pass what was first glimpsed as a possibility.

Let's begin with the first interpretation as applied to athletics. Where is the greatest potential? In a material body or in divine Mind, God? One is limited. The other is not. If we think of merely stretching the finite, we are trying to do a lot with a little, so the result is struggle and uncertainty. If we think, instead, of drawing on the infinite, we find that we are really doing very little with something that is endless, so the result can be effortless, joyous. It hints of an ever-increasing experience.

Potential also indicates power. And we read in the Bible, "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength." ^{Isa. 40:29;} This shows complete independence of material limits. God's help is as available to those with no resources of their own as to those who already have a little to start with. All are supplied by the infinite.

But how do we draw on this divine power? Don't we need a very deep and complete understanding of Christian Science before we can begin to experience such things? By no means. To start only from our own human understanding would again be trying to stretch the finite. It would be to limit our potential. But infinite Mind is as close as thought and supplies divine wisdom, just as it supplies spiritual strength. And if we turn human thoughts, however limited they may seem, firmly toward this infinite source, our experience is correspondingly improved.

I was once taking part in an international invitation competition at the opening of a new athletic track at Norbiton, Surrey, England, in 1961. I had previously represented Great Britain in the World Student Games of 1957, in the British Empire and Commonwealth Games of 1958, and in the European Games of 1958, where I had reached my best long jump performance of 19 ft. 2 in.

As I warmed up for the event, I felt pain in my jumping foot. The foot seemed most unsafe and likely to give way at any moment. The prospects were not good that it could take the forces—over a ton—that would be transmitted through it when converting forward speed to height at takeoff.

I thought: "I don't know how this condition can go or what the specific answer to it is, but I do know that there is a way in Christian Science in which it can disappear completely."That was hardly a complete statement of Christian Science. But it was important because it was recognizing that the potential was there. It was a first step. I knew that spiritual power is independent of apparent material limitation. And I won the competition with a jump of 19 ft. 6¼ in.

This may have seemed the least likely time to improve my record. But when we most clearly recognize that the source of power is spiritual, not material, the way is clear for the best results.

Of course, a fuller understanding helps. And when we study to increase our spiritual understanding, we are taking the human footsteps necessary to realize potential, in the second sense of fulfilling the possibilities.

Before the British Championships in 1964 I seemed below form. I had been jumping only around 17 feet, with a season's best of 18 ft. 3 in. There seemed little hope of reaching even the recently raised qualifying distance of 18 ft. 6 in. for a place in the final rounds.

This was one passage from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, that helped me: "God expresses in man the infinite idea forever developing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from a boundless basis." ^{Science and Health, p. 258;}

"Developing itself"! That freed me from a sense of effort and false responsibility and gave me confidence. I realized that my jumping must express God's qualities: the ceaseless activity of Life, the faultlessness of Truth, the perfect judgment of Mind, the harmonious control of Principle, the joyous freedom of Soul, the limitless abundance of Spirit. And it must be under the protective care of Love. In short, it must demonstrate the eternal Christ-power, which can neither fail nor fade.

I qualified for the final with my first jump of the competition, and in the final itself I was again over 19 feet.

I was learning to some extent that spiritual man is the image and likeness of God, as the Bible describes him. He is not a limited material being, trying to squeeze a little more out of matter.

The human state of things, however, is a relative situation in which the effort to gain a greater understanding of true, absolute perfection results in our expressing more spiritual good and experiencing less material restriction. The appearance is progress, and it is entirely right to expect this. Mrs. Eddy says that "progress is the law of God, whose law demands of us only what we can certainly fulfil." ^{p. 233;}

We do not therefore expect to perform well without training. However, our practice is not done for its physical effect but as an expression of such spiritual qualities as consistency and perseverance, as a growing demonstration of dominion over matter, and for the confidence that this gives. This practice is never fruitless. We can gain insight from the promise given by Boaz to Ruth in the Bible: "The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust." ^{Ruth 2:12;}

What, then, would put limits on our potential? Only the acceptance of the notion that its source is material. This notion comes in many disguises. It is useful to know that infinite Mind and therefore spiritual man, is not limited by accident, lack of fitness, weather conditions, time limits, opponents, teammates, or other apparent factors of physical heredity or environment.

Take weather conditions as a last example. I was competing on a windy day. The wind was against competitors, reducing our speed and changing our stride length, thus making it very difficult to jump far or to hit the takeoff board accurately. Getting in a good jump seemed a matter of chance. The circumstances were unfair, so I turned my thought from the human situation to seek the spiritual solution.

I realized three facts that affirmed the spiritual truth and denied the material appearance: God is the only power; there is no limit to His power; and nothing can interfere with this power. Implicitly I was also aware that all competitors could only express God's power.

Then it was my turn to jump, and after doing so I realized that the wind had stopped. I improved 8 inches, and others also jumped further in the last calm round. Spiritual harmony is universal. Furthermore, having gained this understanding, I was able to use it the following week when competing after a thunderstorm on a soft wet track. Early jumps were so poor that it seemed pointless to try. Then I remembered that the source of power had not changed during the week, so I need not accept the limits. I improved about 17 inches.

Mrs. Eddy gives the answer to all apparent material limitations when she writes, "Wholly apart from this mortal dream, this illusion and delusion of sense, Christian Science comes to reveal man as God's image, His idea, coexistent with Him—God giving all and man having all that God gives." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 5.}