There is nothing like feeling the joy that comes from breaking through old limits or, with the summer Olympics taking place in Atlanta, seeing others perform better than they've done in the past. It's tremendously satisfying to discover for yourself or witness in others new levels of achievement.

Can you remember how you felt in some of your own very best moments and performances? Whether it was hitting a 4-iron stiff at the pin, finishing a run with what feels like more energy than when you started, smoothly moving a soccer ball through opposing players, or hitting a backhand into the opposite corner of the court with power and grace—there is something common to excellent performance.

What people will often tell you after playing better than ever before is how surprised they were to find that in those moments of achievement, their actions didn't feel forced but seemed almost effortless. At these times, athletes often experience an obliviousness to physicality. Such moments can do much to help a person feel his or her real, spiritual identity as God's expression. The source of true identity is divine Mind, or God, and this can be proved on the cricket pitch or football field as well as in the workplace or sickroom. Divine Mind expresses itself in ideas, spiritual ideas. Just as God isn't constricted by physicality, neither is His spiritual idea, man.

"Unfathomable Mind is expressed. The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all space. That is enough! Human language can repeat only an infinitesimal part of what exists," states Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (p. 520). A few pages before that statement she declares: "Mind, joyous in strength, dwells in the realm of Mind. Mind's infinite ideas run and disport themselves. In humility they climb the heights of holiness" (p. 514).

True humility admits that God, not mortal bodies or human will, is Life. Selflessness and humility are the means through which we learn of and demonstrate our real identity, which isn't limited by physicality but is "joyous in strength," revealing the infinitude of God. Humility, among other such spiritual qualities, affords the moral courage it takes to rise above physics to the freedom to be God's man, safely expressing the glory of Life and Mind.

To break free of physical limitation, overcome injury, and surpass previous levels of performance, we can't allow anything to trespass on our understanding of God, divine Life and Mind, and of our oneness with Life as its spiritual expression.

In the long run, animal courage—the mode of thought obsessed with the size of muscles or strength of human will—turns us from spiritual identity and confines us in physicality. It often sets the stage for failure and sometimes even injury. In the domain of human willpower and muscles, it's easy for envy and hatred to become factors. Yet, knowing that man, as the very expression of divine Mind, never includes animal courage or physicality lifts one beyond the sting of envy or hatred. When we look at the life of Christ Jesus—his healing and feeding of multitudes, stilling of storms, the wonderful, regenerating spiritual discernment, the comforting love—would it have been possible that any of his works were the result of teeth-gritting animal courage? Nor were they influenced by others' envy or animosity. He told the people, "I can of mine own self do nothing" (John 5:30).

If Jesus proved that deep spirituality is the way of freedom, do we think it possible to win our own way through anything but by hungering to know and express divine Spirit? Athletics, in its highest form, is just one of many roads that can be taken to prove that man is God's expression. Through humble prayer it becomes clearer that no one needs to buy into an "animal courage" model of an athlete, and there is no need to be subject to the injuries or deterioration that are associated with mortal athleticism. Injury is never any part of what divine Spirit is expressing in anyone. Spirit's expression is unencumbered. Realizing this fact gives us more freedom to perform well than even the most rigorous athletic training, because when thought is free—and abiding in God, Spirit—everything we do is lifted to a higher plane of action.

Participating in sports as a spectator also requires watching thought carefully. I love hearing people like Chris Berman on ESPN's Sports Center describe the day's sports highlights. It's also great to watch tournaments, matches, and games live, just as they happen. There is always evidence of spiritual qualities and the expression of moral courage in each event. Spirituality can be found almost anywhere, even in the midst of what sometimes seems to be a fixation on ego, muscles, and salary. That is the atmosphere, in fact, in which a participant's spirituality can be most refreshing—and transforming.

As spectators, though, it's important not to be overwhelmed by any pictures of injury. Those images are not the truth of what God is doing, and they are not true of His expression either. God, divine Life, is expressing Himself in man freely and spiritually. Praying from this standpoint provides a mental atmosphere that helps stop the spread of injuries because the focus is on something higher than materiality and brute force. The descriptions of suffering may be compelling but they have never been factual for God's spiritual man. It is healing to acknowledge, with great love in our hearts, that even in the very worst case, the truth is that the real man is everlastingly God's perfect, spiritual child. We're never afraid that God might be hurt. God's man is always safe, too. The humility that admits—and understands—that each of us is God's expression, not a muscular mortal, is a great step toward ruling out injury or its effects.

Either as a participant or as a spectator, you might explore for yourself the truth that God is omniactive, divine Spirit, and that God's man reflects only the divine nature and action. Sports will be even more fun and rewarding—and safe—when we look to God and what God is expressing as our mode.

(Mr. Swinney is Managing Editor.)