What connection does prayer have with the Olympics? The Olympics are historically a time for the world to come together. While it has had its problems and controversies, victories and tragedies, it is primarily a time for nations of the world to put their differences aside and compete in the spirit of fellowship, and prayer has had an impact.
The role of prayer in the Olympics
It might be easy to discount prayer as having no bearing on a huge event like the Olympics, but Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer and founder of Christian Science, defines prayer in a unique way. Here is what she says in her chapter on “Prayer” in the Christian Science textbook.
Prayer cannot change the Science of being, but it tends to bring us into harmony with it…. The mere habit of pleading with the divine Mind, as one pleads with a human being, perpetuates the belief in God as humanly circumscribed, — an error which impedes spiritual growth…. The habitual struggle to be always good is unceasing prayer.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 2:15–16, 18; 4:12-13
Simply asking that we may love God will never make us love Him; but the longing to be better and holier, expressed in daily watchfulness and in striving to assimilate more of the divine character, will mould and fashion us anew, until we awake in His likeness.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 4:17–22
This standard of prayer has been used by athletes in the Olympics and other sports competitions, not to win medals, but to become more in harmony with the games and their fellow athletes.
We are going to share two articles in Christian Science publications that illuminate this idea, one from an athlete in 1908 and another in the ‘60s.
In the 1909 article, an Olympic high jumper found Christian Science when his mental health and physical health appeared to be suffering greatly. After reading from Science & Health and experiencing healing, he found himself interested in the sports he enjoyed in college. Despite having lapsed on his training, he was relaxed and exuberant when it came time to jump again, and he beat his previous records, not once, but again and again.
He writes, “[Christian Science] did nothing miraculous—simply by freeing me from mental rubbish, it made it possible for me to realize for the first time a fuller measure of the powers latent in me.” He continued to apply Christian Science and continued to rise in the sport. He says, “My only preparation was to get my thoughts as harmonious as possible, if perchance the tasks of the day had left me wearied and oppressed. Physical freshness I found to be coincident with mental freshness, and my maximum efficiency was always realized when perfect coordination of mind and body ensued.” H. F. Porter, “Let Me Tell You What Christian Science Has Done for Me…,” Christian Science Sentinel, May 29, 1909.
We also see, from Olympic athlete John Bower, how prayer and having a Christian Science and community-driven view of the competition, led to a better personal achievement as well as a far better experience with sport.
He explains, “My goal, when honoring God, is to try to act according to God’s view of me, and not up to some human ideal. This new outlook—trying to do my best instead of trying to beat other people—was an opportunity to work with the other members of the competition, rather than against them. I wanted everybody to do their best, not just me—for all of us to take the next step up in our individual progress.” Rick Lipsky and John Bower, “An Olympic Athlete Talks about Prayer,” Christian Science Journal, February 2002.
You are invited to read these inspiring articles about prayer and the Olympics in bound volumes and online in most Christian Science Reading Rooms in SoCal, and if you subscribe to JSH-Online, you can click the links above and read the articles online or search Olympic* and you will find 514 matches.
