ACCORDING TO SCIENTISTS at the University of Melbourne in Australia, 25 percent of the world's population suffers from severe allergic responses to pollen—what one expert calls "the number-one environmental disease today." In an effort to help sufferers of hay fever and other allergies, the university and a group known as Asthma Victoria provide local media outlets with a daily pollen count in the Melbourne area.

Such efforts aren't new. Some years ago, when I lived in Coromandel Valley in the Adelaide foothills of South Australia, a local radio station began announcing whether it was a low-, medium-, or high-risk pollen day. There were many on-air discussions about flowering grasses and weeds, allergy symptoms, and the merits of acupuncture, vaccinations, pharmaceutical drugs, and homeopathic remedies.

As I listened, I was grateful that I'd always worked outdoors in my hillside garden without any allergic reactions. One day, however, that changed. I began experiencing the symptoms of hay fever I'd been hearing about in the news.

By then I had been practicing spiritual healing for many years, and I decided to employ Christianly scientific prayer to heal myself. I began by examining my thinking. I knew that whatever I cherished in my thought about my well-being—whether it was good or bad, healthy or unhealthy, spiritual or material, had an effect on my body. If I ruminated over or was fearful of ill health, then this wouldn't help me stay free of sickness. Whereas, understanding that God had made me in His image and likeness and that my well-being was maintained by Him had previously kept me in good health.

I realized that the discussions on the radio about seasonal ailments had had an impact on me, and that by not prayerfully countering the descriptions of allergy symptoms, I'd given my tacit agreement to them. If I wanted to be free of them, I reasoned, it was time to shut out the unhealthy thoughts and fears about allergies, and replace them with the spiritual facts regarding my well-being.

I went to the first chapter of Genesis, which speaks of God as Creator. To my delight I found these words: "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good" (verses 11, 12).

Then I remembered something I'd read previously in Science and Health: "In old times who ever heard of dyspepsia, cerebro-spinal meningitis, hay-fever, and rose-cold?

"What an abuse of natural beauty to say that a rose, the smile of God, can produce suffering! The joy of its presence, its beauty and fragrance, should uplift the thought, and dissuade any sense of fear or fever. It is profane to fancy that the perfume of clover and the breath of new-mown hay can cause glandular inflammation, sneezing, and nasal pangs" (p. 175).

Equipped with these liberating ideas, I prayed like this: "Dear Creator, You are good and all that You've made is good. The flowers, grasses, and plants are expressions of Your beauty. Nothing that originates from You can make me sick. I have nothing to fear from Your creation. I am pure and spiritual because right from the start You made me that way. Thank you for always keeping me whole and well."

The result? Later that day I was totally free of all symptoms—and I've stayed free.

When reports about seasonal ailments such as allergies appear, it's time for you and me to be proactive and pray about health. The following steps can help: Affirm that God made you allergy-free and keeps you allergy-free. Believe this with all your heart. Be confident that God is caring for you. Rejoice in God's goodness and beauty, and know that there is nothing to fear from the flowering plants or the grasses around you. Expect to be healthy and stay healthy because health is what God wants for you and everyone.

No one has to be troubled with hay fever or any other allergy. During springtime and every other season of the year, it's possible to enjoy the loveliness of God's creating and be healthy and free.