THE INFORMAL TALKS held last month by the Russian and American presidents in Kennebunkport, Maine, to try to sort out some of the divisive issues between the two countries, reminded me of times I have spent negotiating business deals with Russian officials. For me, the real satisfaction lay in the support I felt from daily prayer and the resulting evidence of the divine Mind at work in our meetings.

Fifteen years ago, while living in Moscow, I set out to start a telecom company that would depend on a space satellite for connection to the international networks. I was prepared to engage in high-level negotiations with Russian government officials. Earlier, I had talked in the United States with Russian representatives of a prominent technical institution connected with the space industry. I had no reason to think things wouldn't work out as planned.

However, when the time came for me to meet with officials, it was a shock to realize about ten minutes into the meeting that my business plans were not going to work at all. The Russians didn't seem to understand what was needed, and saw no logical way to supply it even if they did.

Encountering an unstable economy in those Perestroika days—11 time zones from home, and without practical and proven ways to keep moving forward—would have been daunting had past experience not taught me that such challenges never have to be met alone. I've found God is always present to support every worthy venture. Prayer had helped me through other business negotiations with developing economies. Patience and quiet listening for God's direction led me many times to my goals, or made viable alternatives clear and accessible. So I viewed this new predicament as another opportunity to prove God's unfailing provision for all of His sons and daughters.

Although my Russian office assistant in Moscow knew I had many years of international business development under my belt, I could see she wondered whether she was wasting her time with me. She realized I had no other plan, and that time and funds were limited, but of course she didn't know how much prayerful thought I'd put into the project from its outset, and the power of that prayer.

Despite my disappointments, I slept well that night, and awoke with the words truth and logic stamped in my head like a freeway sign. This was not really a surprise to me, because "Truth" was the subject of the Bible Lesson I'd been studying each morning that week in the Christian Science Quarterly. And logic was like a companion word for me.

So I focused on Truth, which is one of the synonyms for God Mrs. Eddy gave in Science and Health (see p. 587). I separated spiritual fact from material fiction, confident that Truth, which is always present because God is always present, would show me the right steps to take. Truth's logic would be clear, and the way ahead would be correct and sustainable. I took as fact Mrs. Eddy's observation that "a logical and scientific conclusion is reached only through the knowledge that there are not two bases of being, matter and mind, but one alone,—Mind" (Science and Health, p. 279).

I began to listen—spiritually, attentively—knowing that as I understood Mind better, Mind would reveal the right partners with the right motives, the right technical knowledge, and the right political connections to enable the project to proceed. I had to be able to trust them. They had to be able to trust me. And most important, I had to be able to trust God with my whole heart, never relying on my own understanding. "In all thy ways acknowledge him," says the Bible book of Proverbs, "and he shall direct thy paths" (3:6).

I went back to the Russian friends I'd originally met with in the United States. They saw I was undeterred, and suddenly got serious, introducing me to a group who had already started on a similar project and who needed the exact cooperation we could offer. They had the technical capabilities and political connections to move forward quickly—and they had a cooperative spirit and good intent. From there, we progressed rapidly together, soon building the first commercial-quality satellite link between the United States and central Moscow.

To some, this might seem like clever management or just luck. But I knew that the inevitable logic of divine Truth was in action, and to the degree that I acknowledged it, listened to it, and followed it, things would work out well.

Healing, sustaining ideas continued to enrich and guide the venture through various avenues, often unexpected ones. The business flourished, providing advanced communication services to millions of people, exciting and needed employment to many, and financial and personal satisfaction all around. Truth had been logically and productively revealed.

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