I am thrilled to be a Christian Scientist and decided to write to tell you why. The everyday practice of this divine Science has benefited me and my family in countless ways: through the healing of severe burns, flu, fever, ear infections, grief, complications during pregnancy, and other situations involving finding employment, improving family relations, and more.

Throughout my ten years of working and playing in white-water rivers, I have proved to a degree how understanding God's spiritual law is practical in business.

One particular healing stands out. Years ago, I was the business manager for a new outdoor center that specialized in white-water rafting. During one season, I was very concerned about the exceedingly low river levels. This was our third year in operation, and it seemed that this was the new business's "make or break" year.

I decided to treat the whole situation through prayer. First, I asked myself, What is the goal of this prayerful treatment? I reasoned that the goals of this treatment all pointed to love: abundance, joy, substance, fulfillment, health. And what could possibly hinder the expression of these qualities?

Part of one dictionary's definition of influence is "the act or power of producing an effect." I took this to mean that the divine influence must be felt. The Bible tells us, "And the Word was made flesh" (John 1:14). I saw that I could expect the wisdom and power of God to be made evident in our present experience.

Because we are really in the breaking-limitations business, the growth business, the reflecting-infinity business, I realized nothing could separate us or our guests from good, joy, and substance. An idea of God—be it a guest, an employee, a river, or a business—has all good now, and we can be immediately aware of that good.

Very shortly after I had been praying about the situation in this way, the owner of the business told all the raft guides that we were to change the focus of the raft trips from one of white-water thrills to one more appreciative of nature, the river, the flora and fauna, the camaraderie of the guides. This was the answer to my prayer. I thoroughly enjoyed this new focus. Our guests also enjoyed it so much that I truly forgot about the river levels, even though they remained exceedingly low.

When we were hit by a deluge of rain two successful weeks later, I stood outside in the downpour, laughing and remembering God's promise from the Bible: I will "open you the windows ofheaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Mal. 3:10). The rain lasted long enough to fill all the river's reservoirs upstream to their normal summer levels, giving us all the water we needed throughout the season.

A number of years ago, I had an experience that taught me a lot about the immediacy of God, about myself, and about the concept of beauty. I was lighting a friend's gas heater when it suddenly blew up in my face. It burned off the greater portion of my eyelashes and eyebrows as well as the hair around my face. My skin was red and unbearably hot with (as I later learned) second-degree burns.

My friend led me inside where I applied wet, cool washcloths to my face. But the more attention I gave to my face, the more uncomfortable it felt. I knew I could depend on a higher source for healing and turned to prayer. That simple acknowledgment of God's power enabled me to stop using the washcloths. Immediately the pain disappeared. But my face still showed the effects of the burns, and I felt very self-conscious.

Next, I called a Christian Science practitioner for treatment. She gave me immediate comfort and confidence in God's direct help. Two passages from Science and Health were helpful as we prayed: "Immortal men and women are models of spiritual sense, drawn by perfect Mind and reflecting those higher conceptions of loveliness which transcend all material sense" (p. 247); and "Christian Science declares that Mind is substance, also that matter neither feels, suffers, nor enjoys. Hold these points strongly in view. Keep in mind the verity of being,—that man is the image and likeness of God, in whom all being is painless and permanent" (p. 414).

Then I started thinking about my whole concept of beauty. Did it depend on my outward appearance, or did I really know myself as an expression of Soul? How wonderful! My whole concept of beauty had to come from within. I knew that I am a child of God, spiritual, intact, and untouched by material events. Beauty contains patience, grace, exaltation. It radiates outward; it is not something so fragile that flames could consume or distort it.

The healing of pain had been immediate. And in time, my hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes grew back properly, leaving a clear complexion with no scars.

I am so happy to be studying and practicing Christian Science.

Kimberly Crooks Korinek
St. Paul, Minnesota