Traveling alone with a large canoe in a remote corner of Canada one September day, I found myself paddling down a river under a steady, cold rain. Late in the day, as often happens in the forest, I came to an impasse. It was necessary to carry canoe and equipment several hundred yards over a steep rocky incline to reach a much-needed shelter. When I stopped the canoe, I was not only wet and chilled but severely fatigued from covering many miles in the teeth of the driving rain. I began carrying my outfit across the rocky portage; the canoe was left for last.
For several years I had suffered a problem with my lower back that had given me daily trouble, despite continuing prayer in Christian Science. Each morning when I woke, I was not able immediately to stand erect. All physical activities had to be conducted without sudden movement, and some were omitted altogether. Because of this, I always had difficulty lifting my eighteen-foot canoe, even under the best of conditions.
Now, on my first attempt to lift the waterlogged canoe, I could not get it to my shoulders before, shaking and tired, I dropped it. I rested a few minutes, tried again, and failed. I could not drag the canoe without damaging it on the rocks. So, I gave the third lift a mighty effort and was gratified momentarily to get the canoe over my shoulders.
