We took our seats up in the balcony of a crowded auditorium to see what hundreds have been eagerly anticipating: a group of tap dancing Australian men in work boots exploding on stage in technical brilliance, energy, rowdy humor and outright fun. I had never seen such a display of pure masculinity expressed and condensed into two hours!

That one performance gave me a whole new direction and perspective on masculinity and how it is portrayed today.

How could one define masculinity today?

Strength, vigor, boldness, committed focused effort, seeing the power in purity and the purity in power; masculinity as the ability to hammer out details into expressions of grace, beauty, form and function; as an expression of being able to stand, to be upright, the fathering qualities of wisdom, protection and guidance and the childlike qualities of exploration and unlimited joy.

Masculinity is often coupled with femininity in an expression of completeness. When one adds to the above collection of masculine qualities, the feminine qualities of intuition, spiritual growth, freshness, the birth of new ideas, creativity, dignity and refinement a beautiful and undivided sense of life is gained.

Taking it even to a higher realm, we can understand God as the source of all masculine and feminine qualities; we can see God as our Father- Mother. Mary Baker Eddy, in her classic best-selling book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures talks about God in just this way. Father Mother is the name for Deity, which indicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation. (p.332)

She also writes, Union of the masculine and feminine qualities constitutes completeness. The masculine mind reaches a higher tone through certain elements of the feminine, while the feminine mind gains courage and strength through masculine qualities. (ibid. p 57)

So what would try to tear down these concepts of true manhood? A wrong premise of what manhood truly is.

In the book of Genesis from the Bible, we have two accounts or premises of creation. In the first chapter, we have God, creating male and female in His image and likeness, created at the same time equally, with no partiality or hierarchy.

In the second chapter, we have the premise brought forth by the Adam and Eve story. Here man is portrayed as weak and vulnerable to temptation, shamed and needing to give up something in order to have a companion.

From the second chapters premise, comes a portrayal of masculinity degraded, masculinity that is brutal, domineering and egotistical. From this premise grows the idea that we live in division or duality, in a belief that one can take away the good of another, a belief that good is limited which gives rise to competition in which there is only one winner and there must of necessity be a loser.

This premise is illusive. As we replace this with the premise of man in Gods image and likeness, partnering with the feminine, the role of masculinity becomes stronger, purer, based on an honest conviction of all individuals God-given rights toward full expression.

Today, as the elevation of womanhood is emerging in many cultures, we are also seeing the redefinition of the role of men, who can be empowering to both men and women alike.

This first chapter of Genesis helps us to understand that there is one God, embracing the masculine and feminine qualities, the fathering and mothering qualities. We have a healthy base to see that there need be no dualism in our relationships with one another. Our pure sense of the masculine qualities expressed today, do much to forward our progress, as much as by having a purer sense of the feminine qualities expressed today.

This new premise transforms thought and we can celebrate masculinity in its true light a masculinity that does not dominate, but equalizes the sexes; does not compete, but strengthens and refines; is not aggressive, but is powerful, strong and lasting. And masculinity, when coupled with the feminine, presents a balance in life, reflecting an infinite Father Mother God.

Kim Korinek

Kim was raised with Christian Science and has been an active Christian Scientist almost all of her adult life. What intrigues her most about Christian Science is the way it explains God as a law of universal Love itself.

By applying this law, she has experienced numerous healings of physical, financial and relationship difficulties in her own life and has seen healings in the lives of others relying on Christian Science. In the last twenty years, Kim helped others through prayer on a part time basis, and is now fully devoting herself to this practice.

Prior to her full time work in the Christian Science practice, she worked with the publisher of The Writings of Mary Baker Eddy (founder of Christian Science and author of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" - the full statement of Christian Science). She traveled the world, introducing Science and Health to book industries throughout Latin America, Australia and New Zealand and in parts of Europe and Asia. She found that Science and Health was welcomed by booksellers all over the world ? including in predominately Islamic, Hindu, Catholic, Christian and secular countries.

Kim worked with international teams to share the broader application of Christian Science to bring comfort, restore hope and ensure safety to thousands of people via media and special events for such situations as the SARS crisis, the economic collapse in South America, the Madrid bombings and the tsunami tragedy in Asia.

Prior to her work with the publisher, Kim was administrator for a Christian Science nursing facility ? a facility that gives nursing care to those who are under Christian Science treatment. Kim directed the day-to-day operations that contributed to the overall care and well being of many patients along with supervising all aspects of a licensed care facility.

Kim holds a Master's degree in Education Administration and took the course of Christian Science Primary Class Instruction in Christian Science healing in 1978. Every year, she takes a post graduate course in spiritual healing, attending with hundreds of Christian Scientists and practitioners representing up to 30 countries.

Kim, a mother of two boys, stays active in her lifelong love of the arts and outdoors, having met her husband while whitewater kayaking and racing. All four of them have lived in the East Coast and in the Midwest where they enjoy making art, as well as reading, traveling and having outdoor adventures.