Ken’s “POETIC PRELUDE” shares Bible EXAMPLES of Soul’s infinite resources & blessings

Ken Cooper’s “POETIC PRELUDE” shares Bible EXAMPLES of Soul’s infinite resources & blessings for EACH of us and for ALL mankind!
from the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on “Soul” for February 13, 2022

(CedarS Met with audio by Kerry should be coming soon and hopefully will be emailed yet tonight.) 

• Ken’s YouTube poem “Keep Your Violin In Tune” recognises the beauty of what we are and represent.
• The poem “HERE AM I”  is told by the boy who gave 5 loaves & 2 fish to Jesus to feed thousands.
• The poem “Tabitha”, delightfully read by Sue, is a monologue imagined from Tabitha’s best friend.
  

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 [Ken writes:] “Mary Baker Eddy writes: “The maximum of good is the infinite God and His idea, the All-in-all.” (Science & Health 103:15–16) and the Golden Text this week mirrors this statement, for the request “let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us” is the ultimate blessing, not a request, but in fact a simple truth, a recognition that what God saw and declared in Genesis was “very good.”  We are beautiful.

There is a well-known saying that beauty “takes the breath away”, — something so awesome that time stands still in the recognition of the splendour of whatever is before one. It is good to think that when “Jesus saw the perfect man” this sense of beauty was similarly inspiring, and can be for us too. The book of Psalms is full of honour and majesty, grace and glory (see Responsive Reading), and what can be more beautiful than the beauty of God, – the infinite fullness of Truth, Love, Life, Truth , Mind, Spirt, Principle, wrapped together in Soul, and reflected by man in all God’s glory! 

The poem “Keep Your Violin In Tune” (read by Sue) also recognises the beauty of what we are and represent. Let me share a story with you. A market trader in Coventry, England, where I once lived,  bought an old violin and put it up for sale at £20. After a month, no one had shown any interest, – in human terms it was an outcast. But then a poor rough tramp wandered by the stall, and asked my friend John if he could play the violin. He took a risk and said “Yes”. (What would you have done?) The tramp re-tuned the violin, and began to play. It was so beautiful! Like a ripple effect, people stopped what they were doing and listened, – their breath taken away,  – soon the entire market was listening as the tramp and violin combined as one and were one. After a few more minutes, the tramp put down the violin, with tears in his eyes said, “Thank you” and vanished in to the crowd.  It was sold for £120! I like to think what would the violin be thinking if it could, – why hasn’t someone played me like this before, – I didn’t know I could do that!! I did not know what my perfection meant! (The full story is in my book, see below) Hence the first verse of the poem:

“Oh keep your violin in tune
Each second of the day,
For when the Christ picks up the bow,
Divinely you will play”.

When we submit to the Christ we fulfill what Jesus said, “I can of mine own self do nothing”, and man as the expression and activity of God shines through. WOW! The tramp needed the violin to express himself. God needs man for the same reason, and the result is amazing! When we see the truth of what we are, we play the beautiful music of God, share His beauty and glory, all the time. 

The last verse concludes

“At one with God, we are His tune,
His touch so Masterful;
Inseparable from Soul, that’s us!
God’s music – wonderful!”

Perhaps one can say that in the beginning was the Word, and it was set to music!

As the Word is ever-present so is the demonstration of God’s abundance. Every note has its identity, – it is neither young nor old, but remains what it is. Every idea of God is ageless. It lives in the now of infinity. When Jesus was given the loaves and fishes, the quantity did not matter, because ideas are limitless. The poem “HERE AM I”  is the story of the five loaves and two fishes (not as in this lesson the seven loaves and four thousand – Section 4, Matthew 15:32-38 – two separate “miracles” as Jesus made clear) as seen from the perspective of the young boy involved. The young boy reports to his parents all that he saw, and what Jesus said to him, “That there can be no limitations, only the abundance of good; to believe what I had just seen and to make my life as bountiful as the loaves and fishes!” The boy had returned with the original loaves and fishes, but far more importantly, he had recognised what he could give, what beauty lay in him, lies in all of us. His final words “Here am I” can be said by everyone of us, for we each fully represent the “infinite resources of Soul that bless the whole of mankind” (taken from citation S19/60:29). It’s a beautiful fact: “Here am I”.

This is what Jesus knew, and what he shared and expected of his disciples. Peter would have heard him say: “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” (John 17:5). This gave him the understanding of life of which Soul is the full expression.

In the poem “Tabitha”, delightfully read by Sue, we listen to a monologue of what is imagined as Tabitha’s best friend, extolling Tabitha’s many virtues, stunned by her death, but made gloriously happy by her being brought back to the life she had never lost. In faith, they sought out Peter, who was not that far away, seeking his support. His vision was clear and untroubled, and healing resulted. (citation B17/Acts 9:36-41)

“Tabitha stood, held warmly in Peter’s arms, and she turned and looked at us with radiance, looked at me with such love in her eyes, – I felt tears welling: she ran from Peter straight to me, gave me such a hug, then stood back and holding my hands just squeezed them tight and shared with me that lovely moment of life illumined with the presence of the Christ. It was beautiful. Everyone was rejoicing, praising God.”

How beautiful it is when we also see in man the creation and expression of God, Soul, Mind, Love. When we see this in others we have to see it also in ourselves. There is another well-known saying: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. “God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good.” (Gen. 1:31) God could not be wrong!! He saw Himself. He saw us. In Science, what we see is infinite beauty. There can be nothing else. We are His grace and glory, right now. (Responsive Reading/Ps, 84:11)

Copies of the poems are available in pdf format in color and B&W as DOWNLOADS at the top right of the online version of this Poetic Prelude to this week’s Bible Lesson as well as of CedarS online Met this week.  (Audio of the Met should be coming soon, and the email will follow shortly thereafter.) The full range of Ken’s videos on YouTube can be found on KenGCooperPoetry.  All Ken’s poetry and other writings can be found on Ken Cooper Poetry.

Ken’s Book “Unlock Potential with Love” contains the full chapter “The Tramp and the Violin”. Email is kengcooper@btinternet.com.