Ken Cooper’s “POETIC POSTLUDE” shares Bible EXAMPLES of dominion over fables of dust-man Adam
Saturday, November 5th, 2022
By Ken Cooper, poet from Great Britain
Ken Cooper’s “POETIC POSTLUDE” shares Bible EXAMPLES of dominion over fables of dust-man Adam!
inspired by The Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on
“Adam and Fallen Man”
for November 6, 2022
- In Ken’s poem “The Eve Dream” read by Sue, we see the importance of thought focused on God.
- Ken’s poem, “Now is come salvation,” shows the effect of being taken in by just a little lie.…
- Ken’s new poem, “Paul Proves Our Freedom,” powerfully shows his surviving shipwreck & deadly snakebite to share Christianity
[Ken writes:] “This week’s Golden Text gives a straight question, – that needs a straight answer, – if you are told something by a liar, why believe it??! Duped by a talking serpent?! Whatever next! A red dragon?! “Get thee behind me, Satan!” The Golden Text is simple and direct in its message, “who told you that you were naked?”(see Gen.3:11) and it needs to be answered! Who are we going to believe?
The Responsive Reading may be fairly short, but also is very clear in its direction. Some of the verses are as follows, taking combined translations:
Isaiah 52:01 Awake, Get up! Dress in your strength, put on the beautiful garments of Zion and be glorious once more. The unclean will never enter again.
Isaiah 52:02 Shake off the dust and senseless dirt from you! Get completely rid of the Adam-dream! Get up and take your royal seat, be enthroned and at one with God. Loose all the chains that have ever bound you. Be free oh daughter of Zion!
Isaiah 52:08 Everyone on guard duty, all the watchmen, they are singing and celebrating with joy! Look! They can see the Lord returning to Zion.
Isaiah 52:09 Don’t live in the ruins, – break forth into joy and singing, for you are with me! Jerusalem, rise from the ruins! Join in the singing. The Lord has given comfort to his people; he has come to your rescue, and saved you!
Isaiah 52:12 There’s no need to be anxious, there is no need to rush, for God goes before and behind you. The God of Israel clears your way with assurance and strength. He watches your back.
Joel 2:26 You will always have plenty to eat, more than you need; you will be praising God all the time, for He has worked wonders for you, given you of His infinite goodness. You will never be put to shame again.
Joel 2:27 And you shall know without doubt that I am in the midst of Israel to protect and bless all of you. I am the Lord your God, yes, Me alone; My people will never be put to shame.
This last verse is such a comfort. It makes me think of these words in the trial scene from the chapter Christian Science Practice in our textbook: “Not Guilty. Then the prisoner rose up regenerated, strong, free.” (S&H p442:7-8). It continues “His form was erect and commanding, his countenance beaming with health and happiness.” (442:11-12). THIS IS THE TRUTH OF BEING, – NOT FALLEN MAN BUT RISEN MAN, AWAKE AND SHINING! US!
In Section 3 we have a clear instruction from Peter: “Be self-controlled, always vigilant, wide awake. The enemy is poised to pounce on you, so don’t be caught napping!” (citation B7, 1 Peter 5:8), and in my poem “The Eve Dream” read by Sue, the importance of thought focused on God is recognised. Our thought can only fall away from God when we are caught in the lie of mortal man, mortal thought. It does not exist, for when we turn away from the dream of lies and hold fast to the truth, truth is all we can and do experience.
But in the Adam dream, how readily do we accept a lie? Beware of unguarded thought!…..
“The serpent smiled and quietly said, “Do let me in:
Once in your thought I’ll get under your skin!
We can be good friends, just trust what I say –
You’re free to choose: Let me show you the way.”
Who are we going to trust? Why do we have the Commandments?
“I spared him a thought, what he said seemed quite true:
It took just the one and his lies then poured through!”
Just one lie gives a false foundation, from which any building will collapse. But there is no such thing as a lie, an untruth, in the kingdom of heaven, the ever-present kingdom of God! It is within each of us:
We can’t be tempted, and error can’t win:
The answer is simple. Don’t be took in!
When faced with a lie, dismiss as untrue!
Man is unfallen! SO, SIMPLY, BE YOU!
Be “Not Guilty!” The little lie of mortal thought links in with the statement in S&H “You must control evil thoughts in the first instance, or they will control you in the second.” (p. 234:26–27), for this then becomes the great red dragon. But it is just as vacuous! In my poem “Now is come salvation” we again see the effect of being taken in:
The serpent seemed tiny and barely noticed;
Caught my attention when it softly hissed.
And then spoke so sweetly, I just stood surprised.
It was so appealing. I felt hypnotised.
Inspiration from the excellent UK SUMMIT just held has encouraged me to start re-reading both the Bible and Science and Health. Already I am feeling the benefit, – for in reading the Preface the importance of obedience has stood out, – “… to reach the heights of Christian Science, man must live in obedience to its divine Principle.” (S&H p. viii:3–4 to). When we are obedient to God we are not listening to the serpent or indeed anything else!!
It became a red dragon gigantic and tall,
And I thought with regret of the day it was small.
When a lie is faced with the truth, there is only one winner. It does not matter how big the lie! The infinite God by definition removes completely everything unlike itself, and this gives the strength to those beautiful words from Revelation:
“Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom
of our God, and the power of his Christ:” (see Section 3, citation B11, Rev.12:10)
The poem contains the further lines:
I live in God’s kingdom, Love governs each thought,
For God is All power, in Him truly wrought!
This can be seen as a good basis to Section 4 with the temptation of Jesus illustrating the importance of controlling thought, and its clear result, — the disposal of Satan. One can see why Jesus called him a liar “Who told thee….”.) And then in the next section we have an extract from the story of Paul, once a traitor to Christians, but now, (Not guilty!) one of Christianity’s most important figures. In my new poem “Paul Proves Our Freedom” we are powerfully reminded of his words “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 7:28), the fulfilment of Bible citation 16 “In Adam, the belief in flesh, all of us die. In the same way, in Christ, the knowledge of Spirit, all of us will be made alive again. Christ has broken the Adam dream.” (1 Cor. 15:22) .
When a boat is totally shipwrecked, what are the odds of no one being killed? When someone is bitten by an adder in full view, what are the chances of them being unhurt?
The snake bit firm on Paul’s bare hand:
He shook it off. Too late, dear friend!
So sad we felt that he must die:
Survived the storm, now this, Oh why?
How often are we caught in a dream that takes its own logic, and teases us along the track it wants to go? Making a reality of one lie induces accepting all the others that go with it. Paul was not being seduced by this serpent! And he was waking the others up to what was true!
Let me just share with all of you
There is One God, and He is true!
This God is Life, in Him we live.
His love to all He doth each give.
Paul brings a message of love, healing and freedom. Man is unfallen, and the poem ends with the expression of Truth that makes all men free (last section), but it does require the obedient thought, the prompt dismissal of error, the “Get thee hence, Satan”, for the nowness and the love of the kingdom of heaven is expressed:
Each serpent thought now quick dismissed –
We are by Truth with freedom kissed!
The kiss of freedom is the lifting of man to his natural state, and we can feel that kiss, the touch of Life, Truth, and Love, right now.
Copies of my poems are available in pdf format in color and B&W as DOWNLOADS at the bottom of the online version of this Poetic Prelude to this week’s Bible Lesson. 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. (Links work on Metaphysical page).
A FREE copy of my combined translations is available on an excel spreadsheet for those who may be interested. The spreadsheet also includes a genealogy from Adam to Jesus as I have set out, with related notes. Shared with love.
Write to Ken on kengcooper@btinternet.com.
