Ken Cooper’s “POETIC POSTLUDE” shares Bible EXAMPLES of the healing Principle of living the laws of Love.
inspired by The Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on
“God”
for July 3, 2022
- Ken’s prose “THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS” ponders just what is required… and what joy it is to be doing this!
- An article in this month’s Christian Science Journal, “The Day of Small Things”, is thoroughly recommend by Ken as a way to keep thought focused on good, on God, on being perfect!
- Ken’s monologue “Where Are The Nine?” tells the story of a man suddenly finding himself confined in a leper colony and then healed by Jesus’ unconditional love and made him aware of his true nature…
[Ken writes:] “In last week’s lesson on “Christian Science” was the Bible verse “Know therefore that your God is indeed the only God. He is ever faithful to you, keeping His promises, showing you His infinite Love when you love him with all your heart. So, keep the commandments which He has given you. He will never let you down.” (Deuteronomy 7:9, free combined translations – see below). What a lovely preparation to this week’s lesson on “God”! Put simply: DIVINE LAW GOVERNS AND DIRECTS US.
LAW: LOVE ALWAYS WINS!
The Golden Text states the fact: “The law of the Lord is perfect – flawless, restoring and refreshing the soul; what God says, goes: we are His testimony and stand with Him for ever; this understanding makes wise the simple, for we are one.” (Psalms 19:17).
This understanding is the underlying Principle of all being, for we are inseparable from God. AS THE TESTIMONY OF GOD, WE CONSTANTLY AND NECESSARILY EXPRESS ALL THAT GOD IS: “Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love”. (see Science & Health citation S2). There is nothing material.
Webster, (1828) defines Principle as “… the cause, source or origin of any thing; that from which a thing proceeds;…” Principle admits no deviation from this fact. Principle stands for perfection, and is its own proof of perfection. A principle that is not perfect is not principle.
“Question. — Is there more than one God or Principle?
Answer. — There is not. Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Being, and His reflection is man and the universe.” (citation S2). There is and can be nothing else. How can there be more than one Principle? More than one everywhere God? Our governance by Principle is indeed the fundamental fact of our being, underlying everything that is and that we are. Last week’s lesson had the sentence “The vital part, the heart and soul of Christian Science, is Love.” (SH 113:5-6). This Love is Principle, and our love is our testimony of God: God’s Love shines through us. As Love is our natural state of being, the command to love is not something we have to do, it is what we do, expressing what God is. God’s commands are simply an expression of Principle at work: commands are statements of fact!
We gain in our understanding of God by expressing God. And we are given strict instructions on how! The Responsive Reading ends with “Israel, remember this! Pay attention: The Lord—and the Lord alone—is our God, and He is the only God there is! He is one alone. You must love God, your God, with your whole heart, your whole being, with all that you have, every moment.” (Deuteronomy 6:4,5. combined translations).
What does it mean to “Love God with your whole heart, your whole being?” Is it possible? My prose “THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS” ponders just what is required, quoting from Deuteronomy as above, and from Jesus’ words: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. (Mark 12:29 The, 30). And what joy it is to be doing this!
Why do we love God? Because God loves us , and “Love is reflected in love”. (SH 17:7 Love). Knowing that God is Love is recognising everything that God is giving, – we have “The Abundance of Good” (TAG) and wearing this Tag at all times leads us to the summit of constant gratitude, – our lives redolent in a land flowing “with milk and honey”. What a message this gives at a time of food shortage, when the material picture is of great hardship. What are we looking at? When Jesus was given the five loaves and two fishes, he saw the abundance of good. He was right. He proved the abundance was overflowing. The poem includes the lines “In full gratitude for all that is good” and “With every thought focused on good”. The more we love, the more good we find.
Both Old and New testaments require us to love God with ALL our heart. This made me think what commitment I was giving every day! How much the news broadcasts were overtaking my “prayer-casts”.- and the example given to us in particular by Enoch, who walked with God, and with Jesus, who was always at one with God. Their unity with God was not a challenge, a hardship to be endured, but a joy to fulfill! Theirs was a life of gratitude. OBEDIENCE TO THE COMMANDMENTS IS OUR GRATITUDE TOO, FULFILLING OUR JOY, THE REALISATION OF LOVE. THE PROOF THAT “PRINCIPLE AND ITS IDEA IS ONE”. (citation S2)
As the prose makes clear, loving God absolutely is loving everything totally, without condition, and this includes others and ourselves. This is the fulfilling of the law. It concludes with this well-known verse from Matthew (5:48) “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” This is a divine law!
This month’s Journal has an article “The Day of Small Things” which so resonates with the need to keep thought constantly at one with God and in tune with God. I thoroughly recommend it as a way to keep thought focused on good, on God, on being perfect!
Jesus said “Do not think for a moment that I have come to do away with, undo or in any way replace the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to destroy them, but rather to complete and fulfill them, yes, to give them their full meaning in your lives, here and now.” (citation B12, Matthew 5:17 Combined translations). We then have in B citation B14 the story of the ten lepers, one of whom was a Samaritan. My monologue “Where Are The Nine?” tells the story of a man suddenly finding himself confined in a leper colony, having no hope, away from family and former friends. But he heard of this man Jesus, and it gave him hope. Ten lepers went to find him, and their pleas were heard. “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Jesus called back to them “Go shew yourselves unto the priests” “And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed”. Jesus beheld their true nature, he saw them as God made them, the perfect reflection of Love, Spirit, Mind. Jesus’ love for them all was unconditional. His understanding of the Truth healed them. While nine of them went off to find their priests, the Samaritan was different. “I turned back, saw Jesus and his followers all watching. I jumped in the air, shouted “YES!”, skipped and ran to where Jesus was standing, and knelt before him with overflowing gratitude and new-found humility. My leprous mortal past not even a memory, but the joy of recognition filling my heart and soul.” ……“I stood up. The love in his face shone and I felt its radiance. His love had made me aware of my true nature, – far beyond the flesh, – the glory of God reflected in man.”.
THE SAMARITAN WAS REWARDED FOR HIS GRATITUDE, NOT SO THE OTHER NINE. Their material healing was all they sought, and they remained bound in their former ways. The Samaritan had a spiritual healing that would be forever reflected in his thinking, a new way of life, – a knowledge that the healing Christ is ever-present, not affected by distance or time. This message hold true for us now, leaving us all in the radiant glory of God.
This glory and gratitude is a fixed Principle, the forever testimony that we give of God, the understanding that because God is, we are. The perfection of God is the manifestation and testimony of man, and the Love of God is the Love that shines from us. This is God’s LAW, of that we do testify.
[Ken:] 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 POSTLUDE 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.
A FREE copy of my combined translations is available on an excel spreadsheet for those who may be interested. They have been collated over several years from BibleGateway translations, taking the best from the many translations provided, and taking further inspiration from Christian Science in their compilation. They cover over a thousand key Bible verses, taken from both the BibleGateway verses for the day, and from the Weekly lessons. Reading all verses from any one book is insightful and motivating. 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.
