Ken Cooper’s “POETIC PRELUDE” for the “Doctrine of Atonement” Bible Lesson for 10-17-2021

Ken Cooper’s “POETIC PRELUDE” for the
Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on “Doctrine of Atonement” for 10-17-2021
Click on Ken’s shared Journal poem “Stand in purest light” to see wholehearted trust in God mirrored … in that pure love that is unconditional, full.

Also hear in the healing monologue, “Go and Sin No More”  how Jesus could not condemn because he saw in the fact of our atonement there was nothing to condemn.

[Ken:] “One of the interviewing techniques I was taught many years ago was to “get into the mind of the interviewee, see where they were truly coming from”. It actually works both ways! The secret of successful interviewing was for those involved to feel at one. Success in business, any organization, relationship, is secure when the participants have pure motives, trust one another, and are at one. Purity and trust is the foundation of true relationships, and it is paramount  for our at-one-ment with God.

“In Christian Science we learn that there is only One Mind, and the only way to experience this Mind is to let drop the impurity of mortal mind, place one’s trust absolutely in the Divine Mind, seeking God with the whole of being. The Golden Text this week is apposite: ”Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that them that put their trust in him”.

“To be at one with God requires being at one with everything that God is, — the pure reflection of Love, Truth, Life, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Principle. This is all that God can recognise, – what He is. If we want to be with Him, that has to be where we are also coming from. We walk in the direction we look. The Responsive Reading ends with “Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established”, and this is well summarised by Mary Baker Eddy: “To begin rightly is to end rightly.”(SH 262:28 (only)) Atonement is beginning through to end, Alpha and Omega, I AM THAT I AM, in which God and man are inseparable.

“Purity and trust go together. They are expressions of Love. Atonement in its absolute has to be pure, for any impurity in whatever guise detracts from the unity of God and man. In my shared journal poem “Stand in purest light” wholehearted trust in God is mirrored in the purity of how we stand, – in Love, – in that pure love that is unconditional, full. Atonement is inevitable because it is the recognition of infinite Love, the feeling of joy that we have when we hear the words of God: “All is Mine”. Self-immolation is the purification of man (S Cit.10), and leads to God. When we find God we find ourselves.

“Atonement is not a distant promise, — it is the reality of NOW. This is the immediacy that Jesus taught. When he looked at those he healed, he wasn’t thinking that they would be healed in due course, that the kingdom of heaven was their ultimate destination  at some future time. The doctrine of atonement is about present good, because God is present good, and that is what man reflects.

“In the story of the adulterous woman, the exultant Pharisees thought that having caught her in the very act there was no escape for her, or in their plot against Jesus. What they saw was separation, condemnation  and punishment: what Jesus saw was the atonement of man, forgiveness linked to man’s inherent purity, and the power of Love. Which picture do we hold? Jesus could not condemn because he saw in the fact of our atonement there was nothing to condemn.

“This healing thought is brought out in the monologue “Go and Sin No More” (read by Sue). It shares the thoughts of the adulterous woman. She knew on a material level what she had done, what the consequences were. She was resigned to the picture being painted by the Pharisees, but Jesus revealed another picture, one of true Love. Because Jesus was at one with the Father, Love was all he could share. Her receptivity, enlightened by Jesus,  cleansed the past. The accusations against her fell away, error was self-seen and become nothing. Love does not condemn, for in the infinity of Love’s atonement there is nothing to condemn. She glimpsed the spiritual reality of Life, saw in Jesus the glory of Love, and the false desires of sin were no more.

“Realizing what true love is, she found complete redemption and glory. She felt the love of the Christ, and the command of Christ to “sin no more” became self-fulfilling. She was reborn, her life changed. The lies of sensuality and materiality were replaced by the truth of her spiritual being. This is what Jesus saw, and shared with her, and us. She too now stood in purest light, her life changed. We can imagine her saying with us the timeless sixth tenet given to us by Mary Baker Eddy::

“And we solemnly promise to watch,

and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus;

to do unto others as we would have them do unto us;

and to be merciful, just, and pure.” (S Cit.24).

“This is the Doctrine of Atonement fulfilled.”

 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 yet to be added with the email then following soon.) The full range of Ken’s videos can be found on KenGCooperPoetry.  Ken’s email is kengcooper@btinternet.com.