Ken Cooper’s “POETIC PRELUDE” for the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on “Adam and Fallen Man” for 11-7-2021

Ken Cooper’s “POETIC PRELUDE” for the
Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on “Adam and Fallen Man” for 11-7-2021

• Ken’s YouTube poem, “The Eve Dream,” looks at how the belief in error needs just the one thought to divert one from what is true.
• In the YouTube monologue, “A Parent’s Revelation,” Truth is glimpsed by Peter’s wife’s mother.
• In the YouTube poem, “The Widow of Nain,” the despair of the widow is removed by the loving command of Jesus to “Weep not.”
  

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[Ken writes:] “The Golden Text is clear: “we are risen, and stand upright.”  The joy of standing upright is the confidence it engenders, the surety of a firm foundation and the knowledge one cannot be shaken from all for which you stand. We stand with God.

Martin Luther is recorded as saying “Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God! Amen.”  (18 April 1521). These words are historic but are also of present immediacy: they speak of Biblical confidence, certainty and trust. They also resonate with the Responsive Reading for this week which so rejoices in the power of the one God, – Elohim, not the [man-like] Lord God Jehovah. [A man-like] Lord God is as much a false dream as the serpent, Adam, and Eve, the belief of mist and dust. We cannot do otherwise than to stand with our one, all-good God, for one cannot fall from that infinite allness.

The simple statement of Truth in Genesis 1:31 “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.”  (Bible citation#1) is followed by Genesis 2:1 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.” (Bible citation#2). This fits so well with the Golden Text we had for the lesson subject of “ARE SIN, DISEASE AND DEATH, REAL? “I know that whatsoever God doeth it shall be forever, nothing can be put to it nor anything taken from it…” (Ecclesiastes 3:14). This is where we stand, and why we can do no else because there is nothing else, and nothing that could ever cause a fall!

In the third section we have the mythical story of the successful temptation of Eve, in which the subtil serpent says that God is the one who is deceptive and he is the one to be believed! (see Science & Health (SH) citation#15).  The poem “The Eve Dream” (as opposed to the Adam dream!) looks at how the belief in error needs just the one thought to divert one from what is true. Mary Baker Eddy says: “You must control evil thoughts in the first instance, or they will control you in the second.” (SH p. 234:26–27). The most powerful tool of the Devil is the wedge, – the “just let me in for a moment” – for then he will be fully in!

Error builds on itself, but it is the father of lies, and has no substance, no foundation on which to permanently stand. The serpent is fiction. An empty dream. The favourite words of the serpent, error, are “if”, “when”, “just”, “compare”, but these are over-ruled by Truth: “fact”, “now”, “always”, “ALL”. Error is the mirage of materiality, but this mirage has one thing in common, – when it claims to be everything, it is still nothing. Eve sought everything on a material level, and grasped dust. In the poem she is caught in the dream of error, but rises above it to see man as spiritually strong, as she truly is:

“When faced with a lie, dismiss as untrue!

  Man is unfallen! SO, SIMPLY, BE YOU!”

 When the nothingness of error is seen, man’s perfect standing with God is revealed and enjoyed.

This perfect standing with God was clearly seen by Jesus. His healing work was so natural. “Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man” (SH citation#21). He simply saw the Truth and proved it! In “A Parent’s Revelation” this Truth is also glimpsed by Peter’s wife’s mother. The material picture is dropped for the revelation of man’s true being, – not just for one or two people, but embracing all mankind. When we see that no man has ever fallen, we look round at everyone with the same Love that Jesus expressed. She realised that her love had increased to a new and more spiritual level. She rose up, and instantly stood in service, with no after-effects, because there were no first-effects. Her risen view was to see everyone with a new sense of Love, which she witnessed in Jesus.

The synonyms of God give the totality of what God is, and their interchangeability brings a real sense of completeness to all that is. In “The Widow of Nain” the despair of the widow is removed by the loving command of Jesus to “Weep not.” (Bible citation#16/Luke 7:1-12). (remember his words to Mary Magdalene – Why weepest thou?). The procession of grief is halted, and the young man was told to “Arise..”. How fitting is then the first verse in Section 7 “Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee”. (Bible cit. 18/Isaiah 60:1) We can imagine the light felt by mother and son, and the glory that both would have felt.

We too can arise and shine for that self-same GLORY IS ALWAYS SHINING, and always being reflected, SIMPLY, BY ME AND YOU.

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 following soon thereafter.)
The full range of Ken’s videos can be found on KenGCooperPoetry.  Ken’s email is kengcooper@btinternet.com.