Ken’s “POETIC POSTLUDE” shares Bible EXAMPLES OF HOW TO WALK WITH GOD, TRUTH, ALL THE WAY.

Ken Cooper’s “POETIC POSTLUDE” shares Bible EXAMPLES OF HOW TO WALK WITH GOD, TRUTH, ALL THE WAY.
inspired by The Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on

TRUTH
for Sunday, January 22nd, 2023

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• In Ken’s poem “Truth Has No Conditions” we have the great comfort that Truth never changes, and neither therefore do we, – there are no “ifs” in God’s unconditional kingdom.
• In Ken’s poem, “The Eve Dream”, read by Sue, the tempting persuasions of the serpent are shown up for the nothingness they are, and Truth is revealed.
• In Ken’s monologue “Help Thou Mine Unbelief”, the doubt of a father is erased by the love and power of the Christ, and doubt becomes fervent faith.

[Ken writes] “What is the point of Truth? Why is it so important? Without Truth there is no standard, no Principle to life, and there would be chaos. God is Truth, and God is infinite. Knowing Truth we know order, harmony, that anything that is not of Truth is a lie, and cannot touch Truth. We live in the infinity of Truth, the kingdom of God. There is no other. A good teacher teaches the truth, what we should know. WHEN WE LOOK TO THE TEACHER, WE LEARN WHAT TO DO. The Golden Text: “Lord, teach me what You want me to do, how to follow Your ways (and not mine): so will I ever walk after You and follow Thy truth. Make my heart be focused entirely on You, as the most important thing in my life, that I glorify Your name for ever.” We are all at school in the kingdom of Truth!

This is the result of following the first commandment, exemplified by the Responsive Reading:

“You will worship no other god:” [for there is none].

“Blessed, prosperous, and favoured by God is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not regard at all the proud nor those who lapse into or resort to lies, – people who care little for reality, who chase their false gods”

“Dear Lord, do not hold back Your kind and tender compassion from me; Your love, Your enduring loyalty and everlasting truth always protect me and keep me ever from all harm.”

God did not hold back, because we had the fulfillment of prophecy in Jesus the Christ: “Jesus said “I am the only Way forward, the only road to be on, the Truth, complete reliability, the very energy and vitality of  Life. No one can go to the Father, find union with Him, unless he walks as I do.” (Citation B11, John 14:6) . This is further confirmed in citation B19, John 8:32 “You will know and experience the Truth, and by embracing this Truth you find and have right now your true freedom.”

The beauty of Truth is that it is what it is. It is not dependent on what you may or may not do, what others may do, what a serpent may suggest!  In my poem “Truth Has No Conditions”, we are encouraged to drop the mortal dream:

Do not permit “conditions” to suggest to you how far

Your sense of time and space control what now you really are!

For what makes a condition is merely a mortal scheme:

It is a lie, suggesting “IF”: It is the Adam dream!

When we wake from a dream, we know the truth of its unreality! When we walk with the Christ at our right hand, we see the truth of spiritual man as a constant, – there are no “ifs” and “buts” in eternal infinite Truth:

A condition can’t exist: this fact will make you free.

WHAT IS TRUE IS ALWAYS TRUE THROUGHOUT INFINITY!

It can be so tempting (wherefrom?!) to say: “I have this condition…”, but we can only have what God is, and anything else is not true:  “Truth is God’s remedy for error of every kind, and Truth destroys only what is untrue.” (citation S12, p. 142:31–2). When the untrue is gone, it never was, and man as God’s own likeness steps forth!

So dwell as God’s reflection, in wisdom live what’s true:

TRUTH IS UNCONDITIONAL. AND IN PRACTICE, SO ARE YOU!

Jesus was at one with God, his thoughts were God’s thoughts made manifest, all the time! This was the Psalmist’s plea:  “Take my heart and hand and guide me in the way of Truth and so teach me: You are the God of my salvation; On You I keep my full attention every moment of the day. I trust You completely. (Citation B1 Psalms 25:5), and this closeness to God brings us freedom from evil: “Your pure eyes of perfection cannot see impurity, Your absolute and infinite goodness cannot behold evil. (citation B4, Habakkuk 1:12 to:).

When we want to go somewhere, we may look at a map, – look at the destination, and make plans to go that way. Our destination is the kingdom of heaven, and it has been mapped out for us! Truth is the way!

“When we wait patiently on God and seek Truth righteously, He directs our path. (citation S1, 254:10-12)  But we need to stick to the path by holding firm to the truth, – “I fear that you may be tricked, just as Eve was tricked by that lying serpent, into forgetting the simplicity of your pure and single-minded devotion to Christ. (citation  B9, 2 Corinthians 11:3). In my poem “The Eve Dream”, read by Sue, the need to be alert is made clear:

“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.”

Clearly we must choose out guides carefully, for our choices determine where we go..

I spared him a thought, what he said seemed quite true:

It took just the one and his lies then poured through!

It’s a bit like while 2+2=4 is a simple truth, the variations are legion, – 5, 4.33345, 20, 86.3, you name it! But they are all wrong. No matter how error may disguise itself, it will always be wrong.

The serpent had called, I answered as Eve:

I was caught in a dream I shouldn’t believe.

Which way are we looking / walking? When we walk with God, Truth, the result is inevitable:

The Eve dream is false, for we cannot fall

When God is quite simply our All-in-all.

We can’t be tempted, and error can’t win:

The answer is simple. Don’t be took in!

When we “follow Thy truth” as per the Golden Text, we fulfill what we are, all the time, in every way. “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was so very good, and He gave it His complete approval, “MADE BY ME”. (Genesis 1:31 to first .) We express the infinity of Truth, Spirit, Mind, Life, Soul, Principle, Love. As the poem concludes:

When faced with a lie, dismiss as untrue!

Man is unfallen! SO, SIMPLY, BE YOU!

Or put otherwise; “Christian Science brings to light Truth and its supremacy, universal harmony, the entireness of God, [TRUTH] good, and the nothingness of evil. (citation S3, 293:28)

We can rejoice in the truth that 2+2=4, and no matter how may different versions may try to attract us, the truth of what it is must always win, and no amount of error can touch it. 2+2=4 is of purer eyes to imagine anything else, and nor can we!

ERROR / EVIL IS POWERLESS, NOTHING, AND CANNOT CHANGE THE EXPRESSION OF INFINITE TRUTH, WHICH WE ARE.

It may be one thing being aware of the Truth, but what does it take to actually KNOW it?  In the monologue “Help Thou Mine Unbelief”, the father of his sick child seeks help from Jesus’ disciples, – but even they were unable to provide release. The monologue describes how his faith has been badly tarnished , – his love for his boy tortured by the material picture. He longs to find healing for his son and release for the mother’s fears. When the disciples fail to help he is even more lost, but when he sees this man who he assumes is Jesus his plea is profound “Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is my only child. And a spirit taketh him and overwhelms him that he loses all control. I besought thy disciples to heal him, but they have not.”  When error parades in front of truth, is truth going to be upset, worried? Why not? Truth is always in harmony. It is the harmony of unshakeable authority.

Jesus speaks quietly and with assurance to me, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”   And here the little word “if” speaks volumes: it is addressed to the father, and shows where he is mentally, but for Jesus there is no “if”, – no “condition”. The man replies “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

This links strongly to the previous poems, – the Adam / Eve dream which suggest that truth just may not be….that there is something called “unbelief”. NO! Truth is everywhere.

“Jesus places his hand on my shoulder. How to describe the impact of that tender touch! It is with such authority, as though the kingdom of Love is revealed as present right there and then, that the infinity of Love [Truth] is, and always has been, in control, that nothing could shake it.”

We too can feel the ever-present touch of the Christ, the absolute authority of Truth made manifest in our lives. And when the evil spirit tries one more fling, rather than feeling despair, the father feels no fear:

“I look again at Jesus. I am feeling surprisingly calm, because I know he is in control. The evidence before my eyes is no longer true! Oh how to describe what I see and then feel. He has spoken with the power of Truth. All my fears, doubts, have been washed away.”

He looked at Jesus, not at the material evidence. He knew, as we can, that the evil had been overcome, and that his child was safe, healed.

“I turn to Jesus “Lord, do I now believe! Thank you. THANK YOU! Thank you.”

In Truth there is both freedom and joy, and the power of gratitude sang out loud, shared by all!

A lie can never become true, and what is true never lies. Man is the beloved child of God, Truth, Spirit, Love. The dream of material life never touches the grandeur and beauty of Life in God. We are as God intended, as God knows and sees. This is what Jesus knew, saw and shared. As Citation S30  174:20 states “Truth is revealed. It needs only to be practiced.”

“Thank you. THANK YOU! Thank you.”

TRUTH IS THE ONLY WAY.  “TRUTH IS ALWAYS THE VICTOR.”  (citation S17, 380:4 (only))

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Bible verses are taken from my combined translations, a free copy of which is available on an excel spreadsheet for those who may be interested. The spreadsheet also includes a genealogy from Adam to Jesus, with related notes. Shared with love. Write to Ken on kengcooper@btinternet.com.

Copies of these 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.