Ken’s “POETIC POSTLUDE” shares Bible EXAMPLES of Love in action.

Ken Cooper’s “POETIC POSTLUDE” shares Bible EXAMPLES of Love in action.
inspired by The Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on

 “Love”

for July 31, 2022

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• Ken’s new YouTube poem, WHAT CAN I DO? LOVE! is a response to the yearning to “Drop all sense of self and sin,” to … align ourselves with Love…
• In Ken’s poem “I AM GOD’S TREASURE” we witness the transformation from selfish arrogance to the calm acceptance of man being only what God sees.
• Ken’s monologue “Tabitha” read by Sue, shows Love in action , – in the lives of Tabitha, her friend, and in Peter

 [Ken writes:] “Mary Baker Eddy writes in our text book, Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures: “The vital part, the heart and soul of Christian Science, is Love.” (SH p. 113:5–6). Without Love, we have nothing. AS GOD IS INFINITE LOVE, NO SITUATION CAN EXIST WHERE LOVE IS NOT PRESENT. The joy of Love resonates with this description of Christian Science: “… legitimate Christian Science, aflame with divine Love.” (SH p. 367:8 legitimate). With this love ablaze in our hearts, we shine with the resplendent glory of God. It makes me think of the burning bush that Moses beheld, that burned away but was not consumed, – the flame of divine Love shines, it does not destroy, but enlivens. Hence the three Hebrews were untouched by the material flame in the same way that Daniel was untouched by the lions. (Citation S8, 514:26) These two above quotations have their fulfilment in those so well-known sentences in the text book, quoted in Section 5: “Love for God and man is the true incentive in both healing and teaching. Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action.” (SH Citation 22, 454:17–21). These are such proof of this week’s Golden Text, for when we truly love, forgetting self, we find our true selves as born of God, born of Love, and active in loving! LOVE IS NEVER DORMANT.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love springs forth freely from God; and he who loves his fellowman is born of God and knows and understands God, the power of His Love.” (Golden Text)

The Responsive Reading builds on this need to love, to express what we are, and shares these verses:

“Oh my dear loved ones, since God loved us with such tremendous love, then “loving one another” should be our way of life, what we do in return!

No one has ever seen God with human eyes, but if we love one another God makes His permanent home in us, and His Love is made perfect in all that we do, we see what perfect love is and does.

And we know by experience, and have a deep reliance also, on the love that God has for each of us. God is Love, and he that dwells in God’s love will find that God is dwelling in him.

There is no fear in love. The perfection of Love casts out every fear:……

We love, because he first loved us.” (Combined translations)

 My new poem WHAT CAN I DO? LOVE! is a response to the yearning to “Drop all sense of self and sin,” to demonstrate that in purity of thought, we align ourselves with God, with Love, and can thus become like the early prophets and apostles. We cannot both love our material self and bear witness to the full expression of Love:

“Not what I am, but what Love is, let Love just shine through me.”

What marked them all without a doubt was PURE HUMILITY.”

 Purity of thought is such a key quality of Love, for it lets love express itself without limitation:

“Oh now I see!  Thou art ALL Life, myself can nothing do;*

But, like those brave prophets were, be a witness, God, for You.”

The poem concludes:

“Not what I choose, but what I hear, and then with Love obey,

I only act at LOVE’S command, FULFILLING, GOD, YOUR DAY.”

 With these “right motives” we move, function, operate, with the freedom of Love with everything we do and we find therein “infinite blessings”.

Love begins with listening, with receptivity. Jesus was at one with God, infinite Mind, infinite Love. He knew to look up, he knew Zacchaeus’ name. And Zacchaeus was receptive to the love that Jesus naturally expressed. In the poem “I AM GOD’S TREASURE” we witness the transformation from selfish arrogance to the calm acceptance of man being only what God sees. When Jesus sees him and calls out to him, he is astonished, especially as his request to be with him:

He knows my name! With me will stay!
How did he know? I must obey!
The love he shows just shook me through:
Its purity was all I knew.

What greater love is there than giving of the love that God has for each one of us, knowing that is what makes us God’s own treasure. Forgetting self we find God, Love, and the treasure that is our life in the heavenly kingdom. When Jesus saw Zacchaeus, his unconditional love transformed the man, and in that instant Zacchaeus also knew what true substance was. His complete change of heart was mirrored by complete forgiveness. His sudden awareness of what Love was, gave him the “Right motives (to free his) thought, and strength and freedom (for loving) speech and action. His conversion was proved by his actions, his love.

I am God’s treasure! Love does fill
A life now changed to do God’s will.

The love that was expressed in this simple story was a miracle of revelation, – “the miracle of grace..no miracle to Love” (Citation S16, 494:15 only) When we love, the grace of God is realised in all our lives, every day.

Section 4 refers to the healing of Aeneas by Peter, referred to in Warren’s Cobbey Crisler insights, and the subsequent healing of Tabitha. These are also referred to in my poem “Tabitha” read by Sue. In this monologue we again see Love in action , – in the lives of Tabitha, her friend, and in Peter

I heard Peter speak “Tabitha, arise.” My heart jumped! What! Did I really hear him speaking to a dead body and saying arise?! I suddenly thought of Aeneas, healed, I remembered Lazarus raised from the dead, Jesus himself arisen. Why had I been so blind? Peter had never asked to see the body, had never accepted she could ever be separate from her life which is in God. He had simply said, “Take me to Tabitha”.

The motivation of Peter was his love for Jesus, his mission no longer in fishing for his living, but as Jesus promised, fishing for men, – drawing out the true sense of what man is. He was truly obeying Jesus’ instruction  “Feed my sheep”, – “Love my lambs”! Lift thought above the material to the spiritual, – what greater love can we share?

Isn’t this such a wonderful outcome of Love, for Love can only be witness of itself, which means witness to everything that God is, – Life, Truth, Spirit! There was no room for any doubt with Peter, there was none with Jesus, none with Daniel. Love was expressed in Life.

We are all witness to God’s DAY, so completely fulfilled when Love comes first.

As the first poem indicates, – fulfilling God’s Day is our only way forward! WHEN LOVE LEADS, INFINITE BLESSINGS FOLLOW. LET GO, LET LOVE. THAT’S IT!

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[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.