Ken’s “POETIC POSTLUDE” shares EXAMPLES of ALL THINGS (SINCE BEFORE THE BIG BANG!) AT ONE WITH GOD!

Ken Cooper’s “POETIC POSTLUDE” shares Bible EXAMPLES of ALL THINGS AT ONE WITH GOD SINCE BEFORE TIME (THE BIG BANG!)
inspired by The Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on

“IS THE UNIVERSE, INCLUDING MAN, EVOLVED BY ATOMIC FORCE?”
for Sunday, December 18, 2022

• In Ken’s poem, “MOSES, DEAR MOSES” the full story of Moses is shared, and it leads to the conclusion that “God is the how”, – there is no other cause.

 

• In Ken’s shared Christian Science Sentinel contribution, “The Rosebud,” we see the “holy purpose” of existence gently unfolding yet already and always complete.

 

• Ken’s monologue, “UNDER HIS SHADOW OF LOVE” , (with sound effects) is the first-hand witness of one of the disciples who sees Jesus calm the storm.
  

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[Ken writes:] “In very broad terms there are two theories relating to the evolution of the universe, and it really depends upon what universe we are looking at. The material universe, perceived by the physical senses, is a product of atomic force, and the whole range of theories accompanying that premise. It is linked to the Big Bang, over 13.5 billion years ago, but there are many unanswered questions. In contrast, the spiritual universe, perceived by the spiritual senses, has always been, for it is the expression of God, who is Spirit, Truth, with all questions answered!   With God being the only Cause and Creator, being ALL, there is nothing to evolve. God as “I AM THAT I AM” as confirmed to Moses is always complete, and its infinite unfoldment is not evolution but the infinite manifestation of All Good. This is what man reflects.

The Golden Text and Responsive Reading are from Isaiah 55, – the start of the third passage of Isaiah called Tetrio,  relating to the return of the Israelites from exile. It can be read from a material point of view, or enjoyed for all its splendour and glory, – see Section 6. Which universe is it describing? As Mary Baker Eddy writes the first Tenet of Christian Science: “1. As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life.” (S&H p. 497:3). These verses from Isaiah 55 describe our kingdom of heaven, – our real universe:

Come along, everyone and listen! If you are thirsty do come here and drink all you need; if you have no money, you can still buy and eat, for here is wine and milk, ever available and overflowing, unlimited spiritual blessings, forever free, for these are all from God! (not matter)

Why spend your money on trashy food, your hard-earned cash on what does not and cannot satisfy?  Listen carefully to Me, and you will always eat well and properly, enjoying the very best in life! (Spiritual nourishment)

Rain and snow fall from the sky but don’t return without watering the ground. They nourish the plants so that they bud and then flourish, providing seeds for the farmer and bread for the people.

In like manner, whatever I declare stands forever! My Word never returns empty-handed, but always accomplishes everything I intend, prospering with overflowing goodness all it touches.

You will emerge from your exile with great joy, and be led home in complete peace. And as you go the land itself will break out with constant cheers: The mountains and the hills, everywhere you go, will erupt in song, and all the trees wherever you look will be clapping their hands. Joy will be universal!

Where once there were nasty thorns, (all kinds of problems) will grow the beautiful cypress, the sting of nettles (animal magnetism) replaced by sweet smelling myrtle.   Everything will remind you of Me, the Eternal One, and how I can be trusted absolutely and forever.

 What a great place to be! This kingdom of heaven, or spiritual universe, that can be seen now with the spiritual senses, is further described in Isaiah 66:19 and 11:6, 9:

And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, the home of heaven, and be glad with you My people; and the sound of weeping will never be heard again, nor the cry of any distress or sadness.

In that day the wolf and the lamb will live at peace together; the leopard will lie down and play with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and an innocent child will lead them all.

Nothing will harm or destroy anything on My entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of Me, the I AM THAT I AM, as the sea is always filled with water.

This is the universe that Jesus inhabited and shared with others. It is beyond anything with which the Devil could tempt him, for matter is by definition limited, and Jesus overcame its laws, the theories of atomic force, in everything he did. He lived in Spirit, and so can (so do!) we. It links with last week, when Elisha prayed that his servants eyes be opened, and he also saw the power of God!

This is also what Moses had to learn. What a journey he had! In my poem “MOSES, DEAR MOSES” we see the effect of his obedience to God. From shepherding sheep, he learned that God shepherded him! Moses was alert as a shepherd, and therefore attentive to the angel thought that reached out to him:

A bush in the distance catches my gaze,
It’s somehow caught fire in the heat haze.
The flames are fierce, but the bush does not burn!
Is there something here that I have to learn?

Yet one more example of the inconsistency of material law, – the bush did not burn. As with the three Hebrews cast into the fiery furnace, where even the smell of the ferocious fire did not touch them.  Moses turned aside to see:

From the midst of the bush, and not from the sky,
My name is called twice. I respond: “Here am I”

The willingness to respond was a fundamental change in his direction. When we respond “Here am I” we are too are listening, and that listening is with expectancy, – true prayer. Moses responded and talked with God:

I hear His reply “I AM THAT I AM.”
I feel the assurance: with God I can!

This declaration of God is complete. It trashes time, declares Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence.

The poem shares the proofs that God offers, building the understanding of Moses away from matter to Spirit, the ability to see through the pretence of material law:

You gave us laws on which to act:
I know them all as Holy fact.
God was my strength, He still is now.
In simple terms “He is the how!”

 And with this knowledge that God was supreme, Moses parted the Red Sea, smote a rock to produce water, led the Israelites to the Promised Land; material forces were of no consequence. I love the fact that “Moses was an hundred and twenty years old ……his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated” (see Deuteronomy 34:7). His life was in God, “He is the how!” This overrides the rulings of so-called atomic force and natural entropy. It is interesting to note that a core concept in thermodynamics is that natural processes are irreversible. In Science, there is no process from one thing to another, rather the unfoldment of what already is. I AM THAT I AM is a constant revelation of the perfect infinity of Mind.

 In my Christian Science Sentinel poem “The Rosebud” we see how “Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as He opens the petals of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear” (SH cit. 8/506:18) .This so beautifully describes the journey of Moses, the children of Israel, indeed the whole Christmas story.  The opening of the petals is not done in spasms  / jerks / in any rush, but as the poem indicates, the art of unfoldment is to “gently unfurl and present
perfect bloom.”

It is the unfoldment of ever-present good. Why should there be any concern when everything in held and known in the divine Mind, which includes and knows all? Mind simply unfolds the knowledge of Itself in infinite ways:

No need for anxiety, for
His wondrous plan
Is for me to express what
already I am.

 WE DO NOT NEED TO WAIT FOR PERFECTION, IT IS NOW. AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN! PERFECTION DOES NOT EVOLVE, IT IS.

 My monologue  “UNDER HIS SHADOW OF LOVE” shares the first hand account of one of the disciples, as described in Mark’s gospel. He marvels at what Jesus achieves: “He made the Scriptures so clear, his speech reached the heart of everyone that hearkened to his words, Some were healed just in the listening.”

Jesus suggests they get in a boat and cross to the other side of the sea. They get wrapped up, – (I have memories of being out on the water and freezing!!). The disciple comments:

“Jesus came as he was. He didn’t seem to feel the cold. In fact nothing ever seemed to trouble him. It was as though he was living in another world, giving us glimpses of a different reality.”

 Imagine being with Jesus, not only hearing his words, but seeing the impact of their demonstration.

“..he retired to the hinder part of the ship, closed his eyes and slept. Just that quick. We all felt at one with the world. Twilight. Early evening stars. Safe.”

In the material world, there is nothing stable. There is almost an expectancy of things going wrong at some point, indeed the material world eventually self-destructs. The peace of the evening was suddenly overtaken by a storm that was set to flood their boat, and don’t we sometimes feel as did this disciple:

 “All this talk of the kingdom of heaven worthless. I felt an anger and resentment that matched the tempest.
I urgently shook his shoulder, woke him.
“Master, carest thou not that we perish?”

 They turned to Jesus in fear and despair, the feeling sometimes felt that nothing is working out right. But they still turned to him. And like any practitioner, that fear was never passed on, for he responded from his inner peace and knowledge of Truth:

That moment he woke, he looked at me, not with reproach, but as though he abode in the kingdom of heaven, and had just opened the door for me to come in.

 The presence of God was felt, and the power of God proved. And yes, atomic force was disproved:

 “Wind, behave!
“Peace, be still”
The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

 MATTER IS POWERLESS AGAINST OMNIPOTENT SPIRIT.

 “It was as though the storm had never been.”

 What a golden insight! It is the “I AM THAT I AM” present perfection of All things, a confirmation in its own way of Jesus’ words, – “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”  Time was not a factor, is not a factor. Once immortal , always immortal, one perfect, always perfect, – in every way!

The disciple thinks back to all that Jesus has done, and yearns to have faith as a grain of mustard seed. But one thing is clear, and is a lesson to us all, “I’d forsaken my nets for this man. I must forsake all I
once knew.” When we hold the hand of the Father we are holding onto Spirit, Truth, Love. The I AM of NOW.

 This is the unfolding truth of creation, ever-appearing, ever peaceful, as summarised by citation B15/John 4:35. The full verse reads:  ^“Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” What a contrast this gives between the universe, including man, evolved by atomic force and time, and the I AM THAT I AM of the One Divinity, the “true Science of being.” (cit. S31/249:9-10)

Verse 1in Revelation Chapter 21confirms the whole message of this week’s lesson:

“And I looked around me in amazement, for everything was completely new, – the old heaven and earth, including the sea, had completely vanished.” And as noted in Revelation 10:6  “there should be time no longer:”

Without time, there is no evolution. Without time, all we have is the ever-presence of God, the unfailing presence of Love, Truth, Love. With us now. Everything, including man, as the consciousness of God.

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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.