The Tiger is Here
My soul
Does magnify
Sophia
The presence of the tiger
Standing magnificent
With a roar declares:
My stance
My whiskers
My alertness
My pink nose
My piercing eyes
My perked up ears
My twitchy tail
My scent markings
My territorial scratchings
My snarl
My ferociousness
My prowl
My prance
My bounding
My pounce
My bite
My kill
My lips
My taste
My breath
My heartbeat
My every ounce
My squint-eye smile
My happiness
My purr
My paws
My claws
My fur
My stripes
My all
All
All magnify
All magnify Sophia
My wild heart beats
My soul sings
And oh
I see her, Sophia
Lady wisdom herself
I bound up to her
She is crying
She is the pain-bearer
Mother of all children
She wipes her eyes
She pets me
I nuzzle her
Now blessed
With one tear
I bound forth
Purposeful
Using my power
To end a drop of suffering
Reveling in healing
Joy ferociously
Ending despair
I chase back to Sophia
For another tear
Arriving again I declare
My soul
Does magnify
Sophia
The tiger is here.
This is the second “Tiger & Sophia” poem, the first poem is The Tiger & Sophia
Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Pexels.com
Awake to Ukraine
There is a dawn moment when the heavens are blue and the sun creates yellow above the horizon of the sea and you see a blue with a yellow stripe emerging beneath and at that moment we awake to the flag of Ukraine.
Please get up in the morning and reflect on the sunrise and the values that we wish to arise in us and the values that we wish to grow and we wish to make happen. But the sun will rise quickly and the bright light will blur all and the busyness of the day will flood into our lives and we will forget the point that we need to remember when we awoke.
We can live in horror at one man’s poverty creating destruction on another land, the brutal attack and destruction of the sovereign nation of the Ukraine and systematic murder of its people. And we need to hold that and remember and not forget but we also need to have a horizon that we can look out to and set sail towards. It is a horizon of our values that we want to rise to and we know that are true, are kind, are good, that build a loving and prosperous world. May we see the Ukrainian flag on the horizon at dawn and wake to work throughout the day to make life giving values alive for all.
So I give you a picture, taken from my home in March in 2021 at dawn, showing the sun rising at that moment when the Ukrainian flag can be on all our imaginations as the horizon of our hope. Let us wake, look out and remember Ukraine and the values of wonder in our hearts that we want to make real in the world and decide what sacrifices we will make this day to make wonder come alive for every person in the Ukraine and for every person in the world.
This reflection was inspired by the artist Karen Tusinski who paints stunning pictures of the horizon in Rockport Massachusetts and who has painted a Ukrainian flag on a canvas and placed it in the window of her gallery. I’m asking artists to paint pictures of the Ukrainian horizon to keep us inspired.
The Psalm of Change
Please read like a psalm and pause at each selah (asterisk) *
Slowly we breathe,
- We support a space, singing an ode to “we,” men and women * and however we identify.
Slowly we breathe
- We support a space where we can be open, be imagined by the best in all of us * to do the most for those with the least.
Slowly we breathe
- We support a space safe of no accusation, of no oppression * where anger can arise and blossom into inspiration.
Slowly we breathe
- We support a space for the feminine voice * and for voices to be heard that have not been heard, and for those who have been silenced.
Slowly we breathe,
- We support a space for those who did not hear or could not listen * or would not listen.
Slowly we breathe,
- We support a space for deep and loving reconciliation * for feminine and masculine voices to sing in unison again.
Slowly we breathe,
- We support a space for words that will inspire a thousand years of deeds * that will make a difference.
Slowly we breathe,
- We support a space for faith that enables us to change who we are * and be the loving transformation the greater “we” wants us to be.
Slowly we breathe,
- We support a space to feel the curiosity, to give our names, to add our effort * to leave a loving impression for millennia to come.
Slowly we breathe,
May we become this psalm of change, amen.
I am grateful to Lillie Allen of Be Present for creating and holding a space where I could write this psalm.
Psalm of Change is offered to those who have signed The Mary Manifesto as a way to guide our work.
‘Candle Trilogy’ published in ‘Untamed Gospel’
Martyn Percy, Dean of Christ Church College, Oxford in 2017 wrote, “It is good to be able to welcome and introduce the poetry of Jamie Coats in this anthology. Jamie is a layperson working for the Society of St John the Evangelist (SSJE) in the United States − an Anglican religious order of brothers. Jamie writes on contemporary monastic wisdom, and his work draws on Buddhist, Hindu and Christian traditions of meditation and silence. We reproduce his ‘Candle Trilogy’ towards the close of this volume.”
$25 Kindle
$27 Paperback
A Celebration of Colour
A Celebration of Colour is a copy of a hand painted prayer book for praying through the colours of the rainbow by Sr. Adrian of the Sisters of the Love of God. The book was a gift to Jamie Coats in memory of his sister Emma Coats.
The Grief & Wonder Trilogy
Through the poems of The Grief & Wonder Trilogy I worked through my grief at my sister Emma’s death. I described how we poured her ashes in a stream which she had written about in a poem. I thank all those who supported me at a terrible time and I describe gaining a sense of wonder as I learned to celebrate Emma’s life and the kindness that we received. I offer these poems for anyone experiencing grief and wanting to experience wonder again is their life.
Praying the Seven Prayers
Praying the Seven Prayers by Jamie Coats teaches the seven principal kinds of prayer listed in the Episcopal Catechism: adoration, praise, thanksgiving, penitence, oblation, intercession, and petition. Learning to pray all seven prayers is critical to spiritual health. If we pray all seven prayers we can achieve a sense of spiritual wholeness. Our spiritual unhealthiness can be diagnosed in the prayers we fail to pray.
The Dove Quartet
The Dove Quartet is inspired by the monks of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist. The poem explores why and how to pray four times a day, as we wake up, at noon, in the evening and at bed time. How can we be intentional every day?
The Dove Quartet is $6.25 a copy and comes in a 4-pack for $24.99 plus shipping – you can flip through book to review it online.
Can You Kick Humpty?
Can You Kick Humpty? is a humorous call for everyone to remember how to rest and feel grateful in their hearts. Do you know how to stop working and be free? The book contains the funny Evensong of Humpty Dumpty and an account of how this is one of the most difficult things for humans to do. The book will change your perspective on rest, to-do lists and gratitude and it will make you laugh.
Can You Kick Humpty is $6.75 a copy and comes in a 4-pack for $26.99 plus shipping – you can flip through book to review it online.
The Songs of sOPHIa
The Songs of sOPHIa celebrate the work of Sabina Alkire and John Hammock at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. In the Songs of sOPHIa, the figure of wisdom, asks us all to know our own poverty and respond by learning to count what truly matters so a more just and equitable world can exist for rich and poor alike.
The Songs of sOPHIa is $7.50 a copy and comes in a 4-pack for $29.99 plus shipping – you can flip through book to review it online.