King’s Lynn poet creates book on Generation Care
Peter Coates, Secretary of Churches Together in King’s Lynn, has written a book of poetry exploring ways to care for each other and for our world.
Generation Care imagines different aspects of a world where the primary motivation of everyone is to care. The first poem, called ‘Come Close’ would stimulate the reader to think about aspects of care in a marriage and the second poem ‘No Judgement Garden’ is about compassionate listening and how to relate peacefully to someone who you can’t agree with.
The book is dedicated to the new bottom line described by Rabbi Michael Lerner in his book ‘Revolutionary Love’. He thinks what would happen if businesses and institutions were to replace the current bottom line of money and power with a new bottom line of care.
There is a powerful poem in the book about the problems of meritocracy based on the book by the Nobel Prize winning economist Angus Deaton called ‘Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism’.
There are also poems about the wonders of nature, and this leads to thoughts about the vastness of God. One poem is about the beauty of mercy, and the importance of water which can flow through our bodies as the spirit flows through our lives. There is a poem about the infinite joy of repentance and about the perfect doctor. Some of the poems are designed to stimulate the reader to think about relationships with other people and with God.
There are thoughts about the problems of mental health, including the theory that fractals play a role in brain development and lead to the troubling cycling of thoughts which tortures sufferers. These ideas are based on a book called ‘The Fractal Brain Theory’ by Wai Tsang. There is another poem about vitriol and one about anger.
There are poems in the book about the problems of human life and thoughts about how Jesus might resolve these. How would an all-powerful God look upon those who start wars and how and where might Jesus lead us? How could the concept of conveying compassionate care bring peace. What could resurrection mean?
Generation Care is published by Austin Macauley at £5.19 and you can order a copy here: www.austinmacauley.com/book/generation-care
Peter Coates will donate all royalties to Tapping House Hospice.
Eldred Willey, 21/11/2022
Read the full article here