Ordinary Mysticism

Ordinary Mysticism: Poetry, Mystery, and Contemplation

Friday, November 15
6:30 – 8 PM (CT)
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Some people imagine that mysticism is esoteric, a strange journey into hidden things. What if it is a way of being present to the heart of life, which is as close as our breath– and equally necessary? Come to discover ways of opening your life to the Great Mystery that is a matter of the heart–and the heart of the matter. Come expecting to be startled, delighted, and invited. Come to explore what it means to know that “the eye with which I see God and the eye with which God sees me are one eye: one seeing, one knowing, one loving”(Eckhart). Come to discover poetry as a “spiritual exercise,” one that invites you to live heartfully, mindfully, soulfully–in the here-and-now of your life. Come for the inspiration of what the poet Rilke called “heartwork.”

Format: In-Person or Zoom | The facilitator will be in person.
Zoom registrants will receive Zoom sign-in information via email upon registration and a reminder the day before the program.
If you have any questions or didn’t receive an email from us, please visit our General Information page for more details.

After the Ordinary Mysticism program, immerse yourself in the Grounding in God and Creation Weekend Retreat.

Facilitator: Rev. Dr. Mark Burrows, PhD

Mark Burrows is well-known at The Well for programs he has offered over the last decade. Teacher, writer, retreat leader, scholar, poet and translator of German poetry, his work explores the field of Christian spirituality and connects the ancient wisdom of the mystics with modern life. Ordained in the United Church of Christ (USA), he taught in several divinity schools in the US and Germany before turning his focus entirely to writing and retreat leadership in 2020. Recent books include The Wandering Radiance: Selected Poems of Hilde Domin (2023), and, with Jon M. Sweeney, Meister Eckhart’s Book of Darkness and Light: Meditations on the Path of the Wayless Way (2023), and, most recently, a new translation of Rainer Maria Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus (2024). He lives and writes in Camden, Maine.