What the Mystics Have to Teach Us
with Porter Taylor
Saturday, Aug. 19 – 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Rogow Room, Transylvania County Library, Brevard, N.C.
Online option available via Zoom
Register HERE at Eventbrite
Join author, teacher, and Episcopal bishop Porter Taylor on Aug. 19 as he presents What the Mystics Have to Teach Us. This 1-day seminar will begin at 9:30 a.m. and conclude at 3:00 p.m. in the Rogow Room at the Transylvania County Library in Brevard, N.C. The program will focus on Jewish-Christian seeker Simone Weil, Catholic yogi Bede Griffiths, and 20th century Christian activist Dorothee Soelle. Participants may attend in person or by Zoom, and there will be a midday break for lunch.
Too often when we think of mystics, we think of men and women who are detached from our daily lives. It’s as if they have levitated to a different world that has little to do with our ordinary struggles. However, men and women who experience union with God realize that the purpose of those experiences is not a spiritual “light show,” but a vision of how our lives can be widened and deepened by encountering the holy.
The primary purpose of this event is to broaden our sense of what mysticism is about by connecting with three very different mystics:
- Dorothee Soelle—Who teaches us about the importance of Christians pursuing and enacting social justice.
- Bede Griffiths—Who teaches us that, when we go deep enough in our own religion, we hit the water table that connects us with the mystical experiences of other religions.
- Simone Weil—Who teaches us the importance of beauty as a doorway to the divine as well as how poverty enlarges our sight and our connection to God and God’s creation.
The suggested donation for this full-day event is $29 or more per person, whether attending on Zoom or in person. Those who to attend in person are encouraged to bring lunch with them to enjoy during the midday break. Hot and cold beverages will be served during the seminar (lunch is not provided).
Porter Taylor is the author of From Anger to Zion, To Dream as God Dreams, and the recently-published Are You Persuaded? In and Out of Being a Bishop. As an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church, Taylor served churches in Tennessee and Georgia before being elected bishop of Western North Carolina, where he used his gifts of preaching, teaching, and being a pastor to clergy. Prior to attending seminary, Taylor was professor of English literature at Belmont University in Nashville. He has a PhD in English and Theology from Emory University.
Register Now at Eventbrite
(L-R): Dorothee Soelle, Bede Griffiths, Simone Weil
