Awakening to Wonder and Awe: Poetry as a Way of Encountering Mystery

Saturday October 12
9:30am-4:00pm
at Bethany in the Mary MacKillop Precinct
4 High Street, Kensington
Presented by Angela Hazebroek

Are you a parent, grandparent, or a teacher?
Do you have nieces and nephews or godchildren?
If your answer to any of these is “Yes!”, then you already know something of the things that stop a small person in their tracks. You are familiar with the curiosity that is always looking for an answer to the question “Why?”. You know that a ten-minute walk to the nearest park may take more than a half an hour, and not a second has been ‘wasted’.
Mary Oliver, a contemporary American poet, writes of the way being fully alive in nature is like prayer. Her simple three-step mantra:
1) pay attention
2) be astonished
3) tell about it
will inform our reflections/responses to the poetry of others on this day.
We hope it will also inspire you to express your own wonder and awe in words and/or images. Can we see the world through the eyes of a child and awaken to beauty? We will explore together how we might use poetry to engage children in the world they live in, especially if they have reached a stage where they no longer allow themselves to pay much attention to nature.

Cost: CESA Accredited $95, Adult Full $70 or Adult Concession/Pensioner $45
Registration: by August 31 through TRYBOOKING
Inquiries: 8130 5916 or email mary.ryan@sosj.org.au