CAMDEN — On Saturday, February 15, Mark Burrows – poet, translator and Rilke scholar – will offer an in-person retreat centered on the wisdom of Austrian poet and novelist Rainer Maria Rilke. This free event will be offered from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, at First Congregational Church, 55 Elm Street, Camden.

“Everything Matters: Living the Questions and Risking the Present with Rainer Maria Rilke” will welcome participants to explore Rilke’s writings as windows that open us to the “hereness” of this life. His poems, from his early Book of Hours (1905) to his last two collections, The Sonnets to Orpheus and the Duino Elegies (1923), invite us to live into what he called “the Open” so that we might embrace the mysteries that are close at hand. They encourage us to accept life as a singular gift, one that beckons us to discover how we belong to what he called “the Whole.”

Mark Burrows recently published a new translation of Rilke’s “Sonnets” and a book that explores Rilke’s wisdom, You Are the Future: Living the Questions with Rainer Maria Rilke (Monkfish, 2023); both are available in local bookstores.

This morning retreat is free of charge, though registration is required. Donations benefiting the Shields Fund will be accepted. The Shields Fund, established as an outreach program of the church in 2002, provides financial support to local individuals and families in need.

To register for this event, please call the church office at 236-4821 or email churchoffice@camdenucc.org.