Nearly 500 participants are sailing off the tailwinds of GladdeningLight 2019 at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. What began in a convivial setting with a reception hosted by the president of the college and his wife moved into an exultant morning session of song followed by Matthew Fox’s wake up call on behalf of our desperate and despoiled earth. We were lifted that evening by a candlelit soundscape amid eleven iconic images and Noírín, Owen and Moley’s soaring harmonies at Knowles Memorial Chapel. Ilia Delio lectured the following morning on “Love at the Heart of the Universe and the Vision of Teilhard de Chardin,” proclaiming that “God is love in all forms, and Jesus is the Evolver,” and Matthew concluded the day with uplifting references to Meister Eckhart, Thomas Merton, the Lakota, and mysticism exemplified by silence and art. Sunday morning’s creative mass was hosted by Noírín assisted by a number of attending clergy, Ilia’s sermon was heartfelt and Matthew led all on recess from the church onto Rollins College’s great lawn for a concluding spiral dance. The energy was palpable. “I Am, May You Be!”

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Leading-edge science supports a new understanding of love as the fundamental energy of evolution, bearing witness in woke consciousness toward social, environmental and gender justice.

Matthew Fox, acclaimed activist and theologian who’s ignited the (r)evolutionary creation spirituality movement in four decades of teaching & authorship is back for a command appearance at GladdeningLight.  Ilia Delio, Villanova University professor and authority on the integration of science with religion will address the vision of Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin, exploring the undivided wholeness of cosmic evolution.  Together, they will address our comprehension of the gravitational heart of the universe in bloom.  All on the campus of Rollins College.

Participating throughout are Nóirín Ní Riain and Owen & Moley Ó Súilleabháin, resonant troubadours in the ancient Irish a cappella tradition who will premier a processional soundscape concert amid candlelit icons in Knowles Memorial Chapel.

Schedule of Events

The Science of Love

Divine Imagination, Evolving Universe

Thursday, January 31, 2019

6:00 pm – Reception hosted by the President of Rollins College, Barker House (rsvp) SORRY, THE RECEPTION IS NOW FULL

Friday, February 1, 2019

10:00 am – Opening program from Nóirín Ní Riain and Owen & Moley Ó Súilleabháin, a Celtic excursion into their Irish homeland, Knowles Memorial Chapel
2:00 pm – Afternoon lecture from Matthew Fox in Tiedtke Concert Hall
4:00 pm – Optional group discussion, Faculty Club
7:30 pm – Evening soundscape tribute to Brigid, preeminent saint of Ireland, from Nóirín, Owen & Moley, with readings by Matthew Fox and Ilia Delio and iconography by the Winter Park Guild, Knowles Memorial Chapel

Saturday, February 2, 2019

Morning stroll, Downtown Winter Park Farmers’ Market, New York & New England Avenues

9:30 am – Morning lecture from Ilia Delio, Bush Auditorium
11:45 am – Luncheon for All-Access participants in The Marketplace
2:00 pm – Afternoon lecture from Matthew Fox, Tiedtke Concert Hall
4:00 pm – Optional group discussion, Faculty Club
7:30 pm – Evening forum, Ilia Delio and Matthew Fox, Tiedtke Concert Hall ($25 single admission fee)

Sunday, February 3, 2019

9:30 am – Worship service at Knowles Memorial Chapel in honor of Irish St. Blaise, homily by Ilia Delio, assisting priest Nóirín Ní Riain, readings by Matthew Fox, music from Nóirín, Owen & Moley

Afternoon tours at leisure to the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Morse Museum of American Art and the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park

Event Venues

Rollins College — Barker House, Tiedtke Concert Hall, Bush Auditorium, The Marketplace, Faculty Club and Knowles Memorial Chapel

Hotel Partners

The Alfond Inn, the Park Plaza Hotel and the Comfort Suites Downtown Orlando.  Reservations may be made online for the Alfond Inn using the discount code GLAD19 at checkout, the Park Plaza Hotel starting at $199 per night by calling (407) 647-1072 (be sure to ask for the GladdeningLight discount), and the Comfort Suites Downtown Orlando online using this link at $110 per night.  Note that rate discounts expire at the end of December.  Winter Park, Florida is twenty-five minutes from Orlando International Airport.  A rental car will not be necessary if staying at the Alfond or Park Plaza hotels, as all symposium events are within walking distance.

Registration

Participate for as little as $25 (Saturday evening’s forum) to $220 (All-Access including each symposium event plus lunch on Saturday).  Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted.  Cancellation policy: full refund for any reason until 12/31/18.  REGISTRATION IS NOW FULL AND IS CLOSED.  THANK YOU!

We must’ve waited all our lives for this.