Communities Performing Arts

Mystical Poetry, Music Helps Mountain Child Welfare

Mystical Poetry and Music show

Mary White. Photo by David Koll

Giving without receiving is an act unto itself. This spiritual symmetry propels the performances of Mary White and Richard Shulman in their Mystical Poetry and Music show at the Unity of the Blue Ridge in Mills River on Friday, September 8, at 7 p.m.

How do the words and the notes come together? “Her mystical poetry opens doorways into ecstatic oneness for me,” Shulman says, “that oneness which inspires the creation of music and sublime beauty.”

White’s poetry entwines Shulman’s music, celebrating healing and meditation as an access to the Divine. “His notes evoke the angelic realms,” White says, “bathing the listener in love, joy and wonder.”

On the relevance of mountain child welfare, no clarification is needed. “If we eradicated child abuse, 20 other problems would be solved,” White says.

Despite improvements in high school graduation rates and food security, economic inequalities endanger children’s mental and physical health. According to Action for Children, an annual report conducted by NC Child, one in seven children in North Carolina live in impoverished neighborhoods—about 14 percent. More than half of children younger than five live in households with low incomes.

The Mountain Child Advocacy Center receives half of every donation made at the Mystical Poetry and Music event. Its preventative day-to-day work follows the credo that no childhood ought to be compromised, regardless of demographics.

“If the alphabet (a child) is twisted and missing letters, you can’t expect a book (an adult) to read well,” White says.

The Mystical Poetry and Music celebration takes place at the Unity of the Blue Ridge, 2041 Old Fanning Bridge Road in Mills River. Admission is $10. Learn more by calling 828.299.8361

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