Rev. Julie Tonnesen offered words, and Rabbi Maor Greene performed original music at the first Numen Lumen gathering of the academic year.
With a renewed focus on storytelling, personal narratives and the strength of community, the new year of Numen Lumen: A Thursday Inspiration was launched on August 25 in a gathering of nearly 40 students, staff and faculty members.
In the Sacred Space of the Numen Lumen Pavilion, University Chaplain and Dean of Multifaith Engagement Rev. Kirstin Boswell welcomed the attendees with an invitation to “sit quietly, breathe and reflect on the things that make us community.” Boswell set the tone for a space filled with meaning, and purposefully crafted as a break in the busy university schedule.
Numen Lumen: A Thursday Inspiration occurs every Thursday during an intentional break in the academic schedule from 9:50 to 10:20 a.m. It is a time to gather for words and music, to share stories, to listen and to reflect on the individuals that make up the Elon community. Numen Lumen is, in the words of Associate University Chaplain Rev. Julie Tonnesen, who organizes the weekly gathering, defined by its depth rather than its breadth.
This year’s theme, “Me: In my own words,” was designed to encourage members of the community to talk about themselves in an authentic way. The language for Numen Lumen states: “We are the stories we tell. We are the stories we share. We are the stories of Elon.” The hope is that this theme will enable all community members – from students to senior administrators – to learn from and connect to the university in meaningful ways.
Tonnesen delivered the first talk in the series this year. She shared her own personal story of change and growth, and the transformative value of her own Elon education.
“Dr. Fletcher’s class tipped the domino that caused me to critically examine and disown much of my religion, reclaim it in a way which centered justice, study it in grad school and enter into a professional career in religious and spiritual life,” said Tonnesen. “I don’t know how my life would be different had I never taken that class. I like to imagine that another class or moment of learning would have been the domino that set off the chain reaction of my unlearning, relearning and doing differently.
Tonnesen continued, emphasizing the importance of her journey: “But what I do know is that each of the stories I’ve been privileged to hear and learn from along my own journey have interwoven with and informed my own story in ways both big and small.”
Rabbi Maor Greene, the interim associate chaplain for Jewish Life, performed a traditional wordless Jewish melody, a niggun, before Tonnesen spoke, and then offered an original song, also about a journey.
Greene’s lyrics, accompanied by their guitar playing, serve as an invitation for all community members to live authentically, and also as a blessing for the school year: “Hear the waves crash upon the sand, know that life doesn’t go as planned.”
Numen Lumen closed with Greene blowing the shofar, the traditional ram’s horn sounded on the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah, to herald a fresh start to the new academic year.