This year’s theme of Numen Lumen, an important Elon tradition, is “Turning Walls into Windows.”
Share:
Each week during the academic year, members of the University community come together for an important tradition, Numen Lumen: A Thursday Inspiration. Numen Lumen is a weekly gathering for all members of the Elon community. This sacred time allows people to reflect, share stories, build connections, and listen.
“We hope we can create a space where people can talk about some of these hard and uncomfortable things, but also inspire others to think about how they deal with difference in their own lives,” said Assistant University Chaplain Rev. Julie Tonnesen.
Numen Lumen takes place every Thursday in the Sacred Space at the Numen Lumen Pavilion. It is a time for people to gather in a sacred space, listen to various speakers and musicians, and spend time together as a community.
Elon is built on tradition, and the tradition of Numen Lumen is rooted in the time formerly reserved for the college chapel at Elon. Over time, it has become a valued gathering place for religious and spiritual conversations and a time to nurture the creative talents of community members.
“I think my biggest hope for what Numen Lumen means to students is not necessarily that it means the same thing to all students, but that it is accessible to all students and that they can come and create their own meeting out of it, whatever that may look like,” Tonnesen said.
Each year, Numen Lumen has a theme, and this year the focus is on “turning walls into windows.” Choosing a theme for Numen Lumen is intentional. For the 2023-24 academic year, the theme was “Meaningful Relationships Matter.” Relationships are especially important at Elon, where the focus is on supporting mentoring relationships and other connections within the university community. The theme for this year provides space for learning and conversations around the topic of difference and division. Tonnesen said the goal is to “hopefully inspire people to think about what it means to live with difference and division and how you can build relationships through it.” What we learn from difference and division and what we do with what we learn matters, Tonnesen said.
The theme of ‘Turning Walls into Windows’ gives people the opportunity to talk about differences and divisions that exist in our lives and those around us. It is an invitation to discuss ways to look beyond the division and turn it into a window by taking time to observe and reflect.
Numen Lumen is a deliberate choice in both timing and location. Sacred Space provides a place where people of all religious backgrounds are welcome, and the time for Numen Lumen is reserved on Thursday mornings between 9:40 and 10:20 during a class break so that all can participate.
“It’s an Elon tradition. I think it would be great if every single person in the Elon community would stop what they’re doing on Thursday morning to listen to stories,” Tonnesen said.
