CityView Magazine

10 | Februar y 2020 I F A I T H I n late September 2019, I was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. ose who have been there know that, even when the diagnosis is early and the prognosis good, the "C" word changes one's life forever. On one of my tougher days, the doorbell rang, and a delivery person handed me a parcel. e package was large but plain and a bit battered. I opened it, and my eyes met beauty, and the tears flowed. Emotion has a way of sneaking up on you when you are battling cancer. But these tears were about more than the package. e package instantly took me back in time, reconnecting me with one of the most special people in my life. Rewind 30-plus years. I was a first-year student at Duke Divinity School, assigned to Dr. Gayle Felton for academic advising. I remember distinctly the first time I climbed the stairs to her office. Perspiration dotted my brow, born of a combination of nerves and the physical demand of the staircase. Arriving on the top floor, I paused in the narrow, tiled hallway outside her office door, took a deep breath and summoned the courage to knock. Dr. Felton was a world- renowned theologian largely responsible for the definitive doctrinal statement on baptism in e United Methodist Church. I was a 20-year-old novice in the Christian faith. As I stood at her office door, a strong voice responded, "Come in." Walking into Dr. Felton's office was like stepping into Church History. Knowledge, passion and expertise dripped from the walls. Seminary had not been a first choice for me. I had studied accounting and had come to study theology late in my college career. So, the thought of my studying among such spiritual giants as Dr. Felton was daunting. Amid the plethora of volumes on worn bookcases, the musty smell of that historic building, and the unembellished sight of this theological icon who peered at me through her reading glasses, my energy was drawn to a handmade quilt draped over a chair. e quilt stood out to me as a sign of compassion, love and humanity against the rigor and aloofness of the academy. At the conclusion of our meeting, I remarked on the quilt's beauty. Dr. Felton reminisced about its genesis, a story all its own that spoke to my heart – a story of compassion and strength, of courage in the face of illness, and how the quilt had been gied to her. e humanity of that conversation, in ways I would come to understand later, shaped my seminary experience. Over the next three years, Dr. Felton guided me through a great transformation academically, theologically and personally. Five years later, I was a graduate of Duke serving as pastor of a small church in rural South Carolina. My undergraduate institution, Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, had invited me to serve as interim chaplain for a few months during their nationwide search. My first duty was to plan a Baccalaureate Service for the school's commencement weekend. Such gatherings are quite a big deal for the likes of this women's college steeped in Wrapped in Love BY METHODIST UNIVERSITY CHAPLAIN KELLI TAYLOR

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