CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 21 I essentially sprinted back to my office, anxious to recount this astonishing moment to anyone who'd listen. By the time I arrived, the events of the morning nearly overwhelmed me. I closed the door to my office and stared at the photo. Mary reasoned the risen Christ to be the gardener, and that thieves had stolen the body of Jesus. "Just tell me where you have taken him…" I reasoned this ray of light to be a burst from the cellphone camera. Except it wasn't. I knew it in my gut. No amount of reasoning could deny that this light was from God, a confirmation, a promise realized, a blessing, God's approval… this is good. ere were few eyewitnesses, but news of this moment at the cross spread exponentially and swily. e mood on the construction site changed and on the campus, too. People buzzed around talking about the light, the cross, and the photo which turned out to be a kind of further confirmation of the unbelievable. Later in the day, the construction supervisor stopped by my office to talk about what, by now, was being called a miracle. Once strangers, we were now joined by this common experience, a pair of doubting omases not wanting to say too much publicly until we ourselves believed. Questions lingered: Did this really happen? What did it mean, for me, for the campus, for our shared work, for the community? As the story spread, so did my realization that this moment was not about any single person. It was about the light, as dazzling and brilliant as rays reflecting off the new fallen snow at midday. e Light proclaimed: "It is good!" I recalled the truth of Romans 8: no height nor depth, no power on Earth below nor in heaven above nor anything else in all creation can stop the promise, purpose and love of God. e light continues to shine through the Sharon and Ron Matthews Ministry Center. Sunlight brings to life the individual facets of the magnificent stained-glass windows even as the light of God brings life to individuals in the community through worship, baptisms, prayer, hospitality, music, fellowship, the spoken word and, most of all, through the love of God. God continues to say, "Let there be light," and there is light. It is good. Kelli W. Taylor is Vice President of Religious Life and Community Engagement at Methodist University. A time for renewal. 910 . 302 . 3035 5202 Raeford Road www . LaFayetteLincoln . com CORSAIR | NAUTILUS | NAVIGATOR | AVIATOR

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