The monk Thomas Merton, photographed in 1967 at home at the Abbey of Gethsemani. Ten years earlier, in downtown Louisville, he had his famous epiphany about belonging.
Anyone else
feel...?
also notice...?
Afraid.
Family and friends are more important than ever.
Divided.
We tend to know the names of our neighbors in Louisville.
Like the political discourse is deadly.
And love our neighborhoods.
Disconnected.
A local restaurant or coffee shop can feel like home.
Overwhelmed.
People on the street here, even strangers, still make eye contact and say hello.
Like you can’t understand some perspectives no matter how hard you try.
A Cards (or, fine, Cats) win can unite us—about at least one thing that day.
Like a year of overall stability seems impossible.
Even a walk in Iroquois Park can feel sacred.
Like nothing ever seems to change in Louisville.
Louisvillians don’t give up on this place.
Like we’re losing faith—religious or otherwise.
And we believe our city can get a bit better.
We do.
Welcome to the Belonging Issue, a collaboration between Louisville Magazine and Festival of Faiths.
We hope you’ll stay awhile.
And if you’d like to take a moment for yourself before getting into it, hit the singing bowl.
The Belonging Issue
The offering