Friday, March 14, 2008
By Peter Smithpsmith@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Downtown epiphany changed monk's course
A downtown intersection will bear the name "Thomas Merton Square" in honor of the monk's flash of inspiration.
The Louisville Metro Council has approved the name for the intersection of Fourth Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard -- though no streets will be renamed -- in advance of a celebration Tuesday of the 50th anniversary of what is often called Merton's "Louisville Epiphany."
That's when a routine errand crystallized Merton's growing realization that he couldn't hide behind monastery walls from the people and problems of the outside world.
"Thomas Merton is an international treasure, so to have the opportunity to recognize locally a man of his stature and recognize the contributions he's made to the world community in general is indeed something we all look forward to doing," said council member David Tandy, D-4th District, who represents downtown and sponsored the measure.
A sign proclaiming Thomas Merton Square will be unveiled Tuesday evening.
The resolution notes that the intersection has become "synonymous" with Merton's experience and also declares the 12 months beginning Tuesday to be "The Year of the Epiphany."
By 1958, Merton, who lived at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Nelson County from 1941 until his accidental death in 1968, was a best-selling writer on prayer and spirituality, but he hadn't traveled as much outside the monastery as his supervisors would later allow him to do.
On March 18, 1958, an errand to a print shop put Merton among the pedestrians at the intersection of Fourth and what was then Walnut Street.
In this ordinary scene, he later wrote of feeling awakened from a "dream of my separateness."
He was "suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all these people … walking around shining like the sun."
It was after this event that Merton began writing forcefully on the social issues of the day, supporting civil rights and interfaith dialogue and opposing the Vietnam War and the nuclear arms race.
"A lot of these types of epiphanies and mystical moments have happened (to others) in nature and solitude," said Thomas Williams, past president of the Louisville Bar Association, who sought the resolution on Thomas Merton Square and helped organize Tuesday's anniversary commemoration.
"This monk that lives behind the cloister, to come out and have an epiphany at a shopping center is really neat, that he was seeing the spark of divinity in people," Williams said.
Terry Taylor of Interfaith Paths to Peace, one of the sponsors of the event, added that the "monastery wall crumbles" on that date in 1958.
"He invites everyone in to take part in contemplative spirituality, but almost more important, he … sees he's connected to everyone else," Taylor said.
A historical marker about the epiphany has long stood at Fourth and Ali, and Bellarmine University has a statue of Merton and houses his archives and paintings at the Thomas Merton Center.
Taylor noted that the change to the city's streetscape has "perhaps the two most famous people in Louisville, Thomas Merton and Muhammad Ali, coming together."
Paul Pearson, director of the Thomas Merton Center, said many people around the world "know about Louisville because of Merton's writings, probably more so than because of the Derby."
Merton's words about the 1958 epiphany may be the most famous from all his dozens of books, Pearson said.
The naming of Thomas Merton Square won't involve changing any street names, nor will it interfere with the branding of the adjacent 4th Street Live entertainment complex.
In fact, its proximity to the nightclubs of 4th Street Live is appropriate, Pearson said, since its mix of ordinary people is not that different from that of the once-bustling shopping district.
Merton also was known to enjoy a drink and visit jazz clubs.
Merton's friend Dick Sisto still performs jazz at the Seelbach Hilton at the intersection, and the restaurant Merton often visited, Cunningham's, is now located just a short walk away on Fourth Street.
Reporter Peter Smith can be reached at (502) 582-4469.
By Peter Smithpsmith@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Downtown epiphany changed monk's course
A downtown intersection will bear the name "Thomas Merton Square" in honor of the monk's flash of inspiration.
The Louisville Metro Council has approved the name for the intersection of Fourth Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard -- though no streets will be renamed -- in advance of a celebration Tuesday of the 50th anniversary of what is often called Merton's "Louisville Epiphany."
That's when a routine errand crystallized Merton's growing realization that he couldn't hide behind monastery walls from the people and problems of the outside world.
"Thomas Merton is an international treasure, so to have the opportunity to recognize locally a man of his stature and recognize the contributions he's made to the world community in general is indeed something we all look forward to doing," said council member David Tandy, D-4th District, who represents downtown and sponsored the measure.
A sign proclaiming Thomas Merton Square will be unveiled Tuesday evening.
The resolution notes that the intersection has become "synonymous" with Merton's experience and also declares the 12 months beginning Tuesday to be "The Year of the Epiphany."
By 1958, Merton, who lived at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Nelson County from 1941 until his accidental death in 1968, was a best-selling writer on prayer and spirituality, but he hadn't traveled as much outside the monastery as his supervisors would later allow him to do.
On March 18, 1958, an errand to a print shop put Merton among the pedestrians at the intersection of Fourth and what was then Walnut Street.
In this ordinary scene, he later wrote of feeling awakened from a "dream of my separateness."
He was "suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all these people … walking around shining like the sun."
It was after this event that Merton began writing forcefully on the social issues of the day, supporting civil rights and interfaith dialogue and opposing the Vietnam War and the nuclear arms race.
"A lot of these types of epiphanies and mystical moments have happened (to others) in nature and solitude," said Thomas Williams, past president of the Louisville Bar Association, who sought the resolution on Thomas Merton Square and helped organize Tuesday's anniversary commemoration.
"This monk that lives behind the cloister, to come out and have an epiphany at a shopping center is really neat, that he was seeing the spark of divinity in people," Williams said.
Terry Taylor of Interfaith Paths to Peace, one of the sponsors of the event, added that the "monastery wall crumbles" on that date in 1958.
"He invites everyone in to take part in contemplative spirituality, but almost more important, he … sees he's connected to everyone else," Taylor said.
A historical marker about the epiphany has long stood at Fourth and Ali, and Bellarmine University has a statue of Merton and houses his archives and paintings at the Thomas Merton Center.
Taylor noted that the change to the city's streetscape has "perhaps the two most famous people in Louisville, Thomas Merton and Muhammad Ali, coming together."
Paul Pearson, director of the Thomas Merton Center, said many people around the world "know about Louisville because of Merton's writings, probably more so than because of the Derby."
Merton's words about the 1958 epiphany may be the most famous from all his dozens of books, Pearson said.
The naming of Thomas Merton Square won't involve changing any street names, nor will it interfere with the branding of the adjacent 4th Street Live entertainment complex.
In fact, its proximity to the nightclubs of 4th Street Live is appropriate, Pearson said, since its mix of ordinary people is not that different from that of the once-bustling shopping district.
Merton also was known to enjoy a drink and visit jazz clubs.
Merton's friend Dick Sisto still performs jazz at the Seelbach Hilton at the intersection, and the restaurant Merton often visited, Cunningham's, is now located just a short walk away on Fourth Street.
Reporter Peter Smith can be reached at (502) 582-4469.
posted by Interfaith Paths to Peace at 2:55 PM
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