31 Mar 2022 Faith, hope and love abound in the 501

April 17 marks the highest holiday of the Christian faith. Easter, or Resurrection Sunday, is a time that followers of Christ set aside to consider the great price that Jesus paid to atone for our sins. Last summer, as publisher and editor, Jeremy Higginbotham and I discussed themes for 2022, and we thought April would be the perfect month to bring readers a “Faith in the 501” issue.

Faith, or trust and confidence in someone or something, is cultivated from birth. Most children can trust that one or both parents will ensure their needs are met. Over time, we put faith in people outside our close family circle like teachers and friends. People fulfill their commitments most of the time, and sometimes they don’t. We have to be careful that our ability to have faith in God and other people isn’t spoiled by the few people who let us down.

Every day we put our faith in gravity, oxygen, and fellow drivers. Faith motivates us to keep going when the doctor discovers cancer, when finances fail, and when people betray us. Life can tear down one’s ability to trust, but I’ve also learned that hope and optimism are contagious.

We hope that the “Faith in the 501” issue reminds readers that there is much to believe in. One columnist writes about the person who held onto the bicycle as you learned to ride, and another tells the story of seven women who share their faith with women in prison. We’ve included stories about churches devoted to showing love, addiction ministries with successful graduates, volunteers that remind foster children that they are not forgotten, and, in one column, we see strangers coming together to mourn a loss on a cruise ship.

From the stained-glass First Missionary Baptist Church on the cover to the final feature about the director of the Arkansas Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, we hope to remind you that many people dream of a better tomorrow and work each day to make those dreams a reality. This issue is proof that faith is a key reason why people love life in the 501.

Stefanie Brazile
Editor