Writer Number Zero
Michael Centore on reading and remembering Annie Dillard: “The words on Dillard’s page are like footprints of someone trying to find their soul in the universe left across a snowy field. To read her is to follow her in this venture, and soon you find your own attentiveness begins to sharpen, keening to her quest. It has to do with the way she uses language, which is not, in her hands, the language of discourse or exposition or critique—though it could be any or all of those things—but more like a physical implement that clears and canalizes new provinces of the mind.”
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A Fellowship of Accompaniment
Marc Greenberg is the executive director and co-founder of the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing (IAHH), a coalition of religious organizations and individuals based in New York City that works with and on behalf of the homeless population.
In this episode of our podcast, Marc recounts the origins of IAHH, which included a vigil in City Hall Park that lasted several months, and speaks of its mission to “bear witness to the crisis of homelessness.” He opens us to the human face of homelessness by sharing personal stories of how his own life has been changed by being present to others—a process he describes as “reducing the distance between ourselves and those who suffer.” Marc also speaks about the interfaith and inter-spiritual aspects of his work, how he understands the relationship between public policy and direct action, and why homeless outreach must always be seen as “a fellowship of accompaniment.”
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Our Divine Spark in the Age of AI
Ben Bowler on what spirituality offers as intelligence moves beyond us: “At the heart of my response is a conviction that intelligence is not spirit. Spirit is a higher reality than processing power. Intelligence is a magnificent capacity, but its power does not make it the source of meaning or the measure of a life. The ability to answer a question, solve a problem or produce a compelling argument tells us something about capability. Our spiritual traditions ask further questions about the one who knows, the purpose of knowing, and the love through which knowledge becomes service.”