On Being is brought to you by the John Templeton Foundation,

harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest and most perplexing questions facing humankind.

To learn more, subscribe to their newsletter, Possibilities,

and discover the work Templeton supports on topics from curiosity and kindness

to evolution, black holes, and the origins of life.

Sign up at templeton.org-for-it-slash-possibilities.

Rebekah Solnet describes her vision as a writer like this,

to describe nuances and shades of meaning,

to celebrate public life and solitary life,

to find another way of telling.

She is a contributing editor to Harper's magazine

and the author of profound books that defy category.

She's emerged as one of our great chroniclers of untold histories of redemptive change

in places like Post Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans.

She writes that so often when all the ordinary divides and patterns are shattered,

people step up to become their brothers-keepers.

And that purposefulness and connectedness bring joy,

even amidst death, chaos, fear, and loss.

I want better metaphors, I want better stories,

I want more openness, I want better questions.

All these things feel like they give us tools that are a little more

commensurate with amazing possibilities and the terrible realities that we face.

...