Brian Allain

Reading Around the World

From “World of Wonders: A Spirituality of Reading” by Jeff Crosby I recently attended an exhibit of more than 100 profoundly moving images taken by the famed photographer Steve McCurry. He may be best known for his 1984 portraiture of the green-eyed Afghan girl Sharbat Gula in a refugee camp outside Peshawar, Pakistan, in the […]

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cognitive offloading

From “How AI Changes Your Customers: The Marketing Guide to Humanity’s Next Chapter” by Mark Schaefer When AI systems handle complex problem-solving, data analysis, and even creative processes, humans experience what researchers refer to as cognitive offloading.  We turn to ChatGPT instead of struggling to come up with your own ideas. We get summaries instead

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Google vids

By Shelly Palmer Google just opened Google Vids to anyone with a Google account. The AI-powered video creation tool now lets free users generate up to 10 high-quality video clips each month using Veo 3.1. Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers get custom music generation via Lyria 3, as well as customizable AI avatars and

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I simply want to enjoy them

From “Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons” by Frederick Buechner From the Foreword by Brian McLaren: I have no desire to analyze what makes Buechner’s writing and preaching so extraordinary. Neither do I want to account for Bob Bylan’s raspy mystique, the peculiar beauty of a rainbow trout in a riffle, or a

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“Do you see any fish?”

From “The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything” by Stephen M. R. Covey One time I hired a guide to take my fly fishing in Montana. As I looked out over the river, he said, “Tell me what you see.” Basically I told him I saw a beautiful river with the sun

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Exhausted

From “What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman” by Lerita Coleman Brown After his father’s death, a grieving and lonely Howard spent much of his time outside alone. Silence and solitude offered solace to Thurman, and in nature he frequently experienced the presence of God, or oneness. He sensed that something

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