Dear Octet community,

I hope the Lenten season is bringing forth internal renewal for you!

There is something fitting about Lent arriving in the heart of late winter. The season asks us to let go, grow still, and wait in hope. The bare branches are not a sign of absence; they are a sign of anticipation.

Lent is a season of making room even as we give things up. In the quiet of fasting, prayer, and reflection, we clear away what clutters the soul and turn toward what is essential. 

The poet T.S. Eliot wrote that "April is the cruellest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land." Lent teaches us to trust that tension. The dead land, in time, gives way to lilacs—the tomb does not have the final word.

As we experience these weeks together, may we embrace the quietude of this season not as burden, but as gift. Welcome to this holy season and the blossoming ahead.

With hope,

Mia Chung-Yee

Executive Director

• Read Nathan Barczi's essay on how AI affects human agency.
• Sign up for a Good Friday Messiah reflection.
• Hear about our colloquium at the Media Lab, What Is Life? (We know you've always wondered...)
• And more!

Essay: AI, vocation, and agency

Is your life a project, or a gift?

And what does that question have to do with AI?

In this essay, Nathan Barczi discusses the dynamics of AI agents and human agency. When should we surrender decisions to machines, and when are those decisions demanded by humans?

Give it a read . . .

Recap: What Is Life?

Each year, Octet hosts a scholarly colloquium gathering academics from across the disciplines to consider a complex question. This year, we asked computer scientists, biologists, musicologists, and classicists the question: What Is Life?

Our day in the Media Lab was joyful and generative. We weren't planning to solve the question — but we were delighted to hear original, provocative ideas around life, consciousness, and technology.

We'll be sharing a long-form recap later this spring. Stay tuned!

Handel’s Messiah: Easter and Beyond

We're excited to co-produce an exploration of Handel's Messiah with the Trinity Forum, featuring our own Mia Chung-Yee as well as conductor Rick Westerfield.

On Good Friday this year, the Trinity Forum will stream a conversation walking through the Lent and Easter portions of Handel's great choral work. If you're not familiar, the Messiah paints a kaleidoscopic musical landscape of God's work of salvation, all through the language of Scripture.

Mark your calendars!

Contemplative Prayer Lunch continues

Each Wednesday, MIT staff, students, and faculty gather to eat lunch and practice contemplative prayer together. Please feel free to join us at noon in W11's Main Dining Room.

Want to join us? Text JOIN to (833) 459-3187 to receive details by text. Or reply to this email to get email reminders.

Consider a gift to Octet

We're supported by generous individuals and grants. Did you know that you can give to Octet through the MIT Fund? If you're already giving to MIT, we'd love for you to consider designating some of your gifts to Octet. Monthly gifts are especially helpful!



We’re so thankful for the generous giving we saw on Pi Day, and especially to our matching giver! We’re counting the gifts, and can’t wait to report the final total.