Our Creator has gifted us with inquiring minds and inquisitive natures. This is quite apparent from our constant need to know the why, the where, the what of life as we push the boundaries of science, space, seeking out the source of things beyond we see and hear. This exploration has led us to look for ways to learn faster, and more efficiently. Ai is now embedded in nearly every system on earth: from health care, banking, science, and education to name a few.
For those of us in faith communities, this means we have historical records and theology at our fingertips. We can input an idea into Claude, Gemini, co-pilot for liturgy and prayers or reflections and a full service will generate without even opening the bible, or our research books. On the surface this looks like a great time saver.
Yet, 2 Timothy 3:16 Timothy’s letter reminds us that “all scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training so that followers of the Holy One may be proficient, equipped for every good work.”
The words we share each week from the pulpit as we provide worship can be a conduit to share the Holy Mystery we call God. While we use words, we also use our other senses, to embody joy, hope, sorrow, and peace, which speaks into the moment and invites reflection from those who gather.
Simply using words framed and fashioned by an outside source such as AI that doesn’t reflect our faith journey or the lived experience of the wider community don’t carry life or substance in them. Empty words are just filler for the genuine presence of the sacred Being in whose image we are formed.
This spring, the LLWL’s were offered a course on Church X-United in Learning led by Christine Smaller called Generative Ai and Liturgy. The course was designed to give us a bird’s eye view of the Ai search engines available to us on the internet and how to navigate through them, always keeping in mind that the info we received was for research purposes only.
We were asked to cross check the sources offered as sometimes this Learning Language Medium would make up information in order to “please us and prompt us” to keep researching down various rabbit holes. These search engines scrape information from world wide data banks, often without permission from the original creators which has caused an uproar around the world. Various lawsuits are pending where harm has been done, false info has been shared and sources are generated instead of authenticated.
This course opened my eyes to the uses and abuses of this Language Learning. Christine Smaller invited us as a group to share our experiences with Ai, and to write our own covenant for using Ai in the formation of our worship services.
To be a light within a vast universe of lights that shine with the glory of Holy Presence. To provide space for those who gather with me, to dream big, reach higher, settle deeper, and sit at the table with the body of Christ. To pass the peace and to be at peace in this world where technology seem to run our lives, and run us ragged. Technology continues to grow like a black hole that demands our input, our time, our energy and our sleep.
But the last time I checked, all technology comes with a chord. It can be unplugged. Such is not the case with Spirit whose loving presence never demands, but seeks, never overwhelms, but shelters us with feather soft wings, who doesn’t require us to stare at a laptop, but offers us a lap to sit on when we get weary, who doesn’t flash bright lights of doubt into our eyes, but whose porch light is a beacon of hope for us, shining into our dark moments.
Ai is with us for the long haul, but Jesus doesn’t require us to haul anything, but to lay down our burdens and enjoy the ride.
My covenant hopefully leads me to bear lasting fruit, grown in God’s Vineyard as I walk forward in trust. I am aware that Language Learning Modules can enhance my studies, but they will never replace the matters of the heart, which to God, is the Heart of the matter.
Heather Walton LLWL 07/26