Tag: music

AI Can’t Cry (Friend or Foe? Part 2)

Jesus wept. – John 11:35

“What’s for dinner?” asked the chipper voice.

I was startled, and a little uneasy. Was I supposed to be cooking? By the looks of the kitchen, there hadn’t been any meaningful activity going on, and it hadn’t occurred to me that I was supposed to be preparing dinner. I was in the kitchen of my childhood home in St. Louis, and my mother had always been the one spending her afternoons lovingly creating something delicious for the family. I looked up to see who was asking the question and was even more startled and puzzled to see none other than Elon Musk in my home (or whoever’s home this was)! He had a smile, on his face that didn’t fade as he looked around and asked the question a second time.

I looked around and saw no food on the counter. Opening the refrigerator, I observed nothing except a few scraps of dried-up food I couldn’t even identify. Desperate, I looked in the freezer and found a miniscule piece of salmon. Not enough to feed four people, I thought. (I don’t know why I was thinking four, except that’s how many my mother cooked for every night.) I explained to Mr. Musk that this was all I had. I could cook it, and he was welcome to it. I just wouldn’t eat tonight. Showing no disappointment, disapproval, gratitude, or apology, he said with the same cheerful smile that that would be fine. I was embarrassed and still confused – why would the richest man in the world be content to dine in my house and eat up the last scrap of food we had?

While pondering this thought, I clumsily dropped the half-frozen piece of fish on the floor, where it broke into several pieces. I scooped them up and rinsed them off, rendering the serving even smaller than before, but my guest assured me that was fine. Still smiling.

At that moment I got a call, and no sooner had I answered it than I was interrupted with the question, “How soon will dinner be ready?”

“Just a minute, Elon,” I said, and my friend asked Elon who? When I told her who and that he lived in our home now, she gasped. “You sound impressed,” I said. “Don’t be. He’s a jerk.”

I should hastily add here that I don’t think Elon Musk is a jerk. I don’t know the man, so I have no clue what he’s really like. One of the main lessons I learned in my class on dream interpretation is that dreams are symbolic. So whatever Mr. Musk was doing in my dream, he represented something. This morning it didn’t take me long to realize what that something was. As you know if you read my last post, I have been thinking about AI – and technology in general – and how it seems to have taken over the lives of many people, including myself. I have prayed about how to strike a balance, how to have technology without its having me. I need to know how to use technology as a tool, as one of you commented, and not as a master.

So, it’s pretty obvious what this dream was telling me – or what God was telling me through this dream. That technology had, in a sense, moved in and taken over my life, or my mind, anyway. As big and powerful wealthy as it is, it is still happy to take the last scraps of my life, if I am willing to give them up.

I’m not.

This morning, as various pop-ups on my phone were begging for my attention, even as I considered turning on the beautiful AI-generated songs from Psalms to fill my mind with the Scriptures, I walked past the living room and saw my guitar, out of the case, leaning against the chair, quietly inviting me to come play and sing songs – my songs – to the Lord. As dense as I can be sometimes, I do realize that He would rather hear me praise Him with my less-than-perfect voice, playing a real instrument with my arthritic hands that sometimes miss notes, than He would enjoy an AI song created with a few clicks.

I accepted the invitation, sat down and sang the song that was playing in my head. My voice wasn’t perfect, but I was surprised as how strong it was – and before my first cup of coffee!

“Worthy is the Lamb, seated on the throne …” *

As I sang, something was filling an empty space in me, and when I finished the song, I felt something tickling my face.

A tear. An offering to my God, who doesn’t demand perfection, because He knows we could never achieve it.

We are flawed, selfish, ignorant, sinful people, and yet He loves us! Loved us enough to die for us! If we believe and accept that His death on the Cross paid for our sins – and blunders and flaws and weaknesses – someday we will be as perfect as that AI recording, only more. Because only people were created in God’s image, complete with the capacity to love, to will, to worship. And to cry.

Prayer: Dear Creator, we acknowledge that we could never be perfect, and yet we keep striving to improve our performance to impress one another, to achieve wealth or fame or power, even to impress You. But You only ask one thing from us – ourselves, as we are, surrendered to You. Only You can make us perfect, and You promise that someday we will be. Meanwhile, help us to resist the pull of the world to spend our time, resources, and devotion to serving anyone or anything other than You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

*”Worthy is the Lamb” c 2000 Darlene Zschech/Hillsong Publishing

Some Random News and Movie Reviews

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed–in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. – I Corinthians 15:51-52

Halleluiah! My laptop is finally back from the shop! If you haven’t heard from me lately, it’s because I was not able to “like” some of your posts on my phone. Others I could “like” but not until I commented. Go figure.

“In other news,” I am finished recording my second book, “Vision,” and listened to the whole audiobook one more time today before sending it to be released. (I especially like the music we added, like “The Trumpet Shall Sound”!)

And speaking of which, recently I was surprised to find the movie “Left Behind: The Rise of the Antichrist” on Amazon Prime. I couldn’t resist watching it to see how it might differ from the original series.

The original “Left Behind” film was released in 2000, after the book series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins was a hit in the 90’s. (I remember my older kids and their friends reading them.)

Like the original series, the 2023 film is about the End Times as predicted in biblical prophecy. It takes up the story starting just after the Rapture – the mysterious vanishing of millions of people, as predicted in I Corinthians 15:52 – as the world is in chaos and looking for a leader to unite them into “one world order.”

While the original story from the 90’s was intriguing to many, this remake seems all the more relevant, as it brings in current events with references to “the Great Reset,” global warming, the Covd pandemmic, forced vaxinations, and other issues that have frightened people into surrendering their freedoms in exchange for some sense of safety and security. Words and phrases like “fake news,” “dysinformation,” and “missinformation” drive home the fact that people in this day and age don’t know whom to believe or trust. As people “left behind” ponder the disappearance of their Christian loved ones, remembering what those loved ones said about the “Rapture,” others scoff, reminding them that “the ‘Rapture Theory’ was debunked by the fact checkers on Day One.”

While I suppose different churches have different teachings (or no teachings) about the End Times, the Rapture, and the Antichrist, I found “Left Behind: The Rise of the Antichrist” intriguing, especially in light of what we have all been through in the past few years. While I felt some of the dialogue was a little strained (Some political points seemed pretty thinly veiled.), it’s nevertheless some “food for thought.” And though it’s not a movie for very young children, I don’t remember a lot of obscene language or the violence being excessive. I would watch it again with my teenaged grandchildren and use it as a springboard for discussion of Bible prophecy, Truth, and staying faithful to the Lord, even when the rest of the world may be going in the opposite direction.

Another movie my husband and I have watched lately is “Harriet” on Netflix. It’s the true story of Harriet Tubman, the slave woman who escaped and played a huge role in the Underground Railroad. The scenes of the cruelty of slavery might be too intense for some younger people to watch. On the other hand, the portrayal of Harriet Tubman’s faith that drove her mission to free her people was a refreshing change from the usual Hollywood fare that presents Christians as either wimpy, hypocritical, or crazy. I did some research (fact checking) regarding some of the details and concluded that this film shows Harriet’s story as accurately as any historical movie I’ve seen. And the fact that the Lord had such a big role in the story just made it all the better.

On a more personal note: my hip has gotten so bad it’s about to be kicked off the island. In other words, I’m getting a new one right after Christmas. (My grandson said, “Wow! That’s a HUGE Christmas present!” – Not that huge, Mister, thank you very much!) Meanwhile, I’m hobbling around leaning on a crutch like Tiny Tim. Occasionally someone will comment on the crutch, and I say in a little-boy voice with an English accent, “God bless us, every one!” As often as not, I get a blank look or a vague smile. Sheesh! I thought everyone had read or seen “A Christmas Carol“! Apparently not. (What’s wrong with these people?!)

Lately I laugh when I think of the Rapture. If anyone comes looking for me, they’ll find my shoes, my clothes, an artificial hip, and a bunch of crowns. – “LOL!”

Prayer: Lord, thank You for friends, even those friends I haven’t met face to face, and the way we can share our news, our recommendations, our lives. Thanks that You are able to watch over each of us, and that someday those of us who love You will meet – “here, there, or in the air.” In Jesus’ name, amen.