daily life as life goes on . . .

Yesterday I was steered to the music of Grace Unveiled Music on YouTube.  Great words and professionally produced music.  And, apparently, AI generated or at least AI is used in the production (as per information on their YouTube channel).  I spent a good hour listening to the music.  The style is one I enjoy and the words were expressive of much Christian doctrine.

The Facebook friend who steered me to the music generated a bit of comment.  One commenter asked – “Is it all AI generated like the graphics?”  Good question.  Here is my own comment regarding this area:

“On YouTube there is an indication that this is AI generated. A great discussion point. Consider the move towards enjoyment of AI generated music. People are accepting content and not so much needing human authorship to validate the songs. Or there is the hybrid model. One of my boyhood friends has placed his poetry on YouTube using AI generated music. He uses a delivery system (AI) to make his poetry accessible.”

Which takes me back to the debate in the Reformation regarding the content of sacraments being affected by the delivery of the sacraments by carnal priests.  Did the delivery method invalidate the sacrament?

OK, there is much more theological debate here.  But maybe this is a start.

The trip I planned has been challenged by the weather.  I’m not excited to be heading out into snow/freezing rain or any other weather related “slippery” conditions. 

The forecast I had in hand was for 80% chance of precipitation. 

I called my brother, whom I was off to see.  He pulled up his weather app and related to me that the weather showed 10% chance of precipitation.  Sunshine and not clouds.

Who to believe? 

I grew up in a family where my father was a weather forecaster for Environment Canada until he retired in 1983.  His prediction – forecasts were right 80% of the time.  Back when we only listened to one “weather channel”.  Back when most of us looked out the window to see what was coming.  Back when less travel meant less reliance on constant updates.  Back when we lived in the moment as much as in the future.

Now?

Farmers work the fields daily based on weather radar.  We travel more frequently.  Weather forecasting has become as much about alerts as about merely laying out the probable future – as though a forecaster is now the counselor warning of life catastrophes.

And we are conflicted.

Because the centre of authority has shifted.  Where once, in Canada, we relied on a government agency – now we have many vying for the position of authority to speak the forecast.  And there is money in the game.  To say nothing of prestige and power.

I’m still trying to figure out travel plans.  But now the plans include sifting through who to trust amongst many.

Has faith become the greatest priority in our current swirl of world concerns?  In the midst of many storms in life can we find a place where hope is grounded?  How do we chose?

I was at a store yesterday.  Well, not any store – one that was construction related.  Which is where my mind has been these last few months.

A new tape measure was on my mind.  The current tape measure was broken and become difficult to handle. 

There  in front of me was a measure on sale.  Half price.  But the only one left was covered in drywall and the measure itself had been used.  I thought this might be a return.  I was able to buy the measure for a discounted price.

My mind was probably way too innocent.  Upon arriving at our construction site, one person mentioned that this had probably been an exchange.  Instead of buying a new measure, a thief had exchanged the tape measure for a new one (generally called shoplifting!). 

I’m not asking what circumstance in life caused the person to make a switch.  I am asking why someone would consider that right.  Where was their heart at?

My father was a conscientious objector in World War II.  As a twenty something he became a “conchie” – fighting conscription and active service in the army.  In Canada this group believed and acted on their faith.  Beyond the persecution of Japanese and Germans and others during WWII, the conchies were sometimes considered even little lower.  They were considered traitors and became a vulnerable sector in our culture.

Fast forward five or six decades.  My father’s local church, which had supported “conchies”, had come full circle.  They invited remembrance day celebrations into the church on November 11th.  Previously this holiday had been stricken from the church calendar as a violation of the sacred vow of non-violence.

How does an institution change? 

Did this change signal a betrayal, a new understanding or just a compromise for the sake of “peace”?