Stochastic Worship

Author: David

  • The Lent Cross Challenge

    The Lent Cross Challenge

    Earlier I mentioned the Lent Cross Challenge promoted by the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Each day, throughout the Lent season I have shared a new song generated by the prompt given for scriptural mediation.

    It has been an interesting experience. Some of the songs have certainly helped me express my thoughts as I’ve considered the meanings of the Bible verses and their direct relevance to my own life. Here’s a link to the playlist.

    As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not the only person who has been using AI-generated music as an aid to focus my thoughts on the meaning of Lent. There are even people on Suno who have been faithfully posting a daily song to accompany the Bible reading plan they’ve been following.

  • The thief on the cross

    The thief on the cross

    A song about Jesus’ crucifixion based on the point of view of the thief on the cross? What could possibly go wrong? For those of you who wonder whether it is sensible to hand over hymn writing to a machine, this gives you an insight into how bizarre errors can creep into the process.

    The song is Outcasts at Twilight. Eventually, I’ll correct the error, but it’s so subtle it’s worth leaving in as an example of what to look for.

    The song’s lyrics are:

    [Verse 1]
    I saw him stand before the crowd
    A king in chains yet unbowed
    The governor asked what to do
    Condemned the one they called true

    [Verse 2]
    They gave him thorns and scarlet robe
    A mocking smile a painful probe
    He carried wood upon his back
    Up to the hill the sky turned black

    [Chorus]
    Oh the irony a thief like me
    Watching him die to set us free
    He offered peace in dying breath
    In midst of pain and facing death

    [Verse 3]
    They cursed him spat and cast their lots
    While I hung here haunted by my thoughts
    Yet he whispered words of grace
    Promised me a sacred place

    [Bridge]
    Forgive them father he cried loud
    As sunlight broke through stormy clouds
    The curtain tore the earth it quaked
    A sacred promise he did make

    [Verse 4]
    As darkness fell the day was done
    And cold the stone they laid upon
    Hearts were heavy eyes were red
    In borrowed tomb he rested dead

    It’s the timeline that’s all over the place, like a poorly produced movie where you get more enjoyment spotting the continuity errors.

    Does it matter if way too many liberties have been taken in the name of artistic license? It lessens its impact as an apologetic tool. It distracts the worshipper from the primary aim of a spiritual song – to focus on their relationship with God.

  • A Suite for Good Friday

    A Suite for Good Friday

    Good Friday? If you don’t know how the story ends, it’s the most horrific time. The one person who you thought could change the world has been arrested, tried in a kangaroo court and executed in the cruelest way imaginable.

    But let’s spare a thought for the real victims of the story – or so they would portray themselves. A religious and political establishment who correctly identified the Author of Righteousness as an existential threat to their comfortable status quo.

    What if you looked at the events of Holy Week from their eyes? After their attempts to discredit Jesus have resulted in further exposing themselves as corrupt and foolish; they find a suitable patsy who will betray Him. They feel that their problem is dead and buried…

    Then, all heaven breaks loose!

    Here’s a short playlist of four songs telling the story of the Passion from their viewpoint. Because, truth be told, if we were in their position, we would have done the same.

  • A song for Maundy Thursday

    A song for Maundy Thursday

    It’s a day of mixed emotions with so much to unpack. The name comes from Jesus’ mandate – a new commandment: to love one another. We have foot-washing: the master is the servant. The last supper with predictions of Jesus’ betrayal. Prayer at Gethsemane, Jesus’ arrest and trial, then finally the cock crows and we know how deeply our failure has run.

    How do you capture all that in a song?

    I like how Washed Feet and Heavy Hearts came together in expressing some of this:

    [Verse 1]
    Feet in hands bowed low and humble
    Echoes of a love so true
    Servant’s heart beats out the thunder
    In a room of mixed up views

    [Verse 2]
    Bravado walks on shaky ground
    Lips that laugh but hearts are torn
    One of twelve to weave the crown
    Betrayal’s breath on hope is sworn

    [Chorus]
    Washed feet and heavy hearts
    Grace in the face of falling stars
    Boundless love still lights the dark
    When faith is found in Jesus’ scars

    [Verse 3]
    Tables set for bread and wine
    Yet shadows cast by hidden fear
    Promises of soul divine
    Shattered when the dawn is near

    [Verse 4]
    Silent whispers of what’s true
    A Kiss to break our holy ties
    Love that’s denied in shades of blue
    Fading as the rooster cries

    [Chorus]
    Washed feet and heavy hearts
    Grace in the face of falling stars
    Boundless love still lights the dark
    When faith is found in Jesus’ scars

    The song was originally generated as the 13th song in my suite of songs following the chapters of John’s Gospel. It pairs well with The Arrest in the Garden – another song from the same suite.

    However, for those who prefer a rock ballad style the musical style of Denial’s Edge from my Luke’s Gospel suite might be more to your taste. All of these are in my Holy Week playlist.

  • The Playlists

    The Playlists

    One of the reasons why I began working on this site was to help organise the curated playlists of AI-generated worship music I’ve been working on.

    Here’s a link to an ever-expanding set of my playlists on Suno.

    I’ve tried to categorise them as:

    • Books of the Bible
    • Chants
    • The Church Year
    • People
    • Stories
    • Books
    • Themes

    Feel free to explore them: remix, experiment with your own ideas and comment on or like any individual songs or playlists while you are there.

  • Happy Holy Week

    Happy Holy Week

    Yes, there’s a playlist!

    We begin this week with Palm Sunday, but beneath all the rejoicing that the king is here, there’s a deeper, darker undercurrent. We know Jesus has to die.

    To a corrupt establishment, it’s a necessary political expedience. They tell us we cannot afford the luxury of a populist iconoclast who, if left unchecked, would overturn their comfortable status quo.

    It’s worth exploring musically.

  • Chants

    Chants

    I have a playlist, of course. And I’m not the only person at Suno using their tools to do this.

    There’s a rich tradition of using short, repetitive songs to focus the mind on who you’re singing to – from the Jesus Prayer uttered in the Egyptian deserts sixteen centuries ago to Taize-style worship in churches today.

    It’s a style which has often been parodied. I came across one based on Graham Kendrick’s Jesus Put This Song Into Our Hearts back in the 1980s. It’s still doing the rounds now in a slightly altered form:

    This is a modern Christian worship song,
    This is a modern Christian worship song,
    This is a modern Christian worship song,

    [change key and repeat]

    But it resonates with something deep inside us. We long for union with the God who created us, who loved us so much that He took on human form to live among us. Not just to show us how to live but to satisfy the demands of a Divine justice system that demanded our death and eternal separation from our Creator because of our rebellion against Him. Only through Him can we find the power to subdue the inward struggle to be less than we were designed to be.

    And so, we call out to Him.

    One of the experimental chants I’ve been working on is called Cry To The Lord:

    [Chorus]
    Jesus Christ
    Son of David
    have mercy on me
    a sinner

    Jesus Christ
    Son of David
    have mercy on me
    a sinner

    [Verse 1]
    I love the Lord
    he heard my prayer
    and saved me from
    the devil’s snare

    [Chorus]
    Jesus Christ
    Son of David
    have mercy on me
    a sinner

    Jesus Christ
    Son of David
    have mercy on me
    a sinner

    [Verse 2]
    Cry to the Lord
    He’ll hear your voice
    and in His love
    you will rejoice

    [Chorus]
    Jesus Christ
    Son of David
    have mercy on me
    a sinner

    Jesus Christ
    Son of David
    have mercy on me
    a sinner

    It’s simple enough. Similar in structure to the Jesus Prayer, but more resonant of Bartimaeus’ cry in the 10th chapter of Mark’s Gospel. Like him, we’re blind. Searching for the One who can transform our sinful reality into one where His glorious presence shines through to give us joy.

  • A Bit About Me

    A Bit About Me

    I’m a teacher. I teach high school computer science at one of many thousands of international schools around the world. I began my journey following Jesus in the early 1980s as a teenager. I often reflect on the fact that as humans, we are made in God’s image. Therefore as God is a creator, we too are driven to create, to make, to build. It’s in our nature. Whether we do so with code or with clay is immaterial. What is important is that we do. It’s an essential aspect of worship.

    As Eric Liddell put it, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure”. What do you do; that gives you that unmistakable tingle, that feeling of “this is what I was born to do”? The same assurance that led the Apostle Paul to write, “Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God,” in his letter to the church in Rome.

    I feel like that when I code, when I teach, when I share the good news about Jesus Christ, when I create imaginative craft activities. I want to continually improve at my craft, to become more effective and to use any tool at my disposal to do so.

    Which brings me to the creative use of artificial intelligence. As a teacher, I recognise its power as one of many technologies available to me and my students. We’ve used it in classes where appropriate; and also in extra-curricular activities. We’ve shared new applications as we’ve come across them.

    This is where the journey has led so far. I’m keen to explore it further and share different milestones along the way.

  • The Images

    The Images

    From time to time, you will see a range of images. None of them actually exist. They are all created using generative AI – usually Stable Diffusion.

  • Welcome to my Journey

    Welcome to my Journey

    I use machine learning tools to help me understand my relationship with my Creator. This can take many forms. Currently I’m exploring the use of Suno to create worship experiences. One purpose of this blog is to curate that in a way that is easier to navigate. Along the way, I plan to discuss some of the theological arguments for and against using machine learning as an aid in exploring spirituality.