Stochastic Worship

Author: David

  • 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.