In the 15th of a series of articles, Revd James Gilder of Wanstead Parish reflects on the beauty of impermanence, the value of the real and why genuine human creativity still matters in an artificial age
April thoughts turn to welcome signs of spring and new life. Staring out at a February garden enveloped in five degrees of chilly rain and wind, it can be hard to remember what it feels like to venture out in April with the trowel or to crank the lawnmower into action, just as in the middle of summer it feels like the heat will last forever.
Not much does last forever, of course. That is a big part of the beauty of creation, and that fragility and impermanence looms large in the human psyche because we are ourselves impermanent beings, just here for a season. Why do we give real flowers when we know they will be dead and gone in a couple of weeks? Surely, it would be far more sensible to give plastic ones, which would last indefinitely? Sensible maybe, but somehow not as loving, nor as human. Impermanence makes real things special. We like to enjoy things before they are gone, and if we think something is here forever, we tend to take it rather for granted. ‘Real’ doesn’t always last forever, but it is still best in our eyes.
Telling the difference between fake and real is a hot topic right now. How many times do we see videos we suspect to be generated by AI? This wretched technology, which nobody asked for, and which threatens to spell the ruin of so much that is good and original in human thought and creativity, seems now to pervade depressing amounts of our experience. Just like the little plastic particles now inside us all, artificial intelligence seems to invade all our worlds, dumbing down much it touches to utter dross. I genuinely feel glad to have been brought up in a childhood where reading a book could be absorbing, where learning new things gained me originality and awareness, and where growing up to use my skills earned me a living. Will these simple markers of human dignity even exist in our next generation? Or will we all just be passive consumers of computer-generated rubbish?
We do still have a choice as humans. Do we accept the forgery of life that is being offered to us by these new technologies, or do we reject them where at all possible in favour of actual, real and beautiful human intelligence and imagination? You won’t be surprised to learn that I didn’t ask Chat GPT to answer that question! As a Christian, I believe humanity is flawed, but I also know there to be dignity and self-respect in being ‘really’ human: in relating to others, sharing our thoughts and our creativity, and in being part of a real society away from our screens. For me personally, church is a big part of that, and none more so than in the journey through Holy Week. The new life celebrated at Easter may be spiritual, but it can also be natural; we can see it literally blooming before our eyes. Let us never be so dimmed to its beauty that we forget to celebrate the real.
To contact Reverend James Gilder, email office@parishofwanstead.org
