Spiritual Exercises and provide guidance

Rafe Weaver - January 30. VIEW RECORDING: 

Meeting Purpose

Weekly spiritual direction session between Dick Alexander and Eric to discuss Eric's progress through the Spiritual Exercises and provide guidance.

Key Takeaways

• Eric needs to rewrite his "origin story" to explore when he first encountered God in his life
• Dick strongly encouraged Eric to start using ChatGPT as a personal assistant to help organize thoughts and research
• The week's focus is on reflecting on one's history of sin and grace, with emphasis on recognizing grace
• Dick advised Eric to approach his relationship with God more casually/intimately, like relationships with close family

Topics

Eric's Origin Story Rewrite

• Eric is working on rewriting his spiritual origin story
• Earliest memory is playing with toy soldiers in New Jersey backyard around age 4-5
• Dick suggested using ChatGPT to help explore and structure the origin story
• Purpose is to identify when Eric first encountered God/spirituality in his life

Using AI as a Personal Assistant

• Dick strongly advocated for Eric to start using ChatGPT extensively
• Suggested treating it like a personal assistant to help organize thoughts
• Can be used to research topics, structure ideas, and even create nutrition/exercise plans
• Dick uses it for theological questions by specifying Catholic sources

Reflecting on Sin and Grace

• Week's spiritual exercise focuses on one's history of sin and grace
• Dick emphasized focusing more on experiences of grace this week
• Sin defined as anything that breaks connection with God
• Grace described as feeling connected, empowered, joyful

Relationship with God

• Dick advised approaching relationship with God more casually/intimately
• Use close family relationships (e.g. mother, daughter) as a model
• Okay to be blunt or express all emotions to God
• Aim for intimacy rather than formality in prayer/communication with God

Next Steps

• Eric to start using ChatGPT more extensively as a personal assistant and research tool
• Continue working on rewriting spiritual origin story, potentially using AI for assistance
• Reflect on personal experiences of grace and connection with God for the week's exercise
• Practice approaching relationship with God more casually/intimately in prayer