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
