%1

The race to create the best artificial intelligence chatbot is on. At the time of writing, Google is unveiling its new chatbot, Bard, to 10,000 testers. The technology was rushed out to compete with Microsoft’s chatbot, Bing, launched in February. Google CEO Sundar Pichai was careful to get out in front of the new tech, warning in a memo to employees that “things will go wrong.” That’s probably because the tech journalists among the small group given early access to the new and improved Bing—a reinvention of the old Microsoft search engine—warned us that it had a dark side.

My first year serving as a full-time pastor was also the year I was diagnosed with autism. I was 28. Pandemic burnout sent me on a search for mental health support—a search that ultimately led to the discovery that I’m neurodivergent, a nonmedical umbrella term that encompasses those whose brains work differently than most. Autism is one form of neurodivergence.

My niece Butterfly has me thinking about bodies, love, and responsibility.

My parents arrived in the US with three suitcases and two toddlers. I’ve experienced wanderlust ever since. 

What wisdom can Christians find in Jesus’ meal-gathering around a religious holiday of his people?