God’s Interface

Technology went along with me on my morning walk.
My youngest daughter has her fall break coming up in a few days.
I was trying to plan a time with all of my daughters together.
We decided that we would go to see a movie we all wanted to see.

It is next to impossible for me to text while I am walking.
I had my phone with me and I decided to use Siri like I have many times before.
Siri, by definition, is an intelligence personal assistant and knowledge navigator.
The application uses a natural language user interface to answer questions.

Siri also makes recommendations, perform actions and sends requests to web services.
Apple claims that the Siri software will adapt to individual preferences over time.
It begins to “learn” to personalize results.
An anthropomorphic term.

As a little girl, I used to think that the people I watched on TV were inside the set.
Back then, Siri would have totally amazed and baffled me.
Actually, it still does.
The technology is astounding.

Here I am walking my two miles and talking into my phone.
I am messaging three daughters at once by the sound of my voice.
Very rarely I find misspellings or incorrect words in a Siri message.
Siri has learned the sound of my voice.

In a few seconds the message was sent off.
The movie and the time were determined and agreed upon.
I continued on my walk with one item on my to-do list accomplished.
Such technological ease.

Technological ease by no means replaces real conversation.
Nothing is better than talking to my girls (and my boys) face to face.
But for the quick message or for event planning, I appreciate the technology.
Over my lifetime, technology has exploded.

Those of us who did not grow up with computers either had to learn or be left behind.
I am so grateful to my children for their tutorials through the years.
I am a hands-on learner.
You can tell me something till you are blue in the face; I have to do it myself to really learn.

As wonderful as Siri is, it is not a real person.
As efficient as Siri seems, it has no wisdom.
Siri still needs to be monitored and checked to make sure the message is accurate.
How embarrassing it would be to send the wrong message because I failed to proof read.

We think nothing of seeing someone talk as they walk by themselves.
They may be using a Bluetooth, or they may be using Siri.
Gone are the days when the appearance of talking to yourself is a problem.
We actually assume that the person is talking to or through a device of some sort.

Nothing is strange to us anymore.
Everyone is plugged in to something or other it seems.
Plugged in to something.
But are we plugged in to Someone?

Hannah, wife of Elkanah, desperately wanted a child.
She was unable to have children and was in terrible distress.
Hannah did what we all should do in that situation.
She took her problem to the Lord.

Once when they finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli, the priest was sitting in a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple. In bitterness of soul, Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord. And she made a vow, saying, “O Lord Almighty, if You will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life and no razor will ever be used on his head. As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, “How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine.” “No so,my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring our my soul to the Lord. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.” Eli answered, “Go in peace and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him.” She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then she went her way and ate something and her face was no longer downcast. (1 Samuel 1:9-18)

Hannah appeared to be talking to herself.
She was talking to the Lord.
Talking to yourself meant only one thing in her culture: it meant the person was drunk.
Even the priest failed to assume that Hannah could be praying.

Even though Siri is amazing technology, it is not God.
Even though I was talking and formulating a message, Siri cannot truly understand me.
An intelligence personal assistant and knowledge navigator?
I already have that in the Holy Spirit.

In the holy name of Jesus, I can pray any time or anywhere.
Even if my prayers do not make sense in the bitterness of my own soul, they do to God.
The Holy Spirit makes sense of the prayers from my heart.
The Holy Spirit intercedes for me.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We don’t know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. (Romans 8:26,27)

Siri has nothing on the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit takes our words and makes them an acceptable prayer to the Father.
No inaccuracies.
The Holy Spirit takes our heart cry and puts it into words.

Isn’t our God utterly amazing and astounding?