Creatively Imperfect

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Okay, here it is, my biggest hang-up about Christmas: Hanging Christmas lights on the house and ornaments from the tree challenges my desire for perfection. I want to get the lights lined up and spaced just right, the ornaments placed just so. And knowing that perfection is impossible puts my spirit in a holiday tussle. I also tend to want the traditions of Christmas — the family gatherings and worship services — to be just right, as if they ever were.

Perfection is impossible, of course, but then along comes AI – artificial intelligence – which holds some promise in some realms for getting some things perfect. But there’s a lot of controversy about AI, too, as in how much of it is too much? On the one hand, AI is going to make forecasting everything from weather to disease much more accurate and with it the protections and fixes needed to save lives. On the other hand, some say AI is going to put millions of people out of work. And then there’s the most dire prediction of all: Machines we embed with AI will become smarter than us, will start controlling us, and eventually, will eliminate us.

Somewhere in the middle of all this are predictions and worries that leaning on AI for perfection will dull our senses, dumb us down, and kill our creativity. Rock musician Jack White was recently asked about auto-tune, a form of AI in use for almost 25 years that can help singers and instrumentalists achieve perfect pitch while recording or even performing live. White said, “Technology is a big destroyer of emotion and truth. Auto-tuning doesn’t do anything for creativity. Yeah, it makes it easier and you can get home sooner; but it doesn’t make you a more creative person. That’s the disease we have to fight in the creative field: ease of use.” 

In defense of imperfection, one has only to look at the human race and the God who created us. Every day we find new ways to exhibit our imperfection, and yet we go on and on. For whatever reason, we can’t seem to get much of anything right, and yet God continues to let us bump around this world and keep trying.

In many ways, our imperfection is the story of Christmas and the reason for the season. God sending his son Jesus to live among us and show us the way was God’s perfect plan for tuning and harmonizing our creatively imperfect world. Still, that doesn’t give us a pass to go about our own interests and leave all the fixing to others – or to leave all the fixing to God. As White suggests, we may be ill with the disease of “ease of use.” We’ve given up our role in the creative work of making the world a better place for all. We’ve given up our God-given purpose.

If we’re too lazy or selfish to roll up our sleeves and at least try to make a difference, that’s a serious problem. If we’re simply afraid we’ll make mistakes, perhaps we might take to heart what Peter Frampton, another musician and self-described perfectionist, has said: “Sometimes the mistake is good to leave in because you wouldn’t have played all the other stuff around it. I know it’s a mistake, but maybe some people don’t think of it as a mistake.”