The fiction is something else. I learned a long time ago that the story, whatever it is, will not end well. In fact, they usually just end. There's no wrap up.
The fiction in my November 20th issue, "According to Alice," takes the cake. Weird was the word in my head while reading. It had elements of the Christmas story with an emphasis on Mary. But she does not come off as the mother of Jesus we know. Nor does Jesus come off as Jesus. Ir's just a crazy word salad.
Mary wasn't allowed to ascend to heaven, because she was a woman.
What?
It wasn't until after reading the story that I finally understood what was happening. Canadian writer Sheila Heti, put this "story" together. But she didn't write it. It was written by a customized chatbot. To create the story she asked the chatbot questions, some of them leading and some open ended, to which its answers were never more than a sentence long. She then removed her part of the conversation. and threaded together the chatbot's answers.
The interpretation of scripture is difficult enough for those of us who call ourselves Christian. When we throw Artificial Intelligence into the mix, it's a convoluted mess.
My fall-back Christmas story still begins with....Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little lord Jesus lay down his sweet head.
***
