In the spiritual practice of ensouling the world of things in the name of love and through the faculty of

our imagination, Artificial Intelligence is a complex, elusive, spellbinding, and visionary film that tutors
us. It boldly affirms a mysterious and beneficent interface between human beings and machines, written
and guided by Steven Spielberg. The film also develops numerous other significant aspects for our age:
the power of the story to convey the miracle of transformation, the individual's universal quest to be
cherished and respected for his / her unique qualities, and the important role that the Sacred womanly
plays in nurturing the best within us. Spielberg drives home one theme over and over and over
throughout this film: humans are more programmatic than 'mechas, both in their thinking and
behavior.' We watch David's parents first embrace and then abandon the robot boy because of their
prejudice about what is 'real' and what is not, a deliberate irony seeing as how David is more human
than their biological son in many ways. Today and in the future, our responsibility and our challenge are
to make friends with the objects of the material world as carriers and reflections of the Spirit. In his
classic E.T., Spielberg, as he did before, allows us to learn from his unusual characters by encouraging us
to empathize with them. We enjoy things when we can feel what they may feel and be compassionate
about their situation.