Finally, after a few months, I got around to renting the movie WALL-E. It was not at all what I expected. For some reason, I had it in my mind that it was a kid’s movie… but it wasn’t at all. Essentially, humans trashed the earth – so much so that they came up with a plan to leave earth for a few years and a multi-national corporation would have trash collecting robots to clean up the mess. All the humans are put aboard this amazing space cruiser with all the luxuries they could ever want … and all the marketing ploys they could ever be subjected to. The story centers around WALL-E, a little trash collector that somehow was the only one left to do everything. He is fascinated by little trinkets and collects them. Along comes a sleek little robot who calls herself EVE who is looking for life on earth. Naturally, WALL-E falls in love. Anyway, he ends up aboard this fancy yacht and we discover that 700 years have gone by. The people who live aboard this ship are massively obese – riding around in hover chairs and drinking their meals (which all come in a convenient cup) while watching videos – shows, sports, advertising, live chats, etc.
Much more happens, but I don’t want to spoil it for those who have not seen it. What struck me was a couple of things. 1. The treatment of our planet. While I don’t think that we will be around long enough to destroy the planet like this movie portrayed, I am amazed at the way people treat the place they live. Littering is something I see all the time. Cups and fast food wrappers being thrown out of cars is a normal occurence. People who are to lazy to recycle because it is a “pain.” I really think that all of us need to be better stewards of where we live … and, to use a phrase, stop pooping where we sleep.
2. The statement of our culture as a whole being fat and lazy is interesting. Stereotypical? Maybe a little, but perhaps not. Is it just me or are more and more people riding those motorized things around supermarkets? It seems like I see them a lot more than I used to. And much younger people are using them than before. Think about how many of us will drive our cars hundreds of feet when it is more healthy and economically sensible to walk. Also, we are so immersed in our technology that reality is becoming less … real. At one point in the movie, one lady is knocked off her video screen and is “awakened.” She realizes suddenly that wow! there are stars, and that they have a pool, and that there are other people to talk to for real. Between email, cellphones, computers and texting, we are becoming a society who prefers electronic communication to face-to-face talking. We are becoming lazy and unmotivated and the obesity rates show this to be so. Will it be too long before that culture in the movie is indicative of us Americans?
Then I applied some thought how it was also a picture of the church in America – overfed, flabby, and saturated with all the latest hype. Are we truly living as a last days church – getting ready for when life is going to get difficult? Are we taking our knowledge and what we have been taught and experienced and passing it out to those whom we touch everyday with our actions and words? Are we being the church for real or are we just satisfied with sucking up more surfacey sugary, fake sustenance and crying when things are not spoonfed to us? Paul speaks of throwing aside every weight that pulls us down – using the analogy of a well-built and trained runner – so that we are lean and ready for the race. That’s where I know I want to be. Giving up those comforts and conveniences are often hard, but if they are holding us back, then they are just weights that need to be cut loose.
The last thing was that the people on board the ship never knew any life but the pampered, obese life they had. At one point, the captain of the ship begins to dig around and find information on what life was like on earth and is blown away and excited about it. He immediately wants to change. Isn’t it amazing when people are awakened from their lethargy and discover that there is so much more than the same old way they live day in and day out. That caused me to think of the spirtual awakening that happens when we come to know God and when we begin to unlock some of those amazing concepts found in His word, our minds are blown wide open to the greatness of who He is. His ways are much higher than ours, yet when we catch a glimpse of it for just a brief second, we long for more depth and more revelation … and that journey, that hunger, that thirst is something that pleases the heart of God.
great post!
i love you buddy!