By Tim Power
Yes, the leading man was a “Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth Class.” He is a robot better known as “Wall-E” and he stars in Pixar’s new animated movie. I went to see it on a hot summer evening as much to be in an air conditioned space as to follow the recommendation of a friend to be sure to see the movie. I was ready for two hours of light entertainment. What I got was a challenging parable about humanity’s ability to destroy itself – and the resources we humans posses to save ourselves, as well.
The setting is 700 years in the future. Humans have long since escaped the barren earth to survive on spaceships. They have left behind an earth they themselves had destroyed by the neglect of nature and by filling the earth with garbage from an economy consecrated to the manufacture and consumption of ever more stuff.
Wall-E is the last of a mechanical army of solar-powered robots left behind to clean up the mess. The first 45 minutes of the film is focused on his daily task of gathering and compacting garbage into neat blocks that he neatly piles up. Occasionally he runs out of energy and has to stop – extend his solar panels – and recharge himself. About the third time I saw him do this it struck me that it was equivalent to our human need for “Sabbath” time. It is so important for us humans to slow down, open ourselves to something bigger than ourselves, and to be renewed by God.
Thanks for the lesson, Wall-E.
What I noticed next was that he was not overwhelmed by the mountains of garbage that he had to confront each day. He never lost his sense of joy and wonder. Wall-E is fascinated by many of the things he finds and brings some of them back to decorate the shed in which he lives. Christmas lights, shiny objects, dolls – all add to the character of his living space. How easy it is to lose our sense of wonder, especially when we are surrounded with so much garbage.
Thanks for the reminder, Wall-E.
Whoever programmed the little robot seemed to have managed to install something of a soul in Wall-E. In his harsh environment he is still able to learn and to dream of the important things in life. By watching an old videotape of the movie “Hello Dolly” the little robot learns about music, and dance, and friendship and love. He begins to look for those things for himself.
Thanks for pointing us in the right direction, Wall-E.
Finally he finds a precious discovery that will lead to the rebirth of humankind. It is a tiny green plant. It is a sprig of hope that maybe – maybe – the earth can bloom again – that humanity can return and recreate itself and the world. He has made the friendship of a female robot sent out from the spaceship. Together they set out to bring the plant to the people on the space ship. What they find when they get there are people who have cocooned themselves in their own comfortable bubbles. Wall-E has to teach them how to relate to one another, to begin to think of more than themselves, and to work together. He has to teach them that life is about more than comfort – it is about the challenge of being community and of caring for the good (but very fragile) earth.
Thanks Wall-E!

The Rev. Tim Power shares this space with the Revs. Rod Anderson and Timothy A. Johnson as well as spiritual writers Dr. Bernard E. Johnson and Lauren Carlson-Vohs. “Spiritually Speaking” appears weekly.