5 minute Read
By Bethany Rees

The Lost Art of Manual Labor

Awe, America. The land of the free and the home of the consumer.

We Americans love our stuff, and we love having money to pay for things and people to do tasks for us. Long gone are the days of self sufficiency and being able to care for and solve problems with a little bit of creative ingenuity and “elbow grease.” 

“Ain't nobody got time that.”

We Americans like to take the path of least resistance. 

However, we can’t necessarily point fingers at American society and say it’s all your fault. According to author Donald Miller, the science behind our being shows that our brains are always looking to survive and burn as few calories as possible. Meaning we are always looking for the easiest path that keeps us safe and doesn't use too much energy. 

• Why read a book when we can watch the movie? 
• Why cook a meal at the house when we can drive through a fast-food restaurant? 
• Why mow our own grass when we can pay someone else to do it? 
• Why work through a conflict when we can just unfriend and cancel that person out of our lives? 

OK, so we are “wired” to take the easy road, but the problem is that the easy road isn’t always the best path for us. 

Not only have we lost the art of manual labor (or doing things for ourselves), but along with it we’ve lost the art of taking the most fruitful path. The harder yet more fruitful path that produces resistance so we can grow physical, mental, character, and relationship “muscle.” 

You know you have to have resistance to grow muscle, right?

Warning from WALL-E

Have you seen the 2008 Disney cartoon movie WALL-E? 

This movie is an amazing foreshadowing of what American culture is on its way to becoming should we continue to always take the path of least resistance. 

In the movie WALL-E, it’s the 29th century in which Earth has become a wasteland of garbage due to our consumerism and greed. Human’s desire for the easiest path was fed by the megacorporation Buy-n-Large (BnL), which continued to produce products that removed the manual labor out of daily life. 

The constant consumption of the easy life led to the Earth being uninhabitable and humans having to live in space so the Waste Allocation Load-Lifter: Earth Class (WALL-Es) could clean up the mess. 

In this movie, we discover that the humans have given up manual labor by taking the easy path so long that they suffered consequences that had lasting effects. They lost bone and muscle density and gained a ton of weight because they no longer had to do any manual labor. 

Yikes! While we are not living the WALL-E human experience yet, we could well be on our way. 

Challenge Accepted

So here’s my challenge to you and your children. Knowing that we are always bent to taking the easy path, the next time you are faced with a desire, challenge or problem, take a moment to ask yourself: “What could I gain if I worked through it versus going around it?”

Sometimes the harder path that includes working through projects and challenges produces the sweetest fruit. 

By taking the intentional action of going through the hard path or manual labor task you could gain: 

• Refined character 

• Deeper relationships

• Problem solving skills

• Physical exercise

• Humility

• Satisfaction in doing the task yourself

So the next time you want to get lost in a good story, read a book and produce the better fruit of mental stimulation (memory, vocabulary, reduced stress, increased imagination, sleep hygiene). 

To avoid the calories and heart attack from the fast food restaurant, plan ahead and meal prep. Involve the whole family in cooking and make an experience out of it. Your family and your heart will be thankful you did. 

The next time your yard needs to be mowed and the flowerbeds need to be weeded, grab your kids and go outside. By sweating together as a family you’ll build bonds around character development and work ethic.

The next time you have a conflict with someone, humble yourself, listen to understand, and work through it. 

As we continue on our adventure through the “Lost Art” series, remember this my friends: Manual labor might seem like a lost art or a waste of time… BUT…You can be intentional about taking the best path, even if it is harder. Because sometimes the harder path will produce the better fruit: physical, mental, character, and relationship “muscle.” 

Know Better. Do Better. Live Better. Do Manual Labor Once In A While.

Rocks before Sand!

Scripture: 

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” ~Galatians 6:9

Theme Song: 

Miranda Lambert - Automatic (Lyrics)

References Used:

• Miller, Donald. Building a Story Brand. 2017. USA: HarperCollins Leadership. 

• WALL-E. Directed by Andrew Stanton. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures & Pixar Animation Studios, 2008.

• The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.