Would You Prefer Life As A Robot?

We had a field trip to tour the Hyundai plant in Montgomery this week, and it was truly astounding. The plant manufactures only two car models, and they put out somewhere around 1,100 cars per day. PER DAY!! That number is astonishing to me. It only takes a car 18 hours to be completed from start to finish, and that includes the nine or so hours it takes for the paint to dry. I do not remember how many individual parts they told us it takes to make the car (somewhere over 3000), but I do know it's unbelievable it can be finished in that amount of time. The plant was the picture of efficiency. It is an assembly line of a magnitude that is hard to imagine without seeing it for yourself. Every single thing they do, every movement they make is designed to make things move more efficiently. There are some 400 robots that perform tasks to make it move faster, safer, and more precisely. The front seats are placed inside the vehicle by robots to prevent strain on a human worker, and to place them exactly in line. The windshield is precisely placed by a robot. There are even carts that pick up supplies and take them to stations, following paths laid out by cables under the floor, completely unmanned. The workers on the production line do one job for about two hours, making the same movement over and over and over. Then they move to another job for another two hours, now making a new movement over and over and over. This is to keep them from getting bored, fatigued, or inattentive. It may be a new movement, but it is still a very small difference. Imagine spending two hours just placing one part on a vehicle, over and over, and then the next two hours placing a different part. Every day, the same thing. There is no time to goof off, no time for chatter, no time for building a relationship with the person next to you on the line. You pick up a part, put it on, pick up a part, put it on. So basically, at the plant you have robots and you have people who act like robots.

I understand why the company has it's workers perform in this manner. The more efficient they can be, the more profitable the company is, the safer the workers are, the higher the quality and safety of the car, and the less room for mistakes. It makes sense, from the company's point of view. But from a human view, I can't imagine anything more dreary than doing one thing all...day....long. Being a somewhat creative person, the lack of individuality here would make me nuts. I do see where some people would enjoy the structure of never having to think or make a decision, never having to wonder what to do next. I am not that person. I thrive on spontaneity.

Sometimes people ask why God would give people choices. Why does He give them the option to be disobedient and then punish them for disobeying? It is a valid question, but it all comes down to love. The Hyundai worker doesn't install the glove box door because he likes Hyundai, or because he likes the car. He doesn't even do it because he likes the way it looks or he loves glove boxes with doors. He does it because he has to. He has no choice if he wants to keep his job. If God forced us to obey Him by not giving us another option, that would not be obedience. If we have no other option than to serve Him, that is not love. He desires our love, devotion, and adoration. None of those can be coerced. They must be given freely. As a mother, I am not impressed when my child does something because I am standing over them making them do it. In fact, I'm annoyed that I had to do so. But I am thrilled when they spontaneously do something that shows they are thinking of others. That is love. I am moved when they obey me when they don't know I know about it. That is devotion. I turn mushy when they do something to show they love me. That is adoration, on a small scale. God gave us choices, so that we could choose love. It makes life messier, more uncertain, and sometimes more difficult, but it also makes it worth living. Thank you Lord. And I do indeed love and adore You.