Our automatic garage door opener wouldn’t work.
Then Art fixed the parsonage garage door. It’s kind of like his superpower. He shows up, gets to work understanding the problem and reads the manual (who does that??) or contacts customer service, and takes action. Then things are fixed or start working again.
In my attempt to diagnose the problem, I only looked up at the drivetrain. I even manually operated the door for several days based on that assumption.
He found the problem in the ground sensors. One of them had been knocked out of alignment probably when I moved the trash and recycling bins inside the garage instead of behind the house. Out of alignment, they would not work. He reset them and the door worked!
I only looked up and Art fixed things on the ground.
Ground sensors can also refer to our bodies and our faith. They are very important God-given abilities built into us. It’s just that some of us develop them more than others. This also is one way to think about the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ.
One of my seminary professors was known for saying, “Don’t be so heavenly-minded that you are of no earthly good.”
Another ground sensor reference is from Alpha, an evangelistic course that introduces the basics of the Christian faith. Founder Nicky Gumbel told the story of a Japanese woman learning English phrases. She revised the statement, “What on earth are you doing?“ to “What are you doing on earth?” The shift in emphasis helps us understand it differently.
Our Wesleyan heritage encourages us to proclaim and practice “practical divinity.”
Hannah Brencher in her Proverbs 31 ministries blog writes, Be where your feet are. “Be where your feet are” is a constant reminder, a way to keep saying to myself, “Hey, look around. Don’t be freaking out about the future or worrying about the past. God wants to teach you something. Today matters. This matters” (https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2018/05/29/be-where-your-feet-are).
I missed the solution of the parsonage garage door by looking up instead of looking at the ground sensors. Hannah tells us that we can miss the importance of our current position or condition by looking too far ahead or too far behind us instead of being where our feet are.
I am grateful for the diverse gifts God has given each of us and the Church to do as much earthly good as possible. Servants and friends like Art show us how this actually works.