You probably know the saying I first heard many years ago from a youth leader, ​“Don’t be so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good.”

The saying refers to that kind of person whose head is in the clouds, who daydreams about heaven as a way to escape from responsibility on earth, who spiritualizes every little thing and yet whose spirituality feels detached from everyday life.

If that is what ​“heavenly minded” means, then the saying is true.

But the lives of the saints through the ages — and of Jesus himself — testify to something else, a kind of heavenly mindedness that makes you more earthly good.

In fact, you’ll find those who are keenly aware of heavenly realities to be remarkably ​“down to earth.”

The familiar passage in Colossians 3 where Paul says to ​“set your mind on things above” can feel abstract, ethereal, fuzzy. Eugene Peterson’s rendering may help bring it into focus:

So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ — that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.

The Colossians 3 passage continues with immensely practical instructions. Don’t lie to each other. Do forgive each other. Give thanks. Love well.

Our content this week speaks to this incarnational, sacramental reality of the Kingdom of God. A new article from professor, priest, and Renovaré Institute instructor Kurtley Knight tells of how we can ​“name the spiritual reality of God’s active presence for people through narrative and ritual.” And this week’s episode of Friends in Formation outlines the six streams of Christian tradition and offers practical ways, like hospitality, to make the invisible realities of God visible in our everyday lives.

So, Father, Son, Holy Spirit — help us be so heavenly minded that we are of immense earthly good.