In my late teens, when I was rich in time and poor in experience, lofty theological ideas consumed my attention. As I married, worked, had kids, and faced difficulties, these concepts felt disconnected from real life. Figuring out predestination seems unimportant when you’re trying to change a diaper. 

Add to this the many Christians I’ve met — and sometimes I am one of them — who talk about God as if God isn’t in the room. In love with information but not necessarily with God, they pontificate and sometimes pick fights. It’s enough to turn one off of theology altogether. 

While it’s tempting to ​“move on” from theological reflection, something is lost when we stop thinking big ideas about God. Our world can become small, our thoughts consumed with temporary things. 

A few days ago my to-do list felt like an overloaded barbell crushing down on my chest. When feeling this pressure, it’s easy for me to get into try-harder mode. If I can just check some things off my list, perhaps the weight will lighten enough for me to push it off my chest and take a breath. But trying harder rarely works. 

So instead I sat in my thinking chair and picked up Augustine’s City of God. It’s a challenging read. I nearly made it through the introduction before beginning to nod off. But in those few pages something happened: my thoughts were drawn up and out. Perspective came. Wonder and reverence snuck in, along with hope. The weight was lightened. That’s the gift of good theology.

This week’s webinar on the Trinity with Chris Hall and James Bryan Smith had the same effect. It lifted our minds to things above, which — contrary to the old saying ​“too heavenly minded to be any earthly good” — actually makes us more productive and present here on earth. If you missed it, you can watch the replay here.