The Alignment
James 5:16 - Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Ding, ding, the bell rings as she pulls her car into the shop. It’s a small shop with only one bay for doing maintenance on cars, but the service here is second to none. If you want your car tuned up without any sales pitches or falsity, you come here. She steps out of the car and walks to the counter to check-in and speaks with the technician. He asks if she has an appointment and she affirms that she does. He asks what brings her in today and she describe that the car seems to be veering off course when she is driving. He asks if it’s consistent or only at higher speeds. She describes that it always appears to be pulling her off the road, but when she drives at higher speeds, then the veering is much more noticeable and significant. If she didn’t hold the steering wheel tightly with an angle to the right, then this vehicle would take her off course into a devastating situation.
As she speaks and the technician listens to her, he discerns the problem. He listens, asks clarifying questions and she shares additional details regarding the off-course bent of the car. He finally suggests that an alignment is in order and gets her permission to work on the car. He asks her to wait while he begins the work he was called to do. The only reason the woman was able to know that her car’s alignment was off was because she was able to perceive it through the windshield. If the windshield had been totally covered in grime, she would not have known to get it re-aligned because she could not have seen outside the car while driving. For when the windows and windshield are fully darkened with mud, nothing can be perceived. To break through that kind of grime would require someone willing to have their car washed anew and a light that can break through the darkness revealing their need for cleansing.
The technician prays as he works that God would give him the wisdom to understand and help here. He prays for the woman and her car. He checks the thrust angle of the car and gently tries to adjust the rear components to bring the thrust line back to zero. Doing this will ensure that the car’s propulsion forward is on the God-intended true centerline. He begins measuring the angles of the wheels. The first inclination might be to address the symptom, but perhaps the alignment issue could be stemming from another place on the car. First the camber, then the toe and followed by the caster. As he looks into the angle of the wheels, he knows how to adjust the angles without pushing too hard. Will the car let him fine tune it to manufacturer specifications? He modifies the control arms to adjust the camber and casters. Will the tie rods push back? He adjusts the tie rods to the correct toe. Almost there. Now he retests to see how the car responded, but it wasn’t ready to be fully re-aligned. He gets back to work and gently uses shims and bolts to fine tune the angles. Now he retests and ensure the wheels are aligned. While it’s not manufacturer perfect due to the wear and tear on the car, it’s as close as it will get today.
He returns to the woman and lets her know that she is ready to go. She asks how much the alignment service will cost since this is the first time she has ever come in the shop for this mysterious service. He replied that it cost nothing. She wears a confused expression on her face. He explains that he is only a servant and witness here, but the shop owner offers this freely to all. If people will allow him, he will help them change the course of their wheel’s alignment to what is proper and right. He encourages her to return to the shop when the alignment is not where it should be.
She hugs the technician from joy and then jumps back in her car and was surprised to see that the the windshield and windows had also been cleaned. That was curious because she hadn’t seen him wash the car. What a nice surprise. She drives out of the shop and the technician waves goodbye. As she drives away, he prays.