In order to get the Webb Space Telescope to see everything it is supposed to see, NASA has been aligning the eighteen mirror segments of the primary mirror so that they can see clearly.

In order to get the Church Universal to see and do everything it is supposed to see and do, the LORD our God aligns people to see, hear and feel clearly. (Isaiah 6:9-10; Matthew 13:14-17).

For example, we must align ourselves with other followers of the Spirit of the LORD in the Way of Jesus to become the  “primary mirror” that sees the Father who:

—causes his Kingdom to come;

—causes his Will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven;

—gives us today our daily bread;

—forgives us our trespasses (bad acts we do);

—forgives us our debts (good acts we do not do);

—leads us not into temptations; and

—delivers us from evils. (Matthew 6:9-13).

What are the ways we do this?

Some of the ways are intellectual.

We can read and study the Bible and other books, by ourselves and in small groups.

But the best way to see, hear and feel the Father causing his Kingdom to come on Earth because his Will is being done on Earth, is for us to see, hear and feel the Father acting among real people (James 2:14-19).

How?

—by us giving people daily bread;

—by us forgiving people their trespasses and debts;

—by us keeping people from temptations; and

—by us delivering people from evils.

We cause these things to happen by aligning our efforts with other followers of the Church Universal—other followers of the Way of Jesus who are filled by the Spirit of the LORD. (John 14:15-22; Galatians 2:9-10; 1 Thessalonians 5:11-24; 1 Corinthians 12:4-13:13; James 2:14-19).

The Father causes these things to happen by being, thinking and acting as one person with Jesus and with the Spirit—by singing one song in 3-part harmony. (John 14:6-21,25-27; 15:26; 16:12-15).

In particular, the Father determines the best times and seasons to act, and appoints people to act for the good of those who love God and keep his commandments. (Matthew 24:36: Acts 1:6-7; Matthew 20:20-23; Romans 8:26-28; Esther 4:12-14; Esther 6:1-13).

By experiencing these times and seasons among real people:

—we learn the patient endurance needed for the will of the Father to be done in our lives and in our civilizations (Revelation 14:1-12; Matthew 6:10);

—we learn the patient endurance needed to throw off everything that hinders and entangles us (Revelation 14:12; Hebrews 12:1);

—we learn the patient endurance needed to run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us (Revelation 14:12; Hebrews 12:1);

—we learn the patient endurance to be like good shepherds who deliver people from temptations and from evils so that they can have life and enjoy life fully, even if saving other people means that we will be tortured and killed (Revelation 14:12; Psalm 23: Matthew 6:13; John 10:10-11,14-15; Matthew 16:21-25; Luke 15:3-6);

—we learn the patient endurance to be like wise and diligent housewives who search without ceasing to find those who are hard to see and those who are lost (Revelation 14:12; Luke 15:8-10);

—we learn the patient endurance to be like a loving, compassionate parent who endures any cost and any humiliation in order to welcome home those who have wandered and are lost (Revelation 14:12; Luke 15:11-24);

—we learn the patient endurance to be like a loving, compassionate parent who endures any humiliation in order to enable people to see, hear and feel clearly (Revelation 14:12; Luke 15:11,25-32);

—we learn the patient endurance to drink all types of “cups” (Matthew 20:20-23)—including “cups” of patience, perseverance, humiliation, and suffering—in order to find, save and restore:

     —all who are lost (Luke 15:3-6);

     —all who are hard to see (Luke 15:8-10);

     —all who have wandered away (Luke 15:11-24); and

     —all who are not seeing, hearing, and feeling the love

          of the Father (Luke 15:25-32).

By experiencing life among real people who are part of the “primary mirror” of the Church Universal—real people who are following the Spirit of the LORD in the Way of Jesus—we learn how to know and to trust the Father well enough to say (as Jesus said while he suffered on the Cross):  “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46; Matthew 25:1-13; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 12:13-21,35-43).

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To help understand when we should be “divisive” and when we should not be “divisive”, please read my blog “Grace and Peace—Titus”.

For additional thoughts arising from the Webb Space Telescope, please read my blogs “The Webb Space Telescope—Reaching the Place of Service”, “The Webb Space Telescope—Years of Preparation”, “The Webb Space Telescope—Liftoff!”, “The Webb Space Telescope: God’s Unfolding Plans”, “The Webb Space Telescope: Shedding “Whatever Entangles Us”, “The Webb Space Telescope: Many Parts, One System!”, “The Webb Space Telescope: Fashioning Each Mirror”, “The Webb Space Telescope: E Pluribus Unum”, “The Webb Space Telescope: Seeing Things We’ve Never Seen Before”, “The Webb Space Telescope: Seeing People Better”, “The Webb Space Telescope: Seeing Jesus Better”, and “The Webb Space Telescope: Seeing the Spirit of the LORD Better”.

In my book Visions of the Church (published together in one volume with my book Visions of America), I use the troubled—but ultimately triumphant—flight of Apollo 13  as the narrative thread to provide an overview of 2,000 years of Church history in a mere 80 pages.