A Lesson from the Hubble on Focus

                      In light of Joel’s post yesterday on FOCUS, let me borrow a story from a book entitled The Externally Focused Church by Rusaw and Swanson.  This book, by the way, is a great (no- excellent) read!

The Hubble space telescope was launched from the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990.  Expectations were high from the beginning, as astronomers anticipated new discoveries and verification of their hypotheses and theories.  At launch time the Hubble project had cost over $1.5 billion to create what would be the world’s most powerful and accurate telescope.

The primary mirror, nearly eight feet across and weighing nearly a ton, was ground as close to perfection as humanly possible.  Perched 353 miles above the Earth, the Hubble had an unobstructed view and could peer light years into space to observe previously undiscovered galaxies.  But there was a problem.  Soon after the Hubble was set in orbit, engineers discovered that the main mirror was flawed.  Objects that were supposed to be clear were fuzzy.  The problem was not power or size.  THE PROBLEM WAS FOCUS.

The Hubble had to be repaired.  So in December 1993, astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavor fitted the mirror with corrective optics.  The mission was a complete success.  The repairs corrected Hubble’s previously blurry vision and allowed the telescope to explore the universe with unprecedented precision and clarity.  Only when the Hubble was FOCUSED, could it carry out the mission for which it was created. 

Size is important.  Power is important.  But FOCUS is everything.

by Rob Campbell

www.cypresscreekchurch.com

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