Jesus forgives us and teaches us “about being content in all situations,” Wilmore said, “because he’s working out his plan and his purposes for his glory and our good.” The astronaut believes that “because the Bible says that.” And he said it’s the message he and his family—wife Deanna and two daughters—try to live.
“And that’s contentment,” the astronaut continued. “It doesn’t mean always happy. It doesn’t mean there’s no pain. But content and knowing that God’s in control, sovereign. God’s in control, working out his plan and his purpose.”
To anyone who contends that the failed NASA mission “wasn’t a very good thing God did,” Wilmore explained that God is always “working out his plan and his purpose.” It’s the “nature of existence” to experience pain, sorrow, and challenges, Wilmore added, but we learn and grow from those things.
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“That’s the focus that I try to take from it,” he concluded, “is what’s the Lord trying to show me and what’s he teaching me. Because there’s so much to learn in life.”
Astronauts Are Readjusting to Life on Earth
As they reacclimate to gravity, Wilmore and Williams are going through 45 days of rehabilitation. Wilmore told reporters he gets “spent” quickly. He also joked about NASA reimbursing the astronauts $5 per day for their unexpected work trip.
The astronauts avoided placing blame for the mission that went awry and the lengthy time required to bring them home. “There’s things that I did not ask that I should have asked,” Wilmore admitted Monday. “I didn’t know at the time I needed to ask them, but in hindsight, some of the signals were there.”
Wilmore also rejected the notion that the astronauts were “left and forgotten,” saying, “We were nowhere near any of that at all.” Instead, he said, “In the big scheme of things, we weren’t stuck. We were planned, trained.”
