By Pastor Gael J. B. Orr
“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein
I am blessed. I work for a wonderful company where the first thing you see upon entering any of the doors of our facility…is our vision and mission statement along with our company’s core values. A vision statement indicates the direction in which we want the company to go, it is something we have not yet achieved, but rather, a larger overarching goal we are trying to get to. Our mission statement is simply who we are and what we do, and our core values are the key attributes we want all of our employees to exhibit. This got me to thinking about my own life’s vision, mission, and core values. I mean, why wouldn’t I create these things for myself to bring about the full spiritual potential of myself, to in fact become the person that God wants me to be?
1 John 3:18 says, “Little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”
Walk your talk
Over the last two years I made a decision to become the most positive optimistic and nonjudgmental person I know. This vision for my life is not something I have yet achieved but something that I am striving for. I’ve spent considerable time contemplating what values I need to hold dear to help me achieve my long-term life vision. Now some of you may ask, ‘Why would I want to be positive and optimistic?’ (Being nonjudgmental may seem a bit more obvious to most.) What I have learned from being in an abyss of suffering with the struggles of my daughter’s mental illness and addiction, is that by staying positive and believing that God always has the best in store for my family and me, that I could find peace and happiness in seeming darkness. I could find joy and miracles in every moment. Even in the midst of trouble, pain, suffering, and sadness, I can witness love and joy by being optimistic. Through positivity I find that the word hope has transcended into confidence in Christ. Therefore instead of being rooted in bitterness, I find freedom and peace that only come by trusting and having faith in Christ. In other words, like Albert Einstein, I see nothing but daily miracles.
My personal core values are the attributes I hold dear that help me achieve the vision for my life. They are simple to say, yet not necessarily simple to live. They are: Love, Integrity, Acceptance, Forgiveness, Compassion, and Peace. I want to hear from you, what is the vision for your spiritual life and what are the core values you have chosen for yourself to help you achieve your full potential?
Email me and tell me all about it: gaeljorr@gmail.com