A Small Thought

 He was small of stature. - Luke 19:3 RSV

We need not be big, nor mighty, nor perfect to make a unique difference in this world. We need only to tell our story effectively, because our small story is part of God's Big Story.

Lord, help me to see that You have uniquely created and situated me. Please let me bless others with my small story and therein point them to Your Big Story.

"Be content with doing calmly the little which depends upon yourself."

// François Fénelon (1651-1715)

Reflect: Think about your unique story. How can it bless others and point them to God?                                                                                                                                                                                                                     (photo credit: Bronwyn Livezey)

Silence is Golden

 The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him! - Habakkuk 2:20 (NRSV)

I sit in a magnificent basilica where much appears golden. Light from the chandeliers adds to the golden hue. Yet part of the precious gold in this place is the silence found therein. A silence requested, yes, but the very space with its grandeur and inhabiting Presence evokes silence within the mortal soul.

Speak Lord, your servant is listening.

(photo: Lisa Livezey, Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Philadelphia)

In Silence God ceases to be an object and becomes an experience. ~ Thomas Merton

For more one-minute photo devotions, visit lisalivezey.com/olivetree.

I'm Blogging Away

Blogspot has hosted Olive Tree for a decade now, and it's time to move on.

Lisalivezey.com/olivetree is your new site!

On Thursdays, I release a one-minute inspirational Photo Devo.

Go to lisalivezey.com/olivetree and check it out. I'll meet you there!

6:14 a.m.

God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.  - Genesis 1:5 (RSV)

Sitting in the cockpit of a sailboat anchored in a quiet cove.  To my left, the sky gradually warmed toward sunrise.  To my right, the moon slid down, setting simultaneously with the sunrise.

Sunrise, 

                                                                             Moon set.

 Lord, thank you for both Day and Night, the sun and the moon which you have ordained.  Amen.

Lifetime Guarantee

God gives us a lifetime guarantee that things will go wrong.  We're promised trouble in this life.  

"In this world you WILL have trouble."                  - John 16:33

I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble.
- Psalm 142:2

"Lord, help!" they cried in their trouble, and he saved them in their distress.         - Psalm 107:28

Lord, you promise to hear our cries and to reach down to save us.  Please show Your hand amidst the destruction.

Photo from Christ in the City: Heart Speaks to Heart  used with permission by ImagoArts.  www.facebook.com/imagocorarts

Apropos Acorn

The point is this ... he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  

– 2 Corinthians 9:6 (RSV)

I recently visited the graveside of loved ones who were giants in the Christian faith.  Rising atop their grave is a towering oak, a standing image of this couple who lived as oaks of righteousness.

I noticed a single acorn atop their grave marker and then observed dozens more scattered about on the grass.  These good people, in their lifetime, spread abundant seeds that continue to bear fruit and are towering oaks in the making. 

Lord, thank You for people who lived as "oaks of righteousness, the standing of the Lord that He may be glorified." (Isaiah 61:3) Grow us to be towering trees that spread much good seed.  

Come, My Light

  Come, my Light,

     and illumine my darkness.

  Come, my Life,
     and revive me from death.

  

  Come, my Physician,
     and heal my wounds.

  Come, Flame of divine love,
     and burn up the thorns
     of my sins,

 
  Kindling my heart 

      with the flame
      of Your Love.

  Come, my King,
      sit upon the throne
      of my heart
      and reign there.

  For You alone
       are my King and my Lord.

              (Dmitri of Rostov, d. 1709)