Strong At the Core

Perhaps you’re puzzled about why I’ve posted this picture—and why I took it in the first place.

Let me explain.

I was initially drawn to the pretty patterns formed by all those limbs and twigs against the beautiful backdrop provided by the cloudless blue sky. So, I snapped several photos with my iPhone camera. Later, as I looked at them, I thought, The core of my being is strong and central, like the trunk of the tree. From it radiate all my thoughts and actions and attitudes. Although they spread in several directions, like the limbs and twigs, all originate in the core, all remain connected to it, all continue to be supported by it.

As I reflected on that, I recalled the familiar words found in Proverbs 4:23, NIV. They prompted me to create the graphic below. (I made it by topping a screenshot of a graphic with a “sticker” of a heart I found in an app on my phone and topping the sticker with words added via the text tool in that app.)


Both the photo of the tree and the graphic remind me to stay strong and pure at the core of my being since everything about me starts there.