As Pure White Lilies

I was walking in a garden

When a strange scene caught my sight—

The most dirty, murky water

Held a bloom of purest white.

It was strange, for how could something

That's surrounded by such blight,

Somehow manage to produce such

Blooms of lilies, pure and bright?

I reached down to pull the lily,

But to pluck the root aright

I must reach to deepest waters

Where the sands were pure and white.

Then I saw why that pure lily

Could preserve its bloom's white light—

Though much filth and gunk surrounds it,

It's foundation's roots are right.

Like the lily, I am also

Facing this world's darkest night—

As temptations now surround me

This world's filth offers delight.

But on looking at that flower,

I remember that despite

Of my terrible surroundings

I can stand— my roots in Christ.

So I’ll be as pure white lilies

In a dirty murky pond,

So that prayer may be my breathing

And God's Word may be my bond.

That though all the world around me

Bows before the beast of pride,

I may always and forever ever

Choose to in God's path abide.