A Lily among the Thorns – Sunday, May 31, 1998
The lily, a flower celebrated in both scripture and song, is known throughout the world for its exquisite grace and beauty.
One might understandably assume that, to achieve such grandeur, the lily has always grown in the most favorable of conditions; but anciently, at least, such might not be the case. Said one scholar of antiquities, “Nothing can be in higher contrast than the luxuriant, velvety softness of [the ancient] lily, and the crabbed, tangled hedge of thorns [that surrounded] it.”1
Though we would often like to think otherwise, there is much good that grows out of the midst of thorns. Much like the lily of old, roses still grow at the tops of stems that protect their flowers with sharp thorns. And all who have plucked fresh, wild berries from their bushes know to avoid the barbs that surround such succulent fruit. Indeed, much of nature’s beauty can seem, at first glance, in sharp contrast with its surroundings.
And so, too, with well-lived lives, there are few who escape the encroachments of mortality’s “tangled hedges of thorns.” For, no matter how well we’d like to keep the gardens of our lives, we often will find ourselves in the midst of the briars and brambles. In the words of James E. Faust: “When we pluck the rose, we find we often cannot avoid the thorns which spring from the same stem. . . . There is [however] a divine purpose in the adversities we encounter every day. They prepare, they purge, they purify, and thus they bless.”2
Even as we work to avoid the many difficulties that life presents, challenges will come. There will be those moments in the midst of our trials when we will need to free ourselves from the tangled vines that could overwhelm us. And there will be those times when life is more calm, when we will be able to nurture the roots of our souls so that they will grow strong and be better prepared for whatever lies ahead.
Whatever the moment holds, we can always look to the unparalleled beauty of the lily—a flower that once was able to overcome all that sought to choke life from its roots and rise instead to resplendent glory.
JAMES BELL
1In Smith’s Bible Dictionary (Philadelphia: A. J. Holman Company), p. 183.
2James E. Faust, “The Refiner’s Fire,” Ensign, May 1979.
________________________________
May 31, 1998
Broadcast Number 3,589