… even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these’. [Matthew 6:28,29]

Some friends gave me a large bunch of these beautiful flowers last week.  At the time they were all in bud, the tapered forms of which had a beauty of their own. Over the week I’ve watched them gradually unfurl into these glorious shapes. Not only do they look lovely, but the scent of them fills the room. 

Lilies  are among the oldest cultivated plants. I learn from the Encyclopaedia Britannica that the Lily was grown by the Greeks and Romans, both as ornament and for medicinal purposes. 

The white lily of course is familiar in art, primarily in paintings of the Virgin Mary, and especially in paintings of the annunciation, as a symbol of purity.