The lotus flower is the national symbol of Vietnam, a place with a history of great strife, and of great renewal.

The Lotus grows right in the middle of mud.

The stems and the roots are very long, and the blossom grows up, and out of the muck, and is so very beautiful!

Despite the impurities all around it, all the things that try to suffocate and snuff out its survival,

It LIVES.

It BLOOMS.

And it blooms BEAUTIFULLY.

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.

Psalm 40:2

Read more via Lessons in the Lotus at Back to the Beginning