In the eyes of a lily

Once there was a lily that opened its bud for the first time under the heat of a noon-day sun. It happened in an inland pond, a lake in the heart of a city in the Philippines. And I was born on that day. As soon as it opened its petals, the lily-blossom saw a grove of old trees standing mid of the lake. "There's something on the trees!" - said the lily. It was feeling something, Someone, the Presence of the One that created the lily: His Feet resting on top of the trees. It saw the peak of Mount Apo rising in the west. It saw the hills looking down on it. It peeped through the hills and saw the plains where stood buildings, houses, and structures - and where lived most people: the east. Farther off, it saw the Gulf and the Island City. "What is this place, an Eden?" asked the lily of the place of its beginning. It looked up again to the great mountain, partly hidden by its jealous wife Mount Talomo. "Apo is meant for her alone. Who can separate the two? They stand together forever!" said the lily sympathetically. [Unless one has the faith to move and plant Talomo into the Gulf!] It, then, panned its eyes to the right and saw the sons and daughters of Apo and Talomo: the mountain ranges of the city standing left of them - and hugging. It had the chance to go up the mountains and saw the city as a great amphitheatre looking down the arena in the east. It had the chance to go down the plains and saw the city as a great cathedral: the peak, the altar. Or a wide concert arena: the peak, the stage. It had the chance to climb up the hills and saw the city as a huge cinema: the hills, the balcony - the mountains or the plains, the big screen. But the city of my beginning has gradually lost its innocence over the years. It has lost its paradise, its Eden. 
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"There's still hope!" said the lily.
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"Humility is our last hope."
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"Humility is accepting the truth that we are proud."
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"Humility is simply being true to God and to ourselves."
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