Perfection: Marred by the World. The bloom of the hawthorn or White May looks like snow in Richmond Park, but nearer London or by the road side its virgin whiteness is sadly stained. Too often contact with the world has just such an effect upon our piety; we must away to the far off garden of Paradise to See holiness in its unsullied purity, and meanwhile we must be much alone with God if we would maintain a gracious life below.