As the rain comes down, we can visualize it cleansing our minds and hearts, washing away winter, preparing us to start anew.

We are not always glad to see rain make its appearance each spring, accompanied as it is by clouds and cancellations, muddy boots, and limited visibility. Yet, without it, summer's lushness would be less deep and less vibrant, the earth more exposed and unprotected from the sun's heat, and browns instead of greens would dominate the landscape. For anyone who has ever suffered through a drought, rain is always recognized for the blessing that it is, the forerunner of flowers and fruit.

Even though most of us admittedly prefer sunshine to rain, we can appreciate the rain as part of the intertwining cycle of opposites that makes our world go round--wet and dry, dark and light, cold and warm, each giving way to the other in equal measure. This dynamic of yin and yang governs all aspects of life, and rain and flowers are no exception. Their interdependence offers us another window into the inner workings of nature and life in general. In our personal lives, there is also a time for resting and a time for growth, a time to allow and receive, and a time to blossom forth with abandon in full color. As the rain comes down, we might surrender to its wisdom, visualizing it cleansing our minds and hearts, washing away the detritus of winter, preparing us to come clean into the second half of spring, ready to start anew.

As the days grow longer and the rain grows first warmer and then less frequent, the earth will begin drying off and the promised buds will burst in every imaginable color. Until then, the rainbow after the rainstorm serves to remind us of what's coming with a display so otherworldly that we can't help but love the showers almost as much as we love the flowers.