BEFORE THE FLOWERS BLOOM

A classic rhyme from an old childhood poem has resurfaced from memory as I listen to the pattering noise a drenching rain inexorably carries. “April showers, bring May flowers”. Those who feel inconvenienced by a few heaven-sent drops of moisture or those who consider rain a juggernaut of nature, should regard it as a prelude to beauty, that germane hand that gives the brown earth its verdant, emerald blush in spring, the caring touch that nudges the buds to share their vibrant, colored blooms, or that unseen force that restores the hibernating vegetation to awaken in unabashed exultation of life.

The earth will be an unsightly stretch of drabness where beauty is nonexistent without that enviable power of rain to coax the colors to spring forth and breathe life to the spoils of winter. Invariably, it obscures that unfettered brightness of the sun as it scatters clouds overhead like a canopy of gray, cottony shield. There is soporific comfort in the rhythm of its incessant sound as it falls to the earth and the lure to wallow in its murky depths surprisingly affords a calming aura that sings to the soul. It exudes a transcendental beauty that needs to be felt rather than seen and only those who are inclined to uncover its hidden allure will truly understand its magic.

But rain has its cruel streak, an ugly side that can spell havoc and mayhem in its egregious, uncontrolled fury. It can segue from its docile, reticent nature to a leviathan, ferocious monster that leaves nothing inviolate. It is that masochistic force of nature that can punish and exact vengeance with impunity and these nefarious attributes, despite the scientific advances the world has seen, remain essentially untamed.

Beauty and ugliness: Are there better metaphors to life? As rain precedes the beauty of spring, there is that prescient hand that dispenses the refiner’s fire to cleanse the soul before its radiance can be revealed. The crucible of life, that testing furnace of affliction, enhances and hones us to uncover the polished entity that we are, that flawless spirit a loving Father assiduously fashioned in his loving,  unerring hand.

“April showers, bring May flowers.” There is an unvarnished truth, both physical and divine, to this simple, incisive rhyme.  Sorrow, trials and life’s storms – they are underpinnings to life, those elemental, strengthening factors that are indispensable to a strong and firm foundation where beauty needs to dwell like multi-colored blooms sprouting through the earth after a cleansing rain. Showers, rain, darkness – we need them to sober and soften us like the ground under our feet, before the flowers bloom.