Downwind from Flowers

 

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. (Psalm 23:6)

 

        I read that people in certain eastern cultures seek healing from physical and emotional wounds by sitting downwind from flowers. It’s a therapy that’s been carried on for centuries in the belief that downwind from flowers one can be dusted with pollen from new blossoms, pollen that carries healing qualities.

        Linda Ross Swanson tells the story of a 52-year-old Tibetan refugee named Tenzin who lived in Seattle. Diagnosed with lymphoma and unwilling to undergo the usual chemotherapy treatment because it brought back memories of having been tortured as a political prisoner in China, he was brought to a hospice. There he told workers of the downwind method, and one of them was willing to help.

On a sunny afternoon the hospice worker picked up Tenzin and his wife, packed some provisions traditional to Tibetans: black tea, yak butter, salt and cookies, and dropped the couple off at a nursery. They found a suitable spot, sat downwind from the flowers and, under the watchful eye of curious nursery employees, enjoyed their afternoon tea. They did the same the following week at another nursery.

        Soon word got around, and nurseries all over Seattle were vying for Tenzin’s presence. Nursery workers called him when new plants arrived, placed chairs to match the wind direction and provided tea. Customers filled flats with flowers and put them carefully around the couple, and some began calling nurseries to ask how he was doing. Day after day through an entire summer Tenzin and his wife sat downwind from flowers at nurseries around the city.

That fall, Tenzin returned to his doctor for a follow-up CT scan. There was no trace of cancer. The doctor confessed he was astounded and could not explain the miraculous change. The patient had his own explanation: “The cancer left because it can’t live in a body filled with love. When I began to feel all the compassion from the hospice team, from the nursery employees, from all the people who wanted to know about me, I began to change inside.”

        Love cures. Love restores. When searching for a way to heal--if not cancer, at least a wounded heart--sit downwind from flowers. Allow yourself to touch and be touched by goodness and love. There’s healing there.

 

Copies of Mike's book You Are Rich: Discovering Faith in Everyday Moments, a collection of sixty faith-related reflections, are available through Amazon or Barnes & Noble.