A young healer went out early in the spring to walk in his garden. As he strolled thoughtfully in the dormant rows he considered the patients he would have in the coming year.
A number of the elderly in the nearby village had struggled with a debilitating infection of the lungs after a harsh winter. As well there were a number of pregnant women who could need medications quickly as complications in pregnancy and with newborns can require immediate treatment.
He looked intently at the dirt and gauged the resources of his beloved field. He new he could plant all the living medicines necessary for treating the cherished elderly who were now suffering. Still, he saw a distinct lack of space for the flowering herbs he would need for the pregnant and those still on their way. He refused to feel discouraged or any frustration. He looked longer at the land within the boundaries of his care. He got closer to the earth and breathed deeply, closing his eyes. "We will grow." He let out with a firm smile. "We will grow together."
He planted the living medicines first and in perfect season. They would need direct sun to sprout and much care as they matured. They blossomed as they wrestled through the layer above their seed then sprung into the air and the light. They filled the garden and made it beautiful and full of life.
The healer began an exhausting work. He set his mind and his hands to cutting thousands of thin sturdy shoots of wood from the saplings and vines that grew next to a river a few miles away. He brought these shoots back into his garden and began weaving. He wove pillars, he wove baskets, he wove ropes and lattice. After 30 days of his joyful toil watching the medicine in the ground grow along side his woven creations he watched the sun rise on his second garden of hanging baskets filled with varying specialized soils and seeds ready to sprout.
The hanging garden grew and provided a nurturing shade for the more mature plants in the rich top soil. Both gardens grew more richly for their being accompanied. Both gave a vibrancy to eachother that had not been in the garden before.
The young healer felt a deep peace and noticed that he had grown and his love had grown and multiplied those blessed to receive healing and care from the garden and from his hands.
