In my house, stuff is always moving around back and forth like the house of Baba Yaga. It feels like treasure digging in an ongoing battle between maximalism and Zen. This time I came across some old notebooks; after hours of reading long dated thoughts I came to the following sentence: ‘What has been proven to be right for centuries can’t be judged wrong in a day’.

I have no idea what it was referring to when I wrote this-since there was no further context- but I guess Today it serves as a theme for this blog. Why is this? Well, I’m going to figure that out now….

SESEA values old skills and knowledge. Science and craftsmanship which stood the test of time has proven its worth. Sometimes ancient knowledge is given a new look or a new application, is given a new name or are even given or taken to new owners. The fact remains that what is valuable is also sustainable. And worthless things can’t be preserved for ever. This thought gives me comfort.  Especially if you are going to apply that to issues such as war, poverty, food shortages and lack of justice-. But this thought requires also a valorization and (re) appreciation.

Thus, SESEA got her name – but this is another story- and so a young man was spared a certain death as it is described in the Yoruba story hereunder in which a son spares his father. Allow me to share the story with you here.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, a powerful king who, once seated on his throne, began to get bored and thought this was due to the boredom of the ancient sages who surrounded him. ‘Why should I keep those old rattle bags around me, these decrepit ones are superfluous, let’s eliminate them’, he figured. Well, when the patient is cured, he beats the doctor. He summoned the ambitious sons of the elders and called them to a high position by his side, but only after they had made their father change sides. And so everyone went home and killed their father, except a young man who, when he wanted to strike, listened to his father; ‘Son, spare my life and you will see that your mercy will serve you well’. And so it happened that the son hid his father in a hut at a distant camp.

Meanwhile, the young people lived a good life at court, with lots of fried chicken and women. But it didn’t take long before the king was getting bored again; ‘why should I keep these empty-headed useless bastards around me, let me deal with them as I did with their fathers’. And he came up with a new plan. He had all the young people call together and said, As befits a good king, I am going to continue to renovate my house, a new wing must be built. But it’s a special project, because we start with the roof and continue to build from top to bottom. You lay the first roof stone tomorrow and know that whoever does not cooperate will be treated as a traitor; it will cost you your head.’ 

Everyone went home with great fear, for they knew what the king was capable of, and yes, what could they bring against it. But the son who had spared his father went to see him and told him of the king’s demand. “Haa, my son, for you do not see standing, I see sitting,” laughed the father. “Go and say the following to the king to-morrow…..”    

The next morning, the group of frightened young men appeared before the king, all with abdominal pain, diarrhea, and weak knees, except for the young man who had spared his father. He walked to the king with his head held high when the king gave the order to begin the construction work, he said: ‘King, we are willing to build your palace according to your instructions, but tradition dictates; that the lord of the house lays the first stone’. Surprised, the king looked at him “How did you get this wisdom, boy?” Then the son told him that he had spared his father and that he was the one that had given him advice. The king then ordered the old father to come to the palace and gave him a high council position in his kingdom, repeating the wise words of the father; “With your wisdom I can run my kingdom, it is true that what an old man sees sitting a young man does not even see standing.”

And so, we all do some stupid things and sometimes we do something wise. In the meantime, the diary has gone up again among many others, if it comes up, I will take a photo of the sentence and put it as a background photo of the blog. It’s all work in progress; up to everyone to decide wither to start up or down.