Honor the Seed, by Jim Ewing

Honor the seed. The words seem so simple. This is knowledge that was passed down to me from my father. Yet, today, those simple words — and sentiments — are so forgotten.

My father, a big, raw–boned man with giant, calloused hands big as catchers’ mitts and shoulders broad enough to carry my sister and me as kids around the yard for an hour without tiring, grew up on a farm in Mississippi. Despite moving to the city and working behind a desk in his adult years after World War II, he still had a lot of ‘country’ in him. Some of it was, well, rather rude — others of it, wise. As deep and fertile as the soil, as lasting as the seasons.

It was my father who taught me how to ‘taste’ soil to see if it ‘was any good.’ If the soil tasted flat, it needed fertilizer; metallic, it needed more organic matter; if it tasted tart, it needed lime. His method was intuitive and, I guess, a matter of taste. Literally. […]

The admonition to care for society to the 7th generation includes the careful harvesting of seeds from the crops and the planting of the best of them in the following growing season. It is a way of life that ensures the health and continuity of society. It is a nourishing way of life for all the people, not just a few, and not only those living, but a mindful setting aside of health and well–being for future generations, as well.

The seed is more than an agricultural product. It is at once a symbol of hope, of a new generation, and a predictor of the future. If we are not careful with the seeds we plant, and conscious of what we are doing, we will reap a certain harvest based on what we have planted. Feast? Famine? Future? Or end? Those are the seeds we are planting today with our modern industrial society.

We cannot go back to a society where small farmers lived in isolated villages in rural settings that lasted essentially the same for generations. But we can learn from our ancestors in this New Age we live in and choose the type of future we want for ourselves, our children and our children’s children to seven generations. That’s the responsibility we have to follow some simple, time–honored advice: Honor the seed.

-- Jim Ewing

Seed Questions for Reflection

What does caring for society to the 7th generation mean to you? Can you share a personal story of honoring the seed? How do we improve awareness about the seeds we are planting?

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15 Past Reflections

Khang

Jul 11, 2021

Caring for the 7th generation means taking less, and attempting to live as close to my virtues as I can/
I receive flower seeds from friends, and when I sow them, I'm grateful for the gifts we've brought into each other's lives.
I do wish to be more aware of the seeds I'm planting in each and every moment. Being reminded by uncomfortable turns of events helps.

amna khan

Aug 11, 2019

I were given what you role towards , thank you for posting .Woh i'm happy to deliver judgment this website thru google.

Jyoti

Sep 4, 2013

Today we are literally in a struggle to even save the seed, rather than honoring it. Geneticaly modified seeds are created to self-destruct or kill 'pests' who might feed on these plants, are designed so the farmer has to buy afresh everytime, bringing in the profits for the corporations. It is just plain sad. Mercifully, there are people working to preserve seed banks, as in http://www.navdanya.org/ As a metaphor, I find that I have many seeds in me, some of which blossomed and others did not, depending on what I fed and nourished.

lizzie

Sep 4, 2013

I ponder on the 3rd world countries and their future vs genetic engineering of seeds/plants in capitalist countries that do not propagate. What will happen to their future?

Mish

Sep 4, 2013

What does the state of our world today indicate...what kind of seeds were planted, to produce worldwide terrorism & planetary destruction? Sigh.

Jennifer Heyser Sep 4, 2013

One small fruit farm continues to exist from the relatively recent past: Heyser Farms in Silver Spring, Maryland. Land once only rented by my Grandfather in 1946, purchased a few years later) has grown and prospered from one generation to the next in this family to the current day. David A. Heyser, whose real living was made by employment with the Department of Agriculture by day, would come home and work the rented land so he could, every weekend, sell his harvested fruits and vegetables at a make-shift roadside stand back in 1948.

In 1946 when my father, Carlton E. Heyser, Sr., returned from fighting in WWII, he was able to secure employment as an Appeals attorney with the Veteran's Administration. While having that job as a steady income, he, following in his father's footsteps, would work the land in Silver Spring (back then it was known as Salem's Lot, then Colesville, MD) in the evenings when he returned home from his job. I remember seeing my father, every evening, being dropped off at the end of our long driveway, in his business suit, looking as handsome as ever (I thought back then that he resembled the distinguished Humphrey Bogart). As soon as I saw him, and I'd be waiting ever so excitedly for my daddy to come home, I would run to him and jump into his arms. To this day I can still feel his tight hug and smell his after-shave which he had only in those tailored suits he'd wear).

Soon my father would be donning his farming clothes: his khaki pants, dirty work boots, either a short or long sleeved plaid shirt depending on the weather, his straw hat and the ever-present el Producto cigar he lit up to keep the ever-bothersome gnats away from his face while he worked in the six acres of precious farmland that surrounded our home. I wouldn't see him again until it was time for supper, for which he was always late - my mother would be forever furious at this fact for the rest of her life. Dad would go back out to the fields right after dinner and work until dark. He was the one to say goodnight to us three kids each and every night. First thing he'd do would be to come in with a balled-up fist to surprise me with 'fairy dust' that, he said, would help me sleep well and have good dreams; he'd open his hand and there would be this sparkly powdery substance in the middle of his palm, and he would let me taste it. To this day, I believe in that 'fairy dust'! And I always slept so well, listening to the crickets, frogs and other nightlife outside my window that was always opened (no air conditioning back then for us) to let the evening breezes flow through. The best memories: Climbing into a bed with freshly cleaned linens, Dad tucking me in, bringing me fairy dust, and falling asleep to the sounds and breezes of the night. I could have asked for nothing more as a child.

After all were tucked in, my father would return to the barn to finish up the day. This was his routine until the day he retired from his 'day job'. After that, he would be in the fields from dawn until way past dusk, just doing what he loved best: farming his father's land, which soon was to become his land, passed down to him from his father. In 2008, my Dad passed away at the age of 93. My brother has stepped up to farm the same land that's been in our family for quite some time. The farm is surviving, even though everything around it has become developed with urban sprawl. We have had to fight hard with the county to maintain this piece of precious farmland in the midst of what is termed 'progress' today. The 'rights of easement' over the years has taken a portion of our land to widen and add roads around us. I have to laugh (sarcastically) at the license plates of Maryland picturing farm land celebrating Maryland's agricultural heritage bearing the slogan "Our Farms, Our Future." There are very few farms left in Maryland these days and that is very sad. But our has survived and will for at least the next 50 years, with it being kept in the family and, hopefully, passed down to my two nephews. May this special small legacy continue, with God's blessings.

Jennifer Heyser Sep 4, 2013

So blessed be the 'seed'!

Marc Tierney

Sep 3, 2013

I wish we as a society honored the 7th generation. It seems so many issues are answered only for one generation, sometimes two. I have not been a part of any decision making process that involves more than 2. 7 would be insightful and honest to values. I will do my best to change my way of thinking. I sometimes do not even think to my kids generation and that is wrong headed of me.

Ricky

Sep 3, 2013

There is nothing like holding the arugula seeds from a late summer pod saved from the best tasting plant you have ever raised. The cruciferous (cross-shaped) white flowers had been visited and pollinated by the most varied array of butterflies, parasitic wasps, honey-mason-carpenter-bumble-bees, and hover flies, ensuring a bumper crop of fertilized pods. Hummingbirds even checked in. Although the family ate many of the leaves, we left plenty, apparently, for the life processes of the arugula to be resilient in the face of the annual dance of survival. Visualizing the next generation held within those numerous, tiny, round, dark seeds increases excitement beyond what I can express, and then contemplation arises as to how to hold these over for the optimal planting time early next spring. My dad always said to wait to plant the garden until the snow was gone from the foothills (I live in the Pacific Northwest), and friends of mine tell me it’s too late to plant then. (Sometimes mid June) I take measures to ensure each seed and the resulting tiny world that emerges from it is cared for if the weather turns before its maturity. My dad didn’t know those tricks, such as starting indoors, or covering with plastic outside after transplanting. He direct seeded, sometimes from held over seeds, sometimes from the local seed company. I usually do this too. And then there’s soil preparation, and the feeling of intense responsibility toward the tiny marvels to facilitate enhancing the soil thereby providing the most fertile place on the planet. The procedures and process seem cold and calculated, yet much of soil prep and seed planting has to do with observation, awareness, love, tenderness, nurture, hard work, diligence, cycles of the moon and weather patterns, magnetic tuning and mineralization, and in the end is finally left up to the ancient wisdom of the seed. As the round cotyledon leaves press through, they spread out to capture showers and sun, and eventually reveal the true serrated leaves of the arugula. There is a tangible awe and inspiring sense of coexistence and even collaboration, of reciprocation, of the circle of life, of knowing what is real and honorable. Vigorous health of this tiny entity, reproduced ten times from within the single fertilized flower and the resulting long narrow pod, demands I too be present every day in the garden; it is my pleasure and my reward at the same time to do so. This presence continues to allow me to honor the seed, with each successive generation produced and cared for.
In answer to the question ‘What does caring for society to the 7th generation mean to you?’ it is the deep commitment to leave this beautiful and brilliant existence in better shape and in a better space than when I arrived. It may be why I continue to teach. Caring for society to the 7th generation means to think about the unintended consequences of making decisions for short term gain and personal/corporate greed…it means to be aware that we are interwoven, interconnected, and interdependent with each other, nature, and with all sentient beings…and ultimately it means we are responsible for our words and actions for a lot longer and with a much wider net than we could ever imagine. How quickly we seem to be able to forget what may be unpleasant in terms of outcome or what we may be unwilling to be held accountable for. Indigenous elders often mention the seventh generation in oral history when discussing next steps, especially in the face of inevitable change. Caring for society to the 7th generation also demands mindfulness, presence, accountability, and willingness to learn from and listen to what is gut felt and inwardly true. It takes extraordinary stillness and awareness to care for the society to the 7th generation as we breathe and act from moment to moment, as we ‘see’ with eyes and heart wide open to our potential and possibilities in our own ‘seed’. The expansive growth and enhancement of the relationship we have with ourselves, each other, and all other beings around us is ultimately why we are here at this time, and the less footprint on the earth and less damage we impose, even to one another's hearts, the more well-lived the life.

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a Sep 6, 2013

Brother Ricky,
I "thought" I had replied to your above comment last week, but apparently my submission didn't make it to print here?!? (Entered on my ipad, I must have done something wrong!)
Very much appreciate your thoughts here! (read a number of times to further absorb it's meaning and content) Thank you! Love to you.
Restating YOUR words. . . wishing YOU to "'see' with eyes and heart wide open to YOUR potential and the possibilities in your own 'seed'! Amen, Ricky!

I have the "Prayer of Jabez" posted above my sink at home:
Oh that You would bless me indeed,
and enlarge my territory,
that Your hand would be with me,
and that You would keep me from evil,
that I may not cause pain.
1 Chronicles 4:10

Grow Ricky . . . in Him

david doane

Sep 1, 2013

I learned that American Indian elders took into consideration 7 generations when making important decisions. They knew their decisions would affect the entire tribe for generations to come. Caring for society to the 7th generation means being aware that decisions made today have long range ramifications, and it only makes sense to take that into consideration when making important decisions. It means seeing beyond one's self and one's own short-term agenda and thinking and caring about others including future others. It means realizing that we belong to a big system, we are part of an ongoing process, we are all in this together including past and future generations, and making decisions accordingly. A personal story of honoring the seed, and a story that belongs to many people, is raising children including to make decisions, teach lessons, and give example that will be for their good and the good of those that come after them. We improve awareness... View full comment

Conrad P Pritscher

Aug 30, 2013

How do we improve our awareness about the seeds we are planting is a most basic question. I wish I had a good answer. When I'm aware of my present experience it is easier for me to notice the importance of awareness. Practicing noticing one's present experience helps one to do it more easily in the future. Meditation can be of great value. Practicing kind selflessness helps one be kinder in the future. Practicing selfishness without regard for others, helps generate more of that kind of behavior in the future. Karma seems to be very real. As either the Dalai Lama, or Gandhi said: "If you want to make others happy, be compassionate. If you want to be happy, be compassionate." I'm grateful for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.

Kristin Pedemonti

Aug 30, 2013

We plant seeds with every Word and every Action that we take. Our Words have power to make a positive or negative impact, it is up to each one of us to choose wisely; it is helpful, is it the truth, is it kind and compassionate? We can plant seeds of hope with our words and spread the hope with our Actions. We can share our truth, standing up for what we believe in. Even seemingly small actions such as a smile or a hug can make a big impact. Last week I shared Free Hugs at the March on Washington; there's a lot of healing that needs to take place and a Hug seemed like the place to start. It was incredibly powerful, hugs were shared with hundreds of that afternoon as we waded through a sea of people intent on sharing a message of Hope and Healing. It was an important reminder of how a simple action; a Hug can connect us together, planting a seed of caring and compassion. My own heart felt like it might burst from all the love shared that day. The most powerful moment was when an ... View full comment

Mary Savoy-Baucum Sep 3, 2013

I read each comment with joy in my heart from so many insightful and reflective suggestions and recommendations and I am in awe of the connection between each one. Giving hugs and have compassion in our hearts for our fellow man is great, but it is my belief that honoring the seed through the generations must start at home with the time-honored teachings of morals, values, family and integrity. We must plant the seeds in our children, grandchildren and other little ones who we come in contact with through our church, job, recreation, neighborhood events, etc., and we must exhibit the type of behavior that speaks to our live and action performed in front of children. We must speak with love and being careful of what we say and how we say it and to whom we say it. During my upbringing, my mother said: "children should be seen and not heard." What she meant by this was that children have their place and adults have their place and the two should not mix when not necessary because of the words and behavior that could and may be exhibited by adults would not appropriate for children. However, she also said that children are a gift from God to be raised in love and respect and honoring the one true creator of life; older adults should be respected; children should be respected, and that all our fellow human beings are put on the earth for a reason. Honoring the seed is also honoring everyone point of view even when it does agree with yours; honoring ones values, even when they do not agree with yours; honoring one choices in life, even when they do not agree with yours, and honoring individuals because they are all a gift from God. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made and we should all honor the seed in our own way through words, speech and action.

Tanja Sep 4, 2013

For me, being mindful of the seeds of my thoughts and words must begin in meditation, in contemplating the fruits of what I thought and said and did today, in my daily sittings. From here, slowly but steadily, I hope to learn how to cultivate more carefully the seeds of a larger future.

For a faithless gardener like me who struggles to believe even in the seeds I plant in the beginning of spring, in a pleasant climate with adequate food and nutrition (and to be sure, plenty of support from the garden centre), it is indeed a challenge to truly have faith that I can be a wise custodian of the seeds I plant for seven generations hence.

What a useful, mind blowing way to consider thoughts, words and deeds - thank you and in gratitude for creating this opportunity to be in conversation about this.