July 4 Daily Feast, Elder’s Meditation, THINK on THESE THINGS

July 4 - Daily Feast

Let our objective be our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country. And, by the blessing of God, may that country itself become a vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror, but of wisdom and peace and of liberty, upon which the world may gaze with admiration forever." Daniel Webster spoke those words, and he knew that America would have fine troops, great leaders, and excellent equipment, a combination that stands for freedom. Even though freedoms have been stretched to the limits in some areas, we operate on the basic premise that this is America and it still stands as an example to countries everywhere of what it means to be free. President Eisenhower said that whatever America hopes to bring to pass in the world must first come to pass in the hearts of the American people. It has, and it will as long as we ask God to bless America.

~ Every part of this soil is sacred in the estimation of my people. ~

SEATTLE

'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Elder's Meditation of the Day July 4

"That is not our way, to set yourself apart and talk about who you are and what you've done. You let your life speak for you. With the Mohawk people, wisdom is how you live and how you interpret what your mother and father, what your grandmothers and grandfathers have told you about this world - and then how you interpret that into the fact of living every day."

Tom Porter, MOHAWK

It is said, how you live your life makes so much noise that people can't hear what you are saying anyway. It is so easy to see people who do not walk the talk.

Creator, I ask you today to help me be humble. Let me spend the day listening. Help me to not brag or gossip. Help me today not to do those things that seek attention or approval from others. I am only accountable to You, Oh Great Spirit. You will tell me the things I need to know. Let me learn the lessons from my Elders. Let me teach the children by example. Today, let me walk the talk.

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

To so many, getting up in the morning is the worst way to begin a day. To them every morning is the morning after, a time to feel nervous anxiety and regret in the deepest sense, while to others morning is a new world. Yesterday ceased to be with sleep last night.

How much better off we'd be if only for a few hours we could put out of our minds every painful thought and every unpleasant person until the mind and body could find enough new life to begin again.

"The early morning hath gold in its mouth," wrote Franklin. But it has things more precious than gold. It has a life as fresh and sweet as the shimmering, clinging dewdrops in the first rays of golden sunlight. It has the grace of mimosa leaves rippling in the gentlest breeze. It has the songs of the birds and the love of a new awakening.

And in this breathless creation is something more. A new opportunity, another chance, a challenge to walk on, more strong, more forgiving, more loving.

Sleep deep and rest sweet, but rise glad. Don't let one joyful second be lost in dead oblivion. This is a vision of newness awaiting even the least to arise and accept the best - a new beginning.

Morning need not be a jury trial for oneself. Dawn and sleep can be a miraculous cleansing to set us out on our feet ready to being again and in a friendlier atmosphere. We must feel friendly toward ourselves before we can possibly find morning good to anyone else.

An unknown writer once wrote: "Every morning lean thine arms awhile upon awhile upon the window sill of heaven, and gaze upon thy Lord, then, with the vision in thy heart, turn strong to meet thy day."

We need to be strong to meet the day with self control, to find our reason and purpose, but, more important, to leave behind us the heavy and darkened thoughts that kept us from seeing the breathtaking beauty of the most important time - this morning.