April 16, 17 & 18 Daily Feast, Elder’s Meditation, THINK on THESE THING

April 16, 17 & 18 Daily Feast, Elder’s Meditation, THINK on THESE THING

April 16 Daily Feast, Elder’s Meditation, THINK on THESE THING

2013

April 16 - Daily Feast

April is the color of jonquils, the fragrance of hyacinths, and the dewiness of violets. The sunlit meadows are carpeted with tiny blue flowers, and along the ravines wild strawberries are as sweet and tart as April air. We forget that while the earth sleeps, life goes on, growing, developing, spreading, until at the right moment it reveals itself in glorious colors and shapes. A few short weeks ago everything was brown and somber. Now the colors are radiant and the very air is tinted the color of new leaves. A new aura outlines the distant hills and only human beings have to see and taste and stir themselves to new life.

~ I love the and....the trees which cover it, the grass growing on it. ~

COMO

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

*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*

Elder's Meditation of the Day April 16

"But one should pray in one's heart during a sacred ceremony; this is the purpose of the ceremony, to purify the participants both inside and outside."

--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW

How do you know if you are praying from your heart or from your head? Pray from your head and you will feel nothing; pray from your heart and you will feel feelings. You may feel sorrow, you may feel joy, you may want to cry, depending on what you are praying for. During the ceremony, the cleansing will take place. The Medicine Wheel teaches the four directions of inner power: emotional, mental, physical and spiritual. The prayer controls the emotional, mental and physical. When we ask for purification of our feelings, our mental mind and our physical body, the spiritual direction causes the cleansing to happen.

Great Spirit, create in me a clean heart.

*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

In this jet age when almost "instant there" is commonly accepted, the world has become very small. The days of remaining in one's own birthplace are near an end, and those who never dreamed of traveling have adjusted themselves to it quite well.

And with shorter distances between us and our neighbors it seems our worlds should find more opportunities for mutual understanding. But we must realize that even though our material worlds may be easily crossed, our thoughts are worlds apart. Until we can bring together a thinking people with the desire to create living conditions that are peaceful and full of kindness, fast travel can waver between good and bad.

A British novelist and poet, George Moore, said, "It is thought, and thought only, that divides right from wrong; it is thought, and thought only, that elevates or degrades human deeds and desires."

*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*

April 17 Daily Feast, Elder’s Meditation, THINK on THESE THING

April 17 - Daily Feast

We want to do the right thing, say the right thing, be the right person. We try to be in tune with life, to find harmony within to blend with all that surrounds us. It just seems that so much has been borrowed from us - time, concern, spirit - until we cry for restoration. Like children, we want to ask, "Are we happy yet?" Is there a time of rhythm and order and an even beat, so that we may walk without running, laugh without tears, care without fear of giving too much? Yes, beyond the slightest doubt we can renew and we can overcome the feeling of being totally taxed to despair. Speak to yourself, said the little Cherokee grandmother. Tell yourself you are u wo du hi, fine looking, and your surroundings will see it and want you to be happy. In other words, change your attitude and the world will respond.

~ Why do you take by force what you could obtain by love? ~

POWHATAN

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

*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*

Elder's Meditation of the Day April 17

"Women know more about love than men do...Love is taking. Love is sharing. Love is learning things about each other."

--Mary Leitka, HOH

The Elders say Mother Earth shares Her special gifts of love with the Women. The Women know about bringing forth life and nurturing their offspring. Through this gift of love the Earth really makes the Woman special. Men should look upon the Woman with a Sacred Eye. She should be respected. The Woman is a role model for love. When the Woman talks, we should listen; when she shares, we should be grateful. We should all learn about each other.

Grandmother, teach me to love with the power of the Woman.

*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

The greatest tragedy of life is not that we quarrel with our fellows, but that we do not take time to know them.

In his great understanding of man and nature, Thoreau wrote, "Let a man take time enough for the most trivial deed." Take time.

How often what seems to be an unfriendly atmosphere is only a lack of time. Some of our dearest friends are hidden behind the mask of hurry. And we need so desperately to know each other.

Understanding comes when people are allowed to talk to one another. They discover the ways and needs, the loves and hopes, and the despairs and fears when they take enough time to speak of them. All these things that make for understanding and compassion come from personal contact and the knowledge and practice of good will.

People become more civilized, more peaceful, more as God intended them to be when they take time to make friends out of acquaintances.

To be a good listener endears many a friendship.

Everyone needs someone with whom to talk at length on all subjects without later regret. It has been written, "What a great blessing is a friend with breast so trusty that you may bury all your secrets in it."

And how often we need to be that friend and be the listener, and to make sure we are worthy of that trust.

Listening comes in many ways. We listen with all our sense, knowing many times without having to be told what someone's needs are. Charles Dickens said that no one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for anyone else. And it just may be by listening that we lighten another's load.

Sometimes we listen with our hearts and understand in silence. Sometimes we simply have to put ourselves into a situation to understand all sides of it. And we best do so by listening.

All our lives we carry secrets with us that we long to reveal to someone who understands.

There are relationships in our lives better and closer than the ordinary. Closer yet than brothers or sisters are those with whom we can share all our secrets, we think.

What a sad state of affairs when life imparts that others cannot always be trusted. What a shock to realize we have given all our hearts and bared our souls to people whose curiosity was the only motive that compelled them to listen.

Phillip Massinger, sixteenth century poet wrote, "I have played the fool, the gross fool to believe the bosom of a friend would hold a secret mine own could not contain."

Not one of us can testify that we have nothing within our lives and thoughts that we cannot reveal. And many of us have not expressed our innermost thoughts because we have found no one in whom we can confide.

As Shakespeare said, "Many a man's tongue shakes out its master's undoing." Sometimes the loquacious tell their secrets not out of a need to tell them, but out of a love of talking.

One of the greatest feelings in the world is to discover we haven't told something we cherish very much to someone we once thought we could trust.

*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*

April 18 Daily Feast, Elder’s Meditation, THINK on THESE THING

April 18 - Daily Feast

The voice of doom is loud in our land. It is predicting unheard of fears and possibilities. But we have the antidote in our mouths - our words. Words are powerful, able to turn away the negative thoughts and words of those who have no purpose but to degrade. We don't have to let other people decide that we are victims of every attack, every disease, every wrongdoing. Our, u in ne tsv (words), say the Cherokees, are mighty to pull down anything or any person that lies in wait to harm us. Life and death are truly in the power of the tongue - and our part is to study the use of words and their effects on us. We know what it is to hear words of courage. It is light entering a dark place and we hear as well as speak.

~ Give ear, I am the mouth of my nation. ~

KIOSATON

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

*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*

Elder's Meditation of the Day April 18

"Our people don't come in parts. Either you are Indian, or you are not."

--Nippawanock, ARAPAHOE

We really need to take a look at how Indian People are talking about Indian People. We say there are Rez Indians, Traditional Indians, Urban Indians and Breeds. This type of thinking will keep us separated. An Indian is an Indian, a brother is a brother, a sister is a sister. We are all related. Today, let us respect ourselves and our people. Today, let me realize Indians are Indians.

Great Spirit, let me see the Unity of the People. Indians are Indians.

*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

A graphologist is a handwriting analysis expert who can take apart the loops and dashes of our penmanship and tell us about our nature. We have a natural curiosity about ourselves. We want to know whether our self-image is the true one. We often think we are capable of seeing another's true nature, but we seem to lack the ability to really know ourselves. In fact, so much about us reveals our disposition and temperament that it can be distressing.

Our handwriting may tell us about our emotional nature, and we may learn that we are introverts by the slant of our letters, but much of our disposition can be self-analyzed by the way other people respond to us.

It doesn't take a graphologist to tell us that if we are inconsistent in our friendliness, if the tongue alternates acid and honey, if we continually complain, continually gossip, criticize and pout, we are revealing a nature we too often think is hidden.

*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*<=-=>>>*

Donvdagahv'i
David White Hawk
Tawodi Unega

"Be good, be kind, help each other."
"Respect the ground, respect the drum, respect each other."

May The Creator walk with you.