April 7 Daily Feast, Elder's Meditation, THINK on THESE THING

April 7 - Daily Feast

It seems only yesterday when the first cold wind blew in and laid flat the wild rose and turned the canes gray. Leaves turned and dropped. Snows fell and drifted. Winter threatened to last forever. But it didn't. Spring runs in and out like a child opening and slamming a door just to irritate us. The birds are flirting and meadows abound with baby calves in their first days. It is a time of change - not only in nature but in us. We enjoy that breaking point between late winter and early spring. In our mind's eye we know where the wild phlox will spread its fragrance and the oxeye daisies will crowd the narrow path. It is with the same eye that we see ourselves blooming with health and prospering beyond our dreams. Only those who walk under a cloud miss the joy of this time, the open meadows and greening hills.

~ Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam, where the deer and the antelope play....Where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day. ~

ANONYMOUS

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

Elder's Meditation of the Day - April 7

"Women. They have the power of generations. Women have the power to have children and not to have children."

Cecilia Mitchell, MOHAWK

The Woman is not only the key to life; she is also the key to future generations. An Elder once joked that the Woman only needs the man for one night. We need to look at and respect the power of the Woman. She is special and we need to treat her that way.

Great Spirit, today, let me show the greatest respect to our Women.

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

We all develop our own ways of centering our lives on something. In our minds we each have a design of what we think we are capable of being. If we want to be what we think we are capable of being, then we must hold our design firmly in our minds until it is secured as the focal point.

Each life must have that focal point, that center of interest where all phases of life come together. A focal point gives strength and meaning to the smallest details of everyday living.

Dimension and depth belong to the life that is centered. Though it may take many forms we must always have a "home" to return to, knowing that here are the roots, the things that really matter.

There must be a blending of our lives with others. But to be happy with one's self, that focal point must be steady and true before we can feel contented that "all's right with the world".