April 25 Daily Feast, Elder's Meditation, THINK on THESE THING

April 25 - Daily Feast

Someday, we will know how to take living in stride, to sidestep a great many things and completely ignore that many more. Sometime, we will learn to pay less attention to the imagined and stop fussing about things we had nothing to do with in the past - and cannot change significantly in the future. One day, like the elderly Cherokee, we can say, "So long a time since I see you....I don't care anymore." Soon, we will rid ourselves of things we saved for no good reason - and have room for what we really want. As soon as possible, we will worry less about trouble...knowing some people need it for their security. Very soon, we will sit together in the sun a whole day and just be happy that we can sit together in the sun all day and just be happy.

~ Even as you desire good treatment, so render it. ~

HANDSOME LAKE

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

Elder's Meditation of the Day April 25

"In some mysterious and wonderful way you are part of everything, Nephew. And in that same mysterious and wonderful way, everything is a part of you."

Nippawanock, ARAPAHOE

In order to experience this, we must be aware of how limited our senses areâ€” eyes, ears touch, smell, taste. These senses help us to function in the Seen World. What we see is interpreted by our minds and put inside our belief system, and this can become our reality. But there also exists an Unseen World. In this world we experience connectedness; we experience the mystery; and we experience another whole point of view. If we pay attention to both the Unseen World and the Seen World, our belief systems will print in our mind a new and wonderful reality. We will see and know we are a part of everything.

Great Spirit, today, give me the knowledge to know this mystery.

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

If we could be read it, all human beings carry the marks of their character in the lines of their faces. The very expressions are etched there by habitual thought. The most beautiful features may be blank of expression, lacking depth of thought or understanding, while the plainest face may be lighted with a radiance only sincerity and inner beauty can produce.

Alexander Smith was a Scottish poet who wrote, "On your features the fine chisels of thought and emotion are eternally at work."

No pretense can hide the thoughts and feelings. The narrowed eyes of suspicion and discontent tattle, while serenity and devotion to others can reveal such beauty of spirit that the shape of the face is forgotten.

"In thy face I see the map of honor, truth, and loyalty," wrote Shakespeare, and it is safe to say that being able to see those things in another's face is an assurance that he also had such a face. To see only avarice and selfishness in every expression turned to us is to know that our own expressions lack something to be desired.

Life does not have to be full of ease to reflect beauty. Some of the most beautiful faces in history have not had eyes to see nor voices to move their lips, but have possessed peace and serenity that only faith could render.