April 26 Daily Feast, Elder's Meditation, THINK on THESE THING

April 26 - Daily Feast

Negative thinking is a habit that can be changed - if we really want to change it. It is too often like pressing on a sore spot just one more time to see if it still hurts. Most people's problems are found in areas of need - the need to have difficulty, the need to have something to deal with so they can feel needed and important. After all, what do we do when no one is depending on us? It is an innate Cherokee belief that we have no need to borrow trouble, a to li s di, no proclivity toward trouble. Let it stay where it is - or dissolve. If difficulty engages our eye, it may come to us. We can know happy things to fill our time. It is fatal not to want happiness and well-being enough that we invite it into daily living.

~ Though we are powerful and strong, and we know how to fight, we do not wish to fight. ~

THE CHEROKEES

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

Elder's Meditation of the Day April 26

"If those bad words come, I let them come in one ear and go out the other. I never let them come out of my mouth. If a bad word comes in your ear and then comes out of your mouth, it will go someplace and hurt somebody. If I did that, that hurt would come back twice as hard on me."

Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA

What do we do with temptations when they come? What do we do when we hear gossip? What do we do when we hear bad things? If we hear these things and pass them on we will not only hurt the other person, but we will do harm to ourselves. We must be careful not to hurt others. Whatever we sow we will simultaneously reap for ourselves. We must be accountable for our own actions.

Great Spirit, today, let no words come from my lips that would hurt another.

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

All the world listens for the voice that speaks with its heart.

How important is the tone of voice, no matter what position we hold in life. The voice of authority, the demanding, commanding and authoritative voice has little lasting effect upon its audience. But the voice of kindness, the cheerful and friendly voice creates receptivity that few can resist.

In the words of Longfellow, "How wonderful is the human voice! It is indeed the organ of the soul. The intellect of man sits enthroned, visibly on his forehead and in his eye, and the heart of man is written on his countenance, but the soul reveals itself in the voice only."

The voice on the telephone creates a picture for the listener. With the business of the world being run to a very great extent by telephone, it is of the utmost importance what sort of picture that should be. No matter how sharp, strong, hard, flat, weak, or soft, that voice creates an impression. If only we could have our voices played back, we would hear ourselves in one of those categories.

Even animals and children respond to voices as they truly are. All the actions in the world speak loudly, but the voice of love, the voice of friendship, and the voice of encouragement are the sweetest of all sounds.

The truly sincere quality in the voice is from the nature within, springing from concern for those about us, the divine love, the deep feeling for all of life.