August 5 Daily Feast, Elder's Meditation, THINK on THESE THING

August 5 - Daily Feast

It is strange how the same words spoken yesterday have a different meaning today. What can we say that we have not already said before? And what can be said that has not been said so many ways? Some words can be said any number of times and still be new. The Cherokees say, Gv ge yu a, I like you or I love you. I love you to the ultimate amount for one day. But it will not compare with tomorrow. Tomorrow brings its own container to be filled. As the sun rises and the moon sets, time moves swiftly, and the need to love and be loved never changes. It helps us appreciate the finer things, knowing our hours together are beautiful as polished gems that never lose their glow and always retain their value.

~ I felt glad as the ponies do when the fresh green grass starts in the beginning of the year. ~

TEN BEARS

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

Elder's Meditation of the Day August 5

"It is a paradox in the contemporary world that in our desire for peace we must willingly give ourselves to struggle."

Linda Hogan, CHICKASAW

The Grandfathers have taught us about sacrifice. We have been taught to pray for the people in a pitiful way. Struggle and conflict is neither good nor bad, it just is. Everything that grows experiences conflict. When the deer is born it is through conflict. When the seed first grows, it is through conflict. Conflict precedes clarity. Everything has the seasons of growth. Recognize - acknowledge - forgive and change. All of these things are done through conflict.

Great Spirit, give me the courage today to see that struggle and conflict are here to teach me lessons that are a gift from you.

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Remember all those times when you made three trips to the other room to get something, and before you got there you had already forgotten what it was? Didn't the thought of age diminishing your memory enter your mind at those times?

There's really no need to waste time thinking that way. It is not the case of a scattered memory, but a skittery mind, jumping from one subject to another with only circumstances to remind you.

And haven't you awakened sharply in the middle of the night because suddenly you remembered something you should have done, or something you must do? Age again? No, it was the only time your subconscious mind ever found you quiet enough to remind you of something you wanted to remember.

Life would be so much more orderly if we took several minutes night and morning to sit completely away from outside sights and sounds to recall the important things. As long as we are able to see and hear the activity about us we have difficulty thinking soundly. The conscious mind is capable of carrying just so much, and then the debris must be cleared away before the "filed away" things in the subconscious can be remembered.

"Be still and know...."

Donadagahv’I

Tawodi Unega
( White Hawk )

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

Abe Conklin - Ponca/Osage, (1926-1995)

May The Creator walk with you.