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

February 25 - Daily Feast

When we stop fretting we gain more ground. If we can stop trying to control everything with our minds and let it go, even for a little while, we will get a clearer view. There is wisdom in the words, "Having done all, stand." Do what can be done, build faith, know there is a Great Holy Spirit that knows even the very smallest thing we need. At this point, everything will challenge us, but just let it slide away, let it dissolve from inattention. The greatest steps are taken when we decide not to thrash out, not to hate and resent and lose ourselves in the confusion. Put it all down and walk away to something totally different. Having done all, stand, and refuse to be drawn back into a place of no peace.

~ The man who sat on the ground in his tipi meditating on life and its meaning, accepting the kinship of all creatures and acknowledging unity with the universe of things, was infusing into his being the true essence of civilization. ~

CHIEF LUTHER STANDING BEAR

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

Elder's Meditation of the Day - February 25

".the Creator was responsible for the existence of everything, a part of the Creator's spirit exists in everything and thus all things are connected."

Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA

The Creator designed nature, people, and all things as an interconnected system. Everything is connected to each other. This connection exists in the Unseen World. The same way our body parts are all port of the body-the parts are separate but also connected. If a part of our body is in pain, the rest of the body recognizes this pain as its own. In other words, the pain of one is the pain of all. This is also true of every interconnected system. Because we are connected, we should respect and take care of our Earth and each other.

Great Spirit, let me treat everyone, today, as if they were You.

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Some of the dearest moments ever spent are those on the road I didn't want to travel. And some of the most magnificent doors I've ever passed through are where before there was no way.

Some of the kindest people I shall ever know are the ones I didn't want to meet. And the greatest abundance I've ever received came from a pittance I wanted to withhold.

Tears I have wanted to shed have turned to happiness because for a moment I could see beyond them. And hope has saved everything when I wanted most to give up in despair.

And suddenly I realize how great my progress could be if I could get myself and my emotions out of the way. How hard I push against the door that opens inward - inward, where faith and hope and trust abide.

There's not enough ambling done any more. There are too many deadlines. Time for a favorite TV show, time to take pills, time for appointments, time to catch a plane. Life is one continual alarm clock.

Never a gentle gait, but always at a dogtrot to meet those deadlines. It seems that dawdling along or staring into space is a waste of time, as the ambitious, eager for superiority, move dangerously ahead.

Many great people have known the wisdom of safeguarding their health and security by taking time to analyze, not in the role of fact sifting, but by allowing the minds to amble, to drift openly from thought to thought. This sitting idly on the sidelines and fishing quietly in the mind can catch many a solution that casting would never hook.

After a period of creative silence, attacking any deadline is made simple. The mind has had time to lay down the brittle aggressiveness and is ready to operate efficiently. Even physical weariness passes and the goal ahead isn't so far in the distance.

When there isn't time to go fishing, remember the words of American author William Mathews: "Knowledge is acquired by study and observation, but wisdom cometh by opportunity of leisure. The ripest thoughts come from a mind which is not always on the stretch, but fed, at times, by a wise passiveness."

Donadagahv’i
Uwetsidvhi Waya Uwasv
( Son of Lone Wolf )

May The Creator walk with you.