January 27 Daily Feast, Elder's Meditation, THINK on THESE THING

January 27 - Daily Feast

Habit has its beginnings in thought. Whatever becomes second nature to us has first caught on in our thinking - only to operate, in time, without thinking at all. Breaking with deeply ingrained addictions is something else again. Since we were old enough to understand we have been bent to a certain thought, molded to act and react until we follow through habitually. If what we did gave us comfort or made us feel good, we did it again. We have to fight habit with habit, deliberately changing one thought, one action, for another. If we simply try to remove a habit without filling the vacuum, we are opening the door for more and worse to come in. It is harder when we let thought drift back to remember how we were comforted. There is more than one comfort, more than one joy in forming a new habit.

~ We bury them from sight forever and plant again the Tree. ~

DEKANAWIDAH, 1720

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

Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 27

There is no death. "Only a change of worlds."

Chief Seattle, SUQWAMISH AND DUWAMISH

The Elders tell us of the other dimension, the Spirit World. Our spirit in our bodies does not die, it only looks that way to our eyes and our brains. Some of our ceremonies allow us to see into the Spirit World. Death is only part of a process of life. It shows the transition into the Spirit World. The Elders tell us this is a joyful life journey.

My Creator, help me to understand both the seen world and the unseen world. Let me not be afraid of the world You live in.

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

There is much to be said of small things. Even in this age of emphasis on bigness we must realize that bigness is only a mass of small things. An idea is a small thing. With it we can change our world. We can take a tiny seed and give it careful attention and reap a hundred fold. We can take a little idea and give it our attention and build it into a fortune.

A smile is a small thing. Smile once at someone in passing and three will return the smile. Smiling is so contagious that it moves from person to person until a hundred smiling faces are the result of one.

A thought is a small thing. One thought inspires another and another until a mental image is formed. From that mental image blueprints are drawn. And from those blueprints worlds are built.

Hope is a small thing. One tiny glimmer of hope can lift us out of the deepest pit of darkness. One whisper of encouragement will help us to know that as long as there's hope there is an excellent chance.

A wish is a small thing. Like a little prayer, it climbs the steps to an idea that makes a smile and gives us hope to make our wishes come true. For in small things are all great things formed, in little beginnings the
possibilities of great events.