June 17 & 18, 2016 Daily Feast Of Wisdom (Tsugitsvnvda Danalisdayvhvsgv Agadohvsdi ) (ᏧᎩᏨᏅᏓ ᏓᎾᎵᏍᏓᏴᎲᏍᎬ ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ)

2016

June
Dehaluyi
ᏕᎭᎷᏱ

Friday
Tsunagilosti
ᏧᎾᎩᎶᏍᏘ

June 17 - Daily Feast

Pressure destroys some people and helps others rally to do their best. One seeks peace and order and another heads toward noise and chaos. A little of both keeps us on our toes, but it means we have to have good judgment. Peace is necessary - even under pressure. Like the rhythm of the sea, we rise to high tide and relax back to calm. No different from inhaling and exhaling, we are created to keep the balance.

~ I am much indebted to the Father of us all - Him who made us and placed us on this earth. ~

PETALESHARO - PAWNEE PRINCIPAL CHIEF

"A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II" by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Elder's Meditation of the Day - June 17

"Your power comes from the songs."

Ethel Wilson, COWICHAN

If you do not know any of the songs, ask an Elder to teach you. Get yourself a drum. When you sing a song and play the drum, you'll be surprised how your mind, body, and spirit will react. Everything becomes calm and joyful. Our bodies love the songs. The songs allow us to touch the hand of the Creator. When we sing and touch the Great Spirit's hand, He gives us power. Songs are another way to pray.

My Grandfather, teach me a song today.

"THINK on THESE THINGS"
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Leave yourself a choice. It is a sorry state of affairs when a person's life becomes so regimented that it is impossible to make even one change in plans. There is a story about a gentleman who kept a record in minute detail of his living and every cent he earned so that he could make a trip abroad. The record keeping became such an obsession that when he could make the trip he took along crackers to keep from eating in the dining room aboard ship. The journey was nearly over before he discovered the price of his meals was included in the fare.

How much do we miss by refusing to accept the bounty of choices? "If only" and "I wish" are so over used. We bind ourselves daily by refusing to recognize the volume of opportunities open to each of us. All of life is not free, but there is much available for our personal selection.

Dr. William S. Sadler wrote of a woman who was so orderly and systematic in her living that she inquired of her minister how to go about dying since she had never done it before. Living in a systematic world is possible, but there are limits to what we can prepare for and about which to be orderly. Daily we meet and settle many small emergencies, and some not so small. And it is our developed ability to meet these things successfully and on the spur of the moment that makes a well-rounded individual.

But the steady, uniform methods of doing things do not necessarily mean a person is ready to meet every situation in life. In fact, such living often makes change practically impossible when change is sorely needed.

Order is heaven's first law. But order means first things first. A place for everything and everything in its place. Then, if we've learned how to live, we never have to worry about the art of dying gracefully.

2016

June
Dehaluyi
ᏕᎭᎷᏱ

Saturday
Dodaquidena
ᏙᏓᏈᏕᎾ

June 18 - Daily Feast

Survival is a decision. It seems not to be true when we are face to face with something or someone that is bent on destruction. But say to yourself many times a day, "No weapon formed against me shall prosper." It is a declaration of freedom and absolute intent. When you are standing on the edge of a very steep mountain, get your balance. Walk firmly away from any situation that would push you over. You'll never know what a tremendous part your decisions plays until you feel its power lifting you out of danger.

~ I am no child; I can think for myself. No man can think for me. ~

CHIEF JOSEPH - NEZ PERCE

"A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II" by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Elder's Meditation of the Day - June 18

"I am particularly found of the little groves of oak trees. I love to look at them, because they endure the wintry storm and the summer's heat, and, not unlike ourselves, seem to flourish by them."

Sitting Bull, SIOUX

Every season, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, has gifts that it gives to all creatures. The animals will develop thicker furs just before Winter and will shed this fur in the Spring. Squirrels will store their food in the Fall; other animals build up fat so they can hibernate during the Winter. We can watch all forms of nature and see all creatures work in harmony with the seasons. The secret for us is to learn by observing nature. Watch the trees. Learn from them. We human beings need to learn the gifts and blessings of the seasons.

Grandfather, Grandmother, teach me to live in harmony with the seasons.

"THINK on THESE THINGS"
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

What is it that keeps us from doing the creative things we want to do? Fear of venturing and losing, fear of the unknown. And yet, every day of our lives we venture and seldom acknowledge the fact that we didn't lose. We too often accomplish something because circumstances forced a courage we could not muster from mere desire.

Frequently we must simply have the audacity to lay aside the taboos we have built for ourselves, for fear of appearing foolish, and follow a creative curiosity.

When Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, "Give me a young man with brains enough to make a fool of himself," he didn't mean intentionally acting foolishly. He meant that a fearlessness of appearing foolish can enable us to step outside the realms of what others would call the limits.

The simplest ventures often bring joy to many, particularly to those who in the beginning dared to stand on their own chances of winning or losing.