June 23 Daily Feast, Elder's Meditation, THINK on THESE THING

June 23 - Daily Feast

Attitude is everything if the day is to go well. If we require others to have patience with us and give us u we to li s di, the Cherokee word for pity or sympathy, then our minds are going to be on whether or not we get it, instead of on living well. We forget that we project to others how we want to be treated. Arrogance invites resistance. Hangdog attitudes invite other sour and sullen looks and behavior. Good-natured people are always welcome and give peace to our minds. Whatever we are about, it is to our advantage to know the world is reflecting back to us the mirror-image of pleasant manners - or the stern appearance of touch-me-not. It takes so little to relax and enjoy, so that others can do the same.

~ I am old, it is true; but not old enough to fail to see things as they are. ~

WHITE SHIELD

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

Elder's Meditation of the Day June 23

"He [Wakan Tanka] walks with us along the pathways of Life, and He can do for us what we could never do on our own."

Fools Crow, LAKOTA

With the Creator in our lives, we are everything. Without the Creator, we are nothing. When the Creator is in our life, suddenly the impossible becomes possible. The extraordinary becomes ordinary. Things we thought could never happen start to happen. Talents we never know we had, start to blossom. Resources appear. Help arrives to give us guidance and direction. We become happy. We have peace of mind and confidence.

Oh Great Spirit, today I want You in my life. The days that I know You are with me are the days that are perfect. Let me be joyful today.

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

We all know that if it were not for the little kindnesses, the helping hands that we receive from those who touch our lives daily, we would fall more often and much harder. Yet, we must remember there comes a time when we cannot expect others to rush to our aid. It is then that we test the strength of our own self-reliance.

We should make every effort to be worthy of the concern and help of others. It is sharing all phases of life that make living more than just an existence. But none of us can support others for long who have no will to use their self-reliance. It is said that God helps those who help themselves, but even God cannot help where help is refused.

Then, how much can we depend on ourselves? How would we react to the same situations we see other people experiencing daily? We, who depend so much on our external advantages to pull us through, cannot truthfully foretell our actions in a crisis. But we can have a reserve of faith and strength behind us so that when others reach out to lift us up, we will be worthy of their time spent in helping to build our self-reliance.

Donadagahv’I

Tawodi Unega
( White Hawk )

I will be going by My new true and traditional Cherokee Name From the Bird Clan . It will not be official, however, until I can have the ceremony for it By my Udo ( Brother ) Mashu: 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.