March 10 Daily Feast, Elder's Meditation, THINK on THESE THING

March 10 - Daily Feast

The more stress we have the less we like other people - and ourselves. A little pressure is sufficient. Stress can be productive if it is something we like doing. But when we can no longer ka no gi a, enjoy and sing about life, we need to reevaluate the direction we are going. It is impossible to withdraw from every problem, but neither can we go on without some relief. Being responsible is a natural part of life - very necessary to living well and being contented. To find a happy medium is to center ourselves where peace and answers can be found. It does not come from the noise and complaints of the world - but from that secret place of harmony and strength within the heart. It is a place that must be added to and kept harmonious, for it gives us poise and renewal when we need it.

~ Once you have heard the meadowlark and caught the scent of fresh-plowed earth, peace cannot escape you. ~

SEQUICHIE

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

Elder's Meditation of the Day - March 10

"I know Grandpa told me that to smoke is Wakan (holy). The smoke you inhale represents the spirits of everything you put into the pipe. When you breather in the smoke, you are asking to become one with everything or to become whole."

Dr. A.C. Ross (Enhanamani), LAKOTA

The smoke allows us to go from the Seen World to the Spirit World. It is in the Spirit World where we are all connected. In this way, we can become one with all things. Our pipe is sacred. We need to be respectful of our medicine. When we smoke the pipe, we need to have good thoughts because these thoughts are shared with the Spirit World. The pipe, the smoke, the spirits, our thoughts-these things are Wakan.

Great Spirit, today, let my thoughts be Wakan.

'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.