November 8 Daily Feast, Elder's Meditation, THINK on THESE THING

November 8 - Daily Feast

Listen, if you do not care about yourself, who is going to? If you are not acquainted with your own spirit, who will be? Listen, there are secrets in your heart that you have refused to hear. There is strength in your mind and in your soul that you have not used. Who told you that you would never amount to anything? Did you say it, or did you hear it said? It is a lie. You see, Spirit is the only One that knows you. Has He said you won't make it? Never, because He knows you can. If you will only believe in yourself, if you will only take the initiative and move one step, He will move two. All you have to do is to care about yourself and your Creator.

~ I have nothing bad in my breast at all; everything is all right there. ~

SATANTA - KIOWA CHIEFTAN

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

Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 8

"See how the boy is with his sister and the other ones of his home lodge and you can know how the man will be with your daughter."

LAKOTA Proverb

Very early in our lives we form beliefs, attitudes, expectations and habits. We will live by these habits when we are older. The Elders say to watch the boy with his sister. If he is respectful and treats her good, then odds are that is the way he will treat all women when he is older. Also, watch the young girl and how she treats her brother, for that will indicate what kind of woman she will be to her man. We need to teach our children to respect one another while they are young. The best way to teach them is to show respect ourselves.

Great Spirit, let me be a role model for the children.

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Life equips us in many ways for very special purposes. Some never catch the high vision as to why they may be the objects of ridicule or the witness of cruelty - while others bear the brunt of many heartaches and still are capable of knowing compassion for those who cause it.

Jesus was such a man - He withstood more than we are able to comprehend, but He asked that his tormentors be forgiven for they knew not what they were doing.

It is our individual decision whether we choose to be one of the throng of agitators who see only to confirm what everyone else is doing, or we can catch the vision of greater things and walk firmly in paths we believe are right.

To fall into the roll of just another face in the crowd is an ill-chosen path, but to lead others to follow is the essence of parasitism - the need to have others be just as nameless and even more dependent.