Daily Feast Of Wisdom (Tsugitsvnvda Danalisdayvhvsgv Agadohvsdi ) (ᏧᎩᏨᏅᏓ ᏓᎾᎵᏍᏓᏴᎲᏍᎬ ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ)

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Comment by David White Hawk Administrator on July 23, 2012 at 8:05am

Elder's Meditation of the Day July 23

"...the greatest strength is in gentleness."

Leon Shenandoah, ONONDAGA

Our Elders have taught us many lessons about becoming a Warrior and how to think and act like one. We have been told about the power of gentleness. We have been told about the power of the stillness. Physical power is about effort. Mental power is the opposite. It's about being effortless or less any effort. Gentleness is one of the greatest attributes of the Warrior and one of the greatest mental powers. It takes a lot of love to be gentle. Gentleness is not an ego word. Gentleness is the weapon of the Great Spirit.

My Creator, today I will be gentle with myself and with others. I will listen to the whisper of my heart and learn the power of being gentle.

Comment by David White Hawk Administrator on July 23, 2012 at 8:05am

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

How weak-willed we are at times when we've made a decision and know we must stand on it. It is so much easier to give in to the easy way of doing things.

We are almost a "house divided against itself," and the strain of staying with a decision seems almost our enemy. But we never gain much stature by giving in to ourselves against our better judgment. And we never get anywhere by scattering our efforts.

Making a decision is difficult enough without losing one's determination in following through. Laying down the responsibility is someone like warning children to behave themselves and then permitting them to continue to misbehave.

How long has it been since you've proven to yourself that you mean business in carrying out a plan?

A man of wisdom has written that we have firmness of character when we have the ability to say "no" to the wrong as well as to those things which are good but stand in the way of our progress.

Always remember that to want something that is good and right is the blessing. God gave us that ability to desire or we would never have thought of using it. But God also gave us the ability to cry, to feel pain, and the freedom to choose whether we go on or quit.

In our lives we face many decisions. Some are hard to make because we know we must turn our backs upon something that seems harmless at the moment simply because we know it would not be good in the long run.

But there are also decisions that are more challenge than decision. They are the good things that are placed before us, and our will to follow through is tested. When defeat seems sure, then is the time to begin to fight. When others are quitting, then is the time to throw more strength into the battle. Anything worth having is worth working for, and is of lasting value.

Very often these sieges must be made silently and without seeming effort. And yet we know we cannot get something for nothing. We have a service to perform. We can make it a drudge, or we can make it a delightful experience, according to our faith. Be persistent. Unless you do not particularly want your dreams to come true, you can't afford to know the meaning of apathy. You must continually be on the scene with the muscles of your mind toned.

It isn't difficult to have a dream. But it often ceases at that point. The willingness to follow through, the determination to look impossibilities in the eye and trudge on must be practiced before that dream can amount to anything.

All along life's road there are those who would discourage you, every often in ignorance, not realizing the effect of their words upon you. It is then that you must muster the strength to believe that theirs is only an opinion while your plans are based on the principle that all good things come to those who hustle while they wait.

It is too bad that they cannot see your invisible companions, persistence, faith, and a worthwhile plan. Smile and walk on.

There is a Divine Being with whom we can place all our obstacles, all our doubts and fears - and then our work begins. We give lovingly of friendship, of any kind of help that we are capable of giving, of positive words and thoughts and understanding.

Give without thought of return. For while we are giving with loving selflessness, life shapes for us our heart's desire.

Comment by David White Hawk Administrator on July 22, 2012 at 10:51am

July 22 - Daily Feast

We are forever in transition - continually moving, changing direction, doing differently than we imagined. If we were to stop and analyze the past and what lies ahead, we would know that if anything is required of us, it is to be flexible. Not flexible in seeing everything one color, one ideal, one belief - but bending without breaking, able to see the chaos and not fall down under it. It is our duty, our a da du da lv ne di, obligation, to move and bend without creating a rift in our own spirit. A house cut in two cannot stand. However far we move in any direction, we must get it back together, we must bond with the law of our own spiritual being - which is to love others as we love ourselves. But we have to first love ourselves.

~ I had a dream.....that the maker of all was Wakan Tanka.....to honor Him, I must honor his works. ~

BRAVE BUFFALO

Comment by David White Hawk Administrator on July 22, 2012 at 10:50am

Elder's Meditation of the Day July 22

In this universe, all activities, events, and entities are related. Indians believe that everything in the universe has value and instructs us in some aspect of life. Everything is alive and is making choices that determine the future, so the world is constantly creating itself, With the wisdom and time for reflection that old age provides, we may discover unsuspected relationships.

Vine Deloria, Jr, STANDING ROCK SIOUX

We are all connected. This is what the Elders have told us for a long time. If we are connected to all things, then whenever we harm anything, it causes harm to ourselves. If we destroy the air, then we will be affected by what we breathe in. If we poison the earth, we poison ourselves. We must respect our Mother Earth and She will respect us in return. We must open our eyes and obey the spiritual laws that govern the earth and ourselves.

Grandfather, today allow me to honor and respect the things You have made. Let me see the beauty of all things.

Comment by David White Hawk Administrator on July 22, 2012 at 10:49am

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

It has been written that an optimist is someone who can fall ten stories and call out to each floor in passing that everything is okay so far. It has also been said that an optimist is someone who refuses to see things as they really are.

It is far better, the pessimist believes, to look for the worst so as to be pleasant surprised when things are better than expected. Then, if they are as bad as imagined, the disappointment won't be quite so great.

But this is somewhat like backing into a room so to avoid seeing the beauty of it, only to find it is an elevator shaft.

There can be no advancement where we expect the worst and believe that going outside the limits of ordinary thinking is only day dreaming. Thinkers, capable of forecasting and predicting answers before the questions arise, are in great demand.

Only the optimist can fill the bill. Only the optimist can dare to believe there are things waiting for discovery and further development.

An optimist questions life the same as a pessimist - the difference is that the optimist knows there is an answer and that the answer can be found. Optimists are aware that the cherries of life have pits, but they are prepared to remove them. Their minds do not dwell on the pits, but on the sweetness of the cherries.

There will be situations that will make us afraid. Fear is a common sense emotion that keeps us from walking in front of a moving car or from jumping off the deep end of anything. And there are periods of natural anxiety when we want too much to perform well, and the butterflies begin to flutter.

Then, there is another kind of fear that is unnatural. It has the ability to possess us and rule over our very lives. It is that "what if" fear that builds nests in our minds and hatches dire images that scare the daylights out of us. It can keep the lights off, the doors bolted, and the windows of our souls blocked against the most beautiful things in life.

It is no disgrace in this day to ask for professional help in understanding our fears. Only the very foolish would consider this help a crutch. It is a brave person who admits the need for help and has the courage to go and find it.

They are the pioneers in recognizing our existence as threefold: spirit, mind, and body.

Comment by David White Hawk Administrator on July 21, 2012 at 10:13am

July 21 - Daily Feast

When we are appalled at the other person's ignorance, it is hard to believe that our own is just as profound. We stand in awe that they do not see what is so apparent, but in all our self-confidence we are as much in the dark as the next person. We are just ignorant on different subjects. What one person studies intensely may mean nothing to someone involved in another idea. But it takes all of us to make up the families of the world. We each have a purpose - and none of us quite like another. Time, circumstances, and beliefs have separated some as far as the East is from the West. It is not that we were created to be nu da le hna v, different or separated - but that we chose. We chose. We had the freedom to choose, and therein lies the difference.

~ You think I am a fool, but you are a greater fool than I am. ~

SITTING BULL

Comment by David White Hawk Administrator on July 21, 2012 at 10:12am

Elder's Meditation of the Day July 21

"You must speak straight so that your words may go as sunlight into our hearts."

Cochise "Like Ironweed" CHIRICAHUA APACHE

Come into my heart this morning. Allow me this day to live in the now. Help me to see all the beauty You have created in all things. Let me know myself. Today, as I make mistakes, let me see them as lessons. Guide me. When I see others make mistakes, let me honor them for where they are. Let me realize that they are Your children and only You, my Grandfather, knows what is really going on. When my lips move, let the words be Your words.

Allow me to have the courage to speak Your truth.

Comment by David White Hawk Administrator on July 21, 2012 at 10:12am

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

"There is no royal road to anything - One thing at a time, and all things in succession. That which grows slowly endures."
- J.G. Holland.

The first lessons we have to learn is that instant success in anything is a fantasy. The overnight success stories we hear about are really products of much preparation.

If we could view a life laid out before us, we could see it is much like a hand sewn quilt, built of many tiny pieces, colors of every hue, fabrics of every kind, and patiently joined together by tiny stitches to give many years of service. Maybe we missed a stitch someplace and it caused a weak place, but the strength of many other stitches will carry it through. Finally a complete quilt has been created and it is strong and lasting.

When we truly want to move ahead we build our lives a quilt block at a time, patiently adding to another part of life until we have the strength and courage to endure.

Take on step at a time, but take it positively forward! The patience will be rewarded. To have a dream come true we must first have a dream. Don't look back. The past is gone, but the future is still in our hands.

Comment by David White Hawk Administrator on July 20, 2012 at 7:50am

July 20 - Daily Feast

The hours were longer when we were children. Summer was a time of sunlight, bare feet, and shade trees. We fished in a creek with a crooked pole and feasted on potatoes and onions cooked over an open fire, which the Cherokee calls a tsi la. It was a good time, and we expected everything to be good. There was time to daydream - or hide out in a secret place and be quiet. Now we have less time and more responsibility - or have we let fear steal our joy? If we let it, it will tell us we can't remember details, we hear less, our vision is blurred and we are afraid of what we see and read. Fear is a contaminate that dulls our senses. But it can't affect us when we turn around and renew and restore our minds. The creek and the sunperch are still there to help.

~ We sang songs that carried in their melodies all the sounds of nature - the running of waters, the sighing of winds, and the calls of the animals. Teach your children..... ~

AMERICAN INDIAN

Comment by David White Hawk Administrator on July 20, 2012 at 7:49am

Elder's Meditation of the Day July 20

"When you begin a great work you can't expect to finish it all at once; therefore, do you and your brothers press on and let nothing discourage you until you have entirely finished what you have begun."

Teedyuschung, DELAWARE

All things have their seasons. All thoughts are real. We must think to cause action and each action creates results. Big visions require many thoughts. It takes a series of thoughts to create a series of actions. A series of actions creates a series of results. These results are what makes vision become real. If we are here to serve the Creator then we can expect to be accomplishing big visions. How do we do this: One step at a time.

Let me focus on what needs to be done today. Give me clear thoughts to accomplish the results that you, my Creator, would have me accomplish.

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