We know without being told when we have acted unkindly or behaved unjustly toward another. Intolerance, whether it is personal superiority or religious bigotry, serves only to isolate us from the greatest joy in life - the sharing of ideals and happiness and friendship.
We must be patient and fair toward anyone whose opinions differ from our own. There is a much better chance of convincing those whom we hope to influence by being an example rather than a voice.
It is much easier to be led than to be pushed, and not so hard to be tolerant when we recognize within ourselves the reasons we are not always tolerant.
It sometimes becomes habitual to be dissatisfied with everything we see others do. We don't take time to understand and know the basis of their actions. We often fall short of listening to them long enough to understand, and their next words or actions may explain it.
We cannot afford to be intolerant, because no matter how good our ideas are, there is always a better one.
"If the Great Spirit wanted men to stay in one place He would make the world stand still; but He made it to always change..."
Chief Flying Hawk, OGLALA SIOUX
The Elders tell us change occurs in two directions. They say, "That which is built is constantly being destroyed; that which is loose is being used to build the New." In other words, change is constantly going on. Many times we hear people say, "I hate change." Does it make sense that the Great Spirit would design people to hate it? The Great Spirit designed people with change abilities such as visioning, imagery and imagination. Maybe we need to learn to use these tools and then we'll look forward to change.
Great Spirit, today, let me see the harmony of Yours, truly changing world.
It is useless to put a warped container inside a good one in hopes of straightening it. It only spoils the good one. The stuff they are made of has to be workable if either is to be saved. We can be affected, even encouraged by outside influences, but real change is from the inside. It is possible to wait a long time for a situation to change so that we can change. It won't happen. We have to change first - our thoughts, our attitudes, and very often, our reasons. If we are ever to be totally free of u tso a se di, the Cherokee expression for miserable or unhappy circumstances, we will have to remold our own human spirit to the will of the Great Spirit. It is the only help that is not based on money or dependency on someone else who is equally weak.
~ Great Spirit, once more behold me on earth and learn to hear my feeble voice. ~
Bad feelings are burdens. When we get to the point of believing the whole world is sour because we don't understand it, we have a lot of self-searching to do. Maybe we helped it to lose its sweetness. Maybe we're the bad apple that soured the whole lot.
Our first thought should be to make amends. Sometimes we can't, and when such is the case we need to get out of the way and let time and nature take its course.
Life is too beautiful to go on being a bitter pill that insists that everyone swallow it. As in the words of Caleb C. Colton, an English clergyman around the turn of the century, "The man who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own dispositions, will waste his life in fruitless efforts, and multiply the grief which he proposes to remove."
We need to unburden ourselves by forgetting our problems and doing something that will put a smile on someone else's face.
The quickest way to solve the problem of hurt feelings is to inquire if this situation is important to the whole of existence. Does this particular thing mean more than any of the other things of life? It is amazing how quickly trials fade into nothingness when faced with this question. It places before us the need to decide here and now the meaning of our whole existence.
There are not many things in our lives that we can truthfully say mean everything to us. The small things are important and very dear, but the really significant things we count on one hand - life, our loved ones, our good desires, our faith, and our nation.
One of the most magnified situations in this day is taking life too seriously. In the stress of too much mental confusion we seem unable to laugh off so many little irritations. We let personality rule us into making each little problem the source of great anxiety and dramatically lay hold of it until it chokes us.
The worthwhile side of this life is too important to let ourselves become involved with things that mean little to us. Too much of the trouble in the world is caused from ego-building importance that would never be missed in anyone's existence.
"...Grandmother the Earth. That power is here all the time. It is continuous, and nobody controls it."
Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
There are certain powers that the human being has no choice but to obey. We cannot negotiate or barter with this power. Our choice is either to conform or to live out of harmony. Whatever our choice, it will be the end result in our lives that we notice. So it is with the powers of the Earth which produce life. The Earth has the life force power. If anyone plants a seed, the seed will grow. The Earth treats everyone equally. The human cannot interfere, only obey. We should all show great respect for the Earth and Her powers.
Great Spirit, today, let me honor and respect the power of the Grandmother, the Earth.
Have we lost control of who we are? Have we allowed ourselves to get in a position of little or no control - believing that we must forfeit bits and pieces of who we are to get along? The one weapon against us that has the total respect of the world is the business of weight loss. Never have so many fought so long to lose so little. Think of the dollar value put on a pound of flesh - the hype, the remorseful tears, the acceptance that we cannot control our eating. Though overindulging in anything is dis-ease, it is not disease. It is the silent enemy, the spirit of destruction that the Cherokee calls u so nv I, which is not good but downright evil. It is the enemy with no power except subliminal suggestion. But enter the Great Holy Spirit, and its great roar is but a pip-squeak. We have to care, but we also need to know the truth to be free.
~ When the Great Father sent out men to our people, I was poor and thin,; now I am large and stout and fat. It is because so many liars have been sent.....and I have been stuffed full of their lies. ~
If you don't know what to do about a situation - wait awhile, the answer will come. If weariness overcomes you before you've completed a difficult job, wait awhile, you'll get your second wind.
If you do not agree with someone else's philosophy, don't fret, perhaps later you will come to know that the same philosophy can be reached from many different directions.
If you think the activities of another person or group are frivolous and unnecessary, wait a bit, they most likely will feel the same way about you sometime.
If you don't like what others have to say, wait, they may clarify it - or you may change your mind.
If life hasn't dished you unhappiness, wait a bit, if you've planted any happiness seeds, you will also reap.
We can't always wait, but sometimes waiting is action, and action of the hardest kind. It is difficult to keep quiet when you have something to say, but it more often saves your face later and sometimes your life.
"To be able to greet the sun with the sounds from all of Nature is a great blessing, and it helps us to remember Who is the real provider of all of our benefits."
Thomas Yellowtail, CROW
The Elders say we should pray to the East every morning. Just try it! Get up early in the morning, watch the sun and listen to the morning sounds, the birds, the winds; smell the air, feel the breeze and the warmth of the sun. Your mid will expand and you will experience oneness with the Great Spirit. You'll realize who is really in charge. You'll realize an interconnectedness. You'll realize how much the Creator loves you! Just try it!
Great Spirit, today, let me feel the Earth, the Father Sun and your presence.
If there is one thing that scares us, it is the thought that any part of life has been wasted. We look back and ask why we let it happen - what was so important that it could steal our youth, our strength, our capacity to be somebody - to just be happy. Is it too late to begin again? Never. It may be with a different set of rules, a standard of values that has changed drastically, but begin again? Yes, Many have started over and have had more happiness and contentment in a short time than in all of what is known as the wasted years. Anyone who has ever traveled a trail of tears wishes they had known then what they know now. But we did not know, and life is not lived by hindsight. We did what we knew to do - sometimes with great ignorance. But if we know the difference now and want to begin again - then why not? And why not now?
~ Years of trial and anxiety, of danger and struggle, have maintained the ....Cherokee people as a distinct community....and such must continue. ~
Do you remember the interesting story of the lion and the mouse in Aesop's Fables? The lion could have crushed the mouse but was merciful and let it go free. A year later the lion became entangled and the mouse nibbled its way through the net to set the lion free.
It is a dangerous thing to wade through other people's feelings, burning our bridges and believing we will never need them again. The saddest persons on earth must be those who find they have tried to destroy the only one who can help them.
The smallest and seemingly most insignificant has a purpose in this world, and it isn't for us to judge what that purpose is. We have enough to do in finding our own.
As in the fable, we must remember, "Few are so small or weak, I guess...but may assist us in distress....nor shall we ever....if we're wise....the meanest of the least despise."
"...the sacred ceremonies given to us by the Creator are the Heart of our existence. These ceremonies are our first duty."
Traditional Circle of Elders. NORTHERN CHEYENNE
Hidden in the ceremonies are many truths, many principles, many guidelines for livingâ?? our access to the Unseen World, healing and visions. Because the Indian People didn't have schools or books, the Great Spirit gave us Ceremonies. The ceremonies are handed down from generation to generation to learn their meaning. Today, many Indian People live in cities or urban areas where it's hard to learn the ceremonies. We need to go to the Elders and learn the ceremonies so we can pass them on to our children.
Great Spirit, teach me the Secrets of the Ceremonies.
Many of us would gladly take the responsibility of hurt for those we love. We feel we would be more capable of bearing it, more apt to handle it. We want to leave them as unscathed and near perfect as possible. But we cannot take some people's problems. They must use their own strength and learn what is true and false in living. Not so different from us, they might not take the wisest steps. It many also be hard for them to believe that our experiences have ever been as wretched as their own. It is difficult not to cry with those we love. Our hearts cry, even when frustration makes our faces stern and stoic. But we have to allow other people to put down their feet and take a stand. How can they become strong in their own right if we try to be in their legs?
~ Sometimes we prayed in silence; sometimes each one prayed aloud; sometimes an aged person prayed for all of us....and to Usen. ~
Regret is something everyone has, but no one can afford to keep. Being remorseful is commendable when we should be sorry for wrong behavior, but to live with regret is to add to it day by day. There are those who are unable to admit they have ever been wrong. But there are more who carry with them so much regret they are bowed in spirit.
Thomas Moore, the Irish poet, once said, "Remorse is beholding heaven and feeling hell," but perhaps just knowing heaven can exist makes regret more hellish. And so often it renders the regretful almost powerless to lift themselves out of their predicament.
But there is forgiveness! A daily vow or affirmation can take us a step further in lifting ourselves above the things that cause regret. And if we've settled down in the middle of unhappiness to enjoy our lot in life, then, moment by moment, inch by inch, we shall overcome that, too!
"A vision could put you on a path you don't want to follow."
Archie Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA
There is a saying, "You move toward and become like that which you think about." If we keep thinking about a bad thing, we will move in that direction. If we think about fear in some area of our life, we will probably experience this fear. We move toward and become like that which we think about. If we think about secret things, these secret things will come to pass. Our visions are very powerful. Visions determine our direction, our lives. If you think about lustful things, it's a matter of time before you'll be wrestling with it. We should think about our visions to make sure they include the Great Spirit in every area.
Great Spirit, today, give me Your vision to follow.
Many are gamblers without knowing it. They demand their right to do something - even when it is not expedient. We can insist on our right to turn at the stoplight, but if someone else has never heard of our right and takes his chances at going through, it is dangerous business. Having rights holds only of the responsibility of them goes with it. Sometimes a right is a privilege we don't dare demand. The Cherokee calls this u na du da lv, acting in a way that is mature and careful of others. Some people tend to believe they are above the basic rules of living. But when life drops a rock on the one who so freely takes advantage, it can be a well-deserved rock. It reminds us to stay within the limits of everything from good taste to common sense.
~ The good road and the road of difficulties you have made me cross; and where they cross the place is holy. ~
Have you noticed how hardheaded we are about clinging to the way we think something should be done? If it worked once, we think it should again, and perhaps it does. There are proven methods of getting successful results in many things. But ever so often we try to use the same procedure, follow the same general pattern we've used before, only this time it doesn't work.
How we pound our fist against that stone wall! Insisting all the time that there used to be a door in exactly that spot. Who moved the door? Frequently circumstances are to blame. But placing the blame is not the important thing. Finding the way is important.
The way may not be marked plainly, and we have to blaze a new trail, find a new method. But the hardest part of finding that new method is in admitting we need one. The first and most important step is in changing our idea of how it should be done. As soon as we have accepted this fact the mind has a reserve of experiences and knowledge that will hurry in to help. But only after we've admitted the need for it.
"The earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was... The country was made without lines of demarcation, and it is no man's business to divide it..."
Chief Joseph, NEZ PERCE
There is danger when we start to draw lines and boundaries. This is true whether outside ourselves or inside ourselves. The danger is losing sight of the interconnectedness. When we lose sight of interconnectedness, separation, possessiveness ( this is mine, I can do what I want) and infighting results. Even at an individual level, if we don't believe we are connected to all things we get self-centered and have self-seeking motives. We must think in harmony, balance and integrity. We must see our relationship to the great whole and conduct ourselves accordingly.
Great Spirit, today, let me think beyond boundaries.
The past is to be respected for its rich store of experience - mistakes and all - believes the Cherokee. In it are all the trials and wisdom of our elders, the timeless suffering and seasoning that came to us with a brave front. But we, with less experience and far less wisdom, question why they did certain things. We have only to look at our own recent history to know that many circumstances come in to dictate some of what happened. We do not relate it to our offspring word for word - why we did something, wise or unwise. It is better they take what we have learned and build on it. The young have a tendency to see themselves far more shrewd and able than their elders. But one day, they too will see and understand the patterns that have been laid down. They will forgive and hope to be forgiven for not being miracle workers. The fact that we are here with a load of experience and wisdom behind us speaks positively of the past.
~ Grandfathers, Great Spirit, you have given me the cup of living water, the sacred bow, the power to make life and to destroy it. ~
Hardly any of us are without some jealousy. We like to think of ourselves above that painful emotion, because such a monstrous feeling is a destructive thing. But if we have not felt a normal amount of it, it is because we have yet to doubt something we love very much.
Margaret, Queen of Navarre, and sister of Francis I, King of France in the fifteenth century, wrote the following words:
"Love may exist without jealousy, although this is rare; but jealousy may exist without love, and that is common; for jealousy can feed on that which is bitter, no less than on that which is sweet, and is sustained by pride as often as by affection."
Jealousy can rear its head when logic is giving you the facts, and throw the whole thing into chaos. But confidence is the enemy of jealousy. Confidence, trust, and faith are all strong parts of a nature where jealousy does not rule.
And jealousy, even in moderation, can introduce us to a serious problem with ourselves, if we let it grow out of proportion. It breed rejection while maturity and understanding keep us safely within the bounds of permissiveness rather than possessiveness.
"The man who sat on the ground in his tipi meditating on life and its meaning, accepting the kinship of all creatures and acknowledging unity with the universe of things was infusing into his being the true essence of civilization."
Luther Standing Bear, OGLALA SIOUX
There is a concept that says you move toward and become that which you think about. If we think about everything as interconnected and interrelated, we will begin to accept the greater whole and that there is a power who is in charge. If we see the cycles of life, if we see the inner powers, if we see the interdependence of the universe, then we will participate in a harmonious way. We all need to pray and meditate on this. We need to understand the property of unity.
My Creator, let me have the insights of nature and give me the power of acceptance.
Does a child look at an older person and say, "I want to be just like you?" Not usually. More than likely they say to themselves that they hope they are doing better than what they see when they reach the same age. It is a fear thought. Time is getting away and this is what I fear I will be. We are one with other people, we need each other, but we are not all destined to be exactly alike. Common sense and individuality were put in us when we were created - not to be idle but to be used. Why give in to every negative suggestion when all we have to do is tell ourselves it is not, and never will be, acceptable. Tradition is strong in the Cherokee family. Old ones are thought wise and they are respected. But we are all individuals with different gifts that are enhanced by heritage.
~ We never made any trade. Part of the Indians gave up their lands; I never did. The earth is a part of my body, and I never gave up the earth. ~
The destructive hand is one that never finds a friendly hand to shake. Its finger is always pointed at someone in an accusation. It is shaking in someone's face in a threat. The destructive hand is forever lifted against anyone who differs, ready to strike in disagreement, always lifted for attention to let them tell the wrong someone has done.
The destructive hand tries desperately to hold another's good back...ready to sign a complaint....forever in a gesture of disdain.
But pity the destructive hand. It will never know the tenderness of love nor find the clasp of friendship. It will never feel the sun warm on its palm while it lifts someone...or guide another to happier things....or wave or cheer or praise and give thanks.
The destructive hand is the negative approach to all of life. It can never do anything but discourage and frighten. The positive approach to life is found in every gesture of the productive hand; it builds unbreakable structure, unbroken peace, and joy to soothe the most savage heart.
"One of the things the old people taught me about the spirits was to never have a doubt."
Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
The spirit world is sometimes hard to believe in because we can't see it. Out minds convince us to seek proof for everything. We need to believe that the Unseen World exists and the Unseen World is guided by principles, laws and values. If we have doubts, we can pray to the Great Spirit to remove the doubt. He understands how difficult it can be sometimes, so He's always ready to help us during our doubtful times. We are lucky to have such an understanding and helpful Father.
Suddenly the hour is gone - and it is anybody's guess what we did with it. Did we enjoy anything? U li lo hv s gi, pleasant times are for a purpose, the Cherokee believes. It is not just u wo tiv di, something to amuse us, but pleasure slows the heart, lowers the blood pressure, and gives ease to the mind. Something beyond the awareness tries to slow the human spirit from living so intensely. It is not natural to push the mind and body until such weariness takes over that there is no natural relief. A pause, a a Tsa we so lv s di, which means a reprieve or rest, will give us strength and renewed vision. Without it, we are burned out and we enjoy nothing.
~ Lots of us may not have learned yet....we all have brains and are anxious to work. ~
Don't allow life to mean too much. Keep it light and shallow; spend as much time as possible scoffing at those things meaningful to others; forget the decency and patience in their attitudes.
And look with overbearing revenge to make them pay for what they believe....laugh at the efforts....call attention to their imperfections....and don't forget to learn how to live alone....if not in body, then in spirit. And then don't take the blame for a desert-island soul. It is of one's own making. But remember; oh so well, that life does not stand still while we search for someone to blame for our isolation.
"The land is a sacred trust held in common for the benefit of the future of our nations."
Haida Gwaii - Traditional Circle of Elders
The Creator made the Earth to support life so that life would continue to reproduce, everything would support one another, and future generations would have the same benefits of supply and beauty as the generations the proceeded them. This cycle will only continue to the degree that we make choices and decisions for the future generations. Today, we are too greedy and selfish. We are cheating our children, grandchildren and the children unborn.
Creator, let me see the consequences of my decisions, and show me how to make healthy corrections.
Too much is learned that adds nothing to life. With the advent of "tell it like it is" the flow of troubled water washed in a mountain of debris. The unlearned feel it necessary to empty their garbage into the ears of other people without considering whether anyone wants to hear it. U yo tsv hi, the Cherokee calls it - not music, not poetry, not gracious words - but pure trash. The container may be new and shiny and touched with bits of colorful paint - but inside is the same old decaying ga da ha, (spoken with disgust), and the word is filth. Little things reveal much about a person - but none more than what he talks about, what he laughs at, what he finds amusing - or even helpful. No matter how beautiful or handsome - the tongue tells all.
~ Yesterday I heard something that made me almost cry. ~
There must be a great many persons who have questioned their own wisdom in having fought for a principle. To so many, it seems all they gleaned from it was the title "different." Isn't this why so many refuse to stand up for what they believe? We look at them in disbelief, the idea that someone is trying to attract attention. If they are not twitted about their actions they are treated with cold indifference which can be even worse.
It seems that if persons have the strength to say they will fight for a certain truth, they must also have the strength to fight alone without depending on those around them to tell them how they should conform. They must not be embarrassed to be counted as unusual in the pursuit of their particular belief.
But the individuals who find themselves alone in the stand they take must remember that if it is truth they are following it will eventually win and at least they can live with themselves. Not everyone can say that.
H.W. Beecher has written, "It is often said it is no matter what a man believes if he is only sincere. But let a man sincerely believe that seed planted without ploughing is as good as with; that January is as favorable for seed-sowing as April; and that cockle seed will produce as good a harvest as wheat, and is it so?
Sincerity, like trust, must be rooted in those basic truths that are for the good of everyone. If that which we sincerely believe in and live by is truly good, then the results will speak so loudly that all who really want to will see. Until we sincerely want to know good and do good, we will never know it. And until we do, we only half live.
"Humility is probably the most difficult virtue to realize."
Thomas Yellowtail, CROW
Two definitions of humility are (1) being aware of one's own defects of character, and (2) giving credit where credit is due. This means if you do something and are successful because God gave you certain talents, give credit to God when someone tells you how well you did; this is being humble. If you are successful at something, but had help from friends, spouse, neighbors, give credit to those who helped you; this is being humble. If you have done a task and you alone accomplished it, give credit to yourself; this is being humble. Say the truth and give credit where credit is due.
Little is more symbolic to the Cherokee than a crystal-clear flowing stream. The banks of such a stream have known the most meaningful prayers, the worship and gratitude of the innermost soul. It is here that the Great Spirit speaks to us in supernatural ways, a da to li s to di for the Cherokee. The stream not only cleans and washes away wrong and error but it is the tongue over which slip the words that have been fed there by the last rain. The words are a direct form of communication to the Great Holy Spirit, Who so centers our lives. All rivers run to the sea - whether it is a person's life or the flowing stream. Some of it is turbulent, some peaceful - with depths and shallow places, with swift mainstreams and circling eddies. But it is always moving, always gathering into its flow the experiences that make us who we are.
~ The springs....to bathe in them gives new life; to drink them cures every bodily ill. ~
The truly humble are those who have no thought of using other people to their own avail. They are aware that any success they may attain comes not entirely from their own intelligence and abilities, but because somewhere along the way they have acknowledged how inadequate they are alone.
The day of the self-sufficient person has never truly been. Without other people, without a sense of humility, success is lost to the overambitious.
English critic John Ruskin once said that the first test of a truly great person is humility.
There is greatness and sincerity when we can say to ourselves that we are only human and except for the grace of God we would even lack those qualities. We realize that the world owes us nothing, and no person owes us anything but love. It is not simply our job to serve ourselves, but it is our duty to serve others.
Humility is one of the finest qualities found in human nature. Without it we are nothing but a brash machine, with it we are warm and kind and always respected.
If we want to be friends to others, we must meet them on their level. This isn't to say we have to be the type they are, but understand them and realize that it is a good thing that we are not all alike. This is the beauty of humanity, the variations that keep the human race from being monotonous.
And there is nothing sweeter to the human ear than to hear someone talk its language. Great persons have realized this and have made themselves adaptable to the little and to the big, to the learned and to the unschooled, in order to be more widely understood.
Who knew better than the Wise Master the importance of meeting others on their own level? The Master looked into the lives of every type of person and saw many changes that needed to be made, but also saw much to love and to waken. And in this gentleness and compassion the Wise Master could meet us all and speak our languages, then to be understood and followed.
We live in such narrow existence's when we cannot communicate with anyone except those on our own level of thought and action. And if we only have one level on which to operate, there's danger of it becoming a shelf for immovable objects.
"Power comes and goes. It can vanish in the twinkling of an eye, like smoke dissolving in the air."
Archie Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA
The East, South, West and North are the powers of the four directions. The Creator makes these powers available to do things. We pray to the Creator to give us the power to do these things. Often, we are given these powers for a while, then these powers disappear. Power is given and taken from us by the Great Spirit, the source of power. During the time we have this power, we should be responsible and use the power in a good way. Many good things can be accomplished when we realize where this power really comes from.
Great Spirit, today, show me how to use Your power.
When we have lived a long time with trouble we learn to recognize it a long way off. Sometimes it hides behind the look of serenity, sometimes in laughter - but nearly always in the way a person jokes. It takes some understanding, some go li s di yi, some recognition or reckoning, to sense the pain that is so well hidden. In such cases, it often takes one to know one. We need each other. This unusual ability to see and form a kinship with another person makes us friends and loving partners. We have to be true to ourselves, to keep a part of the innermost heart sacred. A friend knows and respects in us what he, himself, must have as well.
~ I speak straight and do not wish to deceive or be deceived. ~
Human dignity is that silent something in us that keeps us from falling below the level where others look down on us to make light of our very existence. None of us exists who cannot sense to some degree the feeling that others hold for us. It may create in us a "show them" attitude that takes us through life more successfully, but it will more likely destroy our desire to be anything more than what is expected of us.
It is an appalling thing to see other impose their superiority upon the human dignity of those whose literacy may not be equal to their own. Only profound ignorance could convince anyone they have the right to see and idly judge another's intelligence, or to insult the dignity of any human being.
The little silent people who have not yet discovered within themselves the abilities they need to lift themselves, still have the right and dignity of being human. A small amount of respect and direction might start them on the road to better things, though it might be all uphill. At least if they know it is all uphill they may work harder and reach a place where they can look back at those with lofty ideas about themselves, standing forever stagnant, and feel more compassion than they could ever have felt.
"Sell a country? Why not sell the air, the great sea, as well as the earth? Did not the Great Spirit make them all for the use of his children?"
Tecumseh, SHAWNEE
The White Man's way is to possess, control and divide. It has always been difficult for Indian people to understand this. There are certain things we cannot own that must be shared. The Land is one of these things. We need to re-look as what we are doing to the Earth. We are digging in her veins and foolishly diminishing the natural resources. We are not living in balance. We do not own the Earth; the Earth owns us. Today, let us ponder the true relationship between the Earth and ourselves.
Great Spirit, today, let me see the Earth as you would have me see Her.
In this age of defending and demanding rights, we are often faced with the question of who holds us back more than anyone else....and in all honesty we must admit we are the ones. We narrow our vision and develop helpless and hopeless attitudes to defeat us. And yet, we are the ones who speed us on as well. Our good attitudes keep us moving and active and able to do everything without reacting to the smallest incident as a barrier in our way. We are willing to work, to initiate and set in motion the good of life, and do it by not stepping on others. We keep a constant vigil over our lo qui is, star, and reach up that we may lift others up with us.
~ Misfortunes do not flourish particularly in our path. They grow everywhere. ~
There is much to be said of small things. Even in this age of emphasis on bigness, we must realize that bigness is only a mass of small things. An idea is a small thing. With it we can change our world. We can take a tiny seed and give it careful attention and reap a hundred fold. We can take a little idea and give it our attention and build it into a fortune.
A smile is a small thing. Smile once at someone in passing and three will return the smile. Smiling is so contagious that it moves from person to person until a hundred smiling faces are the result of one.
A thought is a small thing. One thought inspires another and another until a mental image is formed. From that mental image blueprints are drawn. And from those blueprints worlds are built.
Here is a small thing. One tiny glimmer of hope can lift us out of the deepest pit of darkness. One whisper of encouragement will help us to know that as long as there's hope there is an excellent chance.
A wish is a small thing. Like a little prayer, it climbs the steps to an idea that makes a smile and gives us hope to make our wishes come true. For in small things are all great things formed, in little beginnings the possibilities of great events.
"You have to have a lot of patience to hear those old people talk, because when they talk, they talk about motivation, the feeling, the unsound that is around the universe. They explain everything to one understanding. They bring it all together, and when they finish, just one word comes out. Just one word. They might talk all day, and just one word comes out."
Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
We need to be careful about judging the old ones when we talk. At first they may not make sense to us. Maybe we'll say they're old fashioned and don't understand. But the old ones do understand! When they speak, listen very carefully. Often it will take weeks or maybe even years before we understand what they are really saying. This is the way of Wisdom. We need to listen, listen, listen.
Great Spirit, today, open my ears so I can hear the Elders.
I am....the Cherokees are....your friends.....Our wish is for peace. Peace at home and Peace among you.....
CHIEF JOHN ROSS
June 1 - Daily Feast
The morning is quiet and the high-pitched cry of the hawk carries clear to the quail and rabbits that rely on their sharp hearing to skitter out of sight. The hawk is hunting, and the small things of nature want no part of it. Threatening sounds - whether from a t wo di, hawk, or sirens, or angry voices - are frightening. As a child, a lesson in survival was learned when a rabbit ran the length of a field beneath a barbed-wire fence with a hawk in pursuit. The hawk was not about to fly into the barbs and gave up to hunt easier prey. The rabbit lay spent from fear, panting and gasping - but unafraid of a child that was no adananuladi, no threat or danger. It is easy to go weak from fear. But how many know where to run to when angry sounds threaten? The hawk does not hover over us but Yoweh does.
There may be many reasons why man wants to conquer the world, but there is something youthful and soul-stirring, to be able to do it for somebody. Living within oneself is barren and shallow, lacking in warmth and without understanding. But when we can be outgoing and giving, the importance of others becomes doubly strong.
It is impossible to even be selfish without the help of others. Who would we take from, blame troubles on, resent, and criticize? But more important, who would care when we're ill, who would be happy when we're blessed, and who would love us when we least deserve it?
The world may be deluged with problems and solutions, laws to live by, formulas, fear, faith, and the everlasting struggle to survive in the face of others, but it is just as necessary to share laughter in happiness, to know God in a sunset, and to feel joy in a sunrise, all more beautiful because of others.
Victor Hugo wrote that he greatest happiness in life is in knowing that others love us, for ourselves, or rather, they love us in spite of ourselves.
"The Natural Law is the final and absolute authority governing E Te No Ha, the earth we call our Mother."
Traditional Circle of Elders
There is no power greater than the Natural Laws. These powers were set up by the Great Spirit in such a way that the human being has no access to it, except by obeying. If we choose not to follow the Natural Laws, our live will be filled with confusion, tension, anxiety and stress. If we poison the Earth, we poison ourselves. If we poison the Water of the Earth, we poison ourselves. As we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves and our children, even the children unborn. May we think about this today and ask ourselves, "Are we holding and acting toward the Mother Earth in a good way?"
Great Spirit, teach me the Natural Laws that govern the Earth.
Late June evenings offer a variety of concerts to the lingering spirit of Tsalagi, the Cherokee. The songs of katydids and crickets rise to a crescendo and shrink back the way a tide swells and recedes. A sudden volley of hoots shoot through the woods and impatient shouts answer. The prairies lie quiet and serene beneath faintly showing stars until coyotes, most likely only two or three, howl like a dozen. The first high-pitched shout is like the head singer at a stomp dance, and then others join in before they stop as suddenly as they start. In the lull, the plaintive voice of he whippoorwill adds a sweet note. It has all been a ga nah is daw, a messenger or ambassador of good will - of peace on earth - not only to the Tsalagi but from the Tsalagi to all the world.
"I owe no man anything but love" is it said. But what is love? Love is duty - whatever duty may require to accomplish a good thing.
Love is peace. One must not only be peaceful but contribute to the peace of others. Let there be peace and let it begin with me.
Love is sometimes pain. We must give up something that causes us pain because it is for the good of the greatest number.
Love is understanding. That others do not have to forever explain their actions to us. That we know their reasons without being told.
Love is courage. Courage to lead where one has the ability to lead. Courage to stand up for what one believes in and wants to live.
Love is faith. Faith in God, faith in self, and faith in others. Everyone is not above reproach, but we must have faith that the majority strives to be.
Coleridge wrote, "He prayeth best who loveth best," which seems to rule out all hollow and self-heard prayers. For those who truly love do not hear themselves only, or rule all life useless because they cannot love or pray.
Life can be as simple as love and prayer. Where the two mingle there can be no jealousy, resentment, or fear.
Jealousy makes us compare our lot with another's. And there can be no comparison, for no two people are alike.
Resentment plunges an otherwise logical soul into despair and an endless journey of revenge.
And fear rushes us headlong into situations that detract, accidents that could be prevented, and long delays in reaching our goals.
But if we can, for a few moments, invite into our hearts a thing called love, then we can pray. And if we pray we have the source of all answers to our aid.
"IN THE BEGINNING were the Instructions... The Instructions was to live in a good way and be respectful to everybody and everything."
Vickie Downey, TEWA/Tesuque Pueblo
A long time ago, in the beginning, the Creator gave to all people and to all things the Wisdom and the knowledge of how to live in harmony. Some tribes call these teachings the original Instructions, the original teachings, or the Great Laws. All of Nature still lives and survives according to these teachings. In modern times, human beings are searching for the Instructions. Many churches claim they have these Instructions. Where are these teachings? The Instructions are written in our hearts.
Great Spirit, today, whisper to me the secrets of the original Instructions.
Big changes require many small ones. Any change seems sudden, regardless of how much we prepare for it. We wait for it, ask for it, expect it, and resent its intrusion. Change is needed to stay young and vital and moving. Without it we stagnate, lose our keenness of thought, and too often fall into melancholy. Even in the best of times change takes a certain amount of adjustment. Our biggest problem with change is that we expect it to be bad rather than something that will make us happier. To a Tsa su ga, a flea, a dog is the whole world, says a Cherokee. As much as we like where we are, it isn't the whole world. There are bigger things - and better. We have to be able to see beyond the dog.
Irritation, they say, is something gentle folk should never know. Always passive, they go along the way smiling, no matter what the cost to feelings. But have you ever tried to smile when all the street lights are red and someone honked loudly when you failed to move quickly enough.
Have you heard a politician slur the name of your candidate....and had a promise broken without so much as a faint explanation. Or perhaps the long explanation on how to do something you've done for years....and suddenly you want to make two lists of people you like and people you don't like!
And maybe you've answered the telephone and heard them hang up simply because your voice was not the right voice....Or had them stand back empty handed while you with your packages opened the door for them?
Well, it's no easy matter to be gentle folk and the mildest can get angry all over again by just thinking of an injustice. Perhaps it is trifling to let such little things irritate. But the best of us feel the small things that we never quite get over. We forgive and forget except to think about it occasionally, and then we must consider the words of Seneca, "Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us then the injury that provokes it."
We live in a continual round of adjustments. It is usually an admirable thing to be able to make adjustments easily. Not many can. And, yet, it makes us wonder at times if those who can so freely change and moved without emotions have ever felt very deeply.
We tend to cling to familiar things and familiar customs. There is a great security in traveling a way we know by heart. The roughest road can usually be traveled without incident when we know every turn and bump.
It had been said by those who do scientific research that it takes at least three weeks to adjust to changes. But three months would do it more justice. And it must be done by abandonment, by setting aside for a period of time all things like the old way. Many times it is done not for ourselves alone, for it is foolish to believe a change involves only ourselves.
In our very complex way of life there is no situation to affect only one person. And often the most wonderful thing we can do for someone else is to find our own balance by making adjustments quickly, even in the middle of chaos.
The Medicine Wheel teaches about change. It says that which is created will fall apart; that which is loose, will be used to create new. In other words, everything on Earth is participating in a constant change that is being directed by an order of laws and principles which were originated by the Great Spirit. We humans are equipped with natural change abilities. We have the ability to vision; we can use imagination and imagery; we can change belief, attitude, habits and expectations. We need to know ourselves and we need to know how we work inside to enable us to change naturally.
What is so strange about using our words to build? Doesn't it make more sense to build something than to tear down? Who is closer to us than ourselves - other than Above-the-Sky, Galun-lati! We spend most of our time listening to our own words - words that go into our ears to build or tear us down. Sometimes they whisper in our silent talk, sometimes we say them and they affect us deep in our hearts. Confidence may come because of what someone else told us, but it is maintained by what we tell ourselves. We boot it every time we say we can do what we once thought impossible. We lose it by confirming what fear told us is true. Talking can change our circumstances when we change the words.
~ Tecumseh said to Big Warrior, "I will stamp my foot on the ground and shake down all your lodges." (An earthquake struck and tumbled the village.) ~
Everyone is a collector of something. And everyone's collection looks peculiar to someone else. And yet, who knows why an item may have a certain appeal to one particular person. The shape, the color, the whole idea may have a hidden background, but it is most definitely there!
It may be old books, or magazines. Perhaps it is pill bottles, fishing hooks, or something "I may need someday when...." Who knows the reasons old calendars continue to hang, and scraps of this and that may someday be just what I need.
But more dear than any of these are the happy thoughts we collect to use along the way. We can use them to cheer someone, to pass along a word of courage, a simple prayer, a smile. And when someone has time to share with us an experience that we may profit by the pain they felt - yes, these are collector's items. These priceless bits of life's fabric, woven by someone's cares and offered to us in hopes that it will help.
Whatever it is that we collect, we must never forget the dearest collections are the kindnesses, the thoughtful acts, the smiling faces that can be ours by giving the same.
What could be so priceless as true friendship? Friends for which time and space do not exist! It is written, "What a great blessing is a friend with breast so trusty that thou mayest safely bury all thy secrets in it, whose conscience thou mayest fear less than thy own; who can relieve thy cares by his conversation, thy doubts by his counsels, thy sadness by his good humor, and whose very looks give thee comfort."
All of us have had many friends, but the special ones remain forever in our memories. The dearest are those who believe in us and are willing to trust us with their friendship.
We cannot force friendship. It is something mutually felt, mutually understood, and silently accepted. It is our opportunity to demonstrate our very best selves - to ask no questions and to pass no criticisms.
"Before us is a future all unknown, a path untrod; Beside us a friend well loved and known -
That friend is God."
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
We know without being told when we have acted unkindly or behaved unjustly toward another. Intolerance, whether it is personal superiority or religious bigotry, serves only to isolate us from the greatest joy in life - the sharing of ideals and happiness and friendship.
We must be patient and fair toward anyone whose opinions differ from our own. There is a much better chance of convincing those whom we hope to influence by being an example rather than a voice.
It is much easier to be led than to be pushed, and not so hard to be tolerant when we recognize within ourselves the reasons we are not always tolerant.
It sometimes becomes habitual to be dissatisfied with everything we see others do. We don't take time to understand and know the basis of their actions. We often fall short of listening to them long enough to understand, and their next words or actions may explain it.
We cannot afford to be intolerant, because no matter how good our ideas are, there is always a better one.
May 17, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day May 17
"If the Great Spirit wanted men to stay in one place He would make the world stand still; but He made it to always change..."
Chief Flying Hawk, OGLALA SIOUX
The Elders tell us change occurs in two directions. They say, "That which is built is constantly being destroyed; that which is loose is being used to build the New." In other words, change is constantly going on. Many times we hear people say, "I hate change." Does it make sense that the Great Spirit would design people to hate it? The Great Spirit designed people with change abilities such as visioning, imagery and imagination. Maybe we need to learn to use these tools and then we'll look forward to change.
Great Spirit, today, let me see the harmony of Yours, truly changing world.
May 17, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
May 17 - Daily Feast
It is useless to put a warped container inside a good one in hopes of straightening it. It only spoils the good one. The stuff they are made of has to be workable if either is to be saved. We can be affected, even encouraged by outside influences, but real change is from the inside. It is possible to wait a long time for a situation to change so that we can change. It won't happen. We have to change first - our thoughts, our attitudes, and very often, our reasons. If we are ever to be totally free of u tso a se di, the Cherokee expression for miserable or unhappy circumstances, we will have to remold our own human spirit to the will of the Great Spirit. It is the only help that is not based on money or dependency on someone else who is equally weak.
~ Great Spirit, once more behold me on earth and learn to hear my feeble voice. ~
BLACK ELK
May 17, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Bad feelings are burdens. When we get to the point of believing the whole world is sour because we don't understand it, we have a lot of self-searching to do. Maybe we helped it to lose its sweetness. Maybe we're the bad apple that soured the whole lot.
Our first thought should be to make amends. Sometimes we can't, and when such is the case we need to get out of the way and let time and nature take its course.
Life is too beautiful to go on being a bitter pill that insists that everyone swallow it. As in the words of Caleb C. Colton, an English clergyman around the turn of the century, "The man who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own dispositions, will waste his life in fruitless efforts, and multiply the grief which he proposes to remove."
We need to unburden ourselves by forgetting our problems and doing something that will put a smile on someone else's face.
The quickest way to solve the problem of hurt feelings is to inquire if this situation is important to the whole of existence. Does this particular thing mean more than any of the other things of life? It is amazing how quickly trials fade into nothingness when faced with this question. It places before us the need to decide here and now the meaning of our whole existence.
There are not many things in our lives that we can truthfully say mean everything to us. The small things are important and very dear, but the really significant things we count on one hand - life, our loved ones, our good desires, our faith, and our nation.
One of the most magnified situations in this day is taking life too seriously. In the stress of too much mental confusion we seem unable to laugh off so many little irritations. We let personality rule us into making each little problem the source of great anxiety and dramatically lay hold of it until it chokes us.
The worthwhile side of this life is too important to let ourselves become involved with things that mean little to us. Too much of the trouble in the world is caused from ego-building importance that would never be missed in anyone's existence.
May 18, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day May 18
"...Grandmother the Earth. That power is here all the time. It is continuous, and nobody controls it."
Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
There are certain powers that the human being has no choice but to obey. We cannot negotiate or barter with this power. Our choice is either to conform or to live out of harmony. Whatever our choice, it will be the end result in our lives that we notice. So it is with the powers of the Earth which produce life. The Earth has the life force power. If anyone plants a seed, the seed will grow. The Earth treats everyone equally. The human cannot interfere, only obey. We should all show great respect for the Earth and Her powers.
Great Spirit, today, let me honor and respect the power of the Grandmother, the Earth.
May 18, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
May 18 - Daily Feast
Have we lost control of who we are? Have we allowed ourselves to get in a position of little or no control - believing that we must forfeit bits and pieces of who we are to get along? The one weapon against us that has the total respect of the world is the business of weight loss. Never have so many fought so long to lose so little. Think of the dollar value put on a pound of flesh - the hype, the remorseful tears, the acceptance that we cannot control our eating. Though overindulging in anything is dis-ease, it is not disease. It is the silent enemy, the spirit of destruction that the Cherokee calls u so nv I, which is not good but downright evil. It is the enemy with no power except subliminal suggestion. But enter the Great Holy Spirit, and its great roar is but a pip-squeak. We have to care, but we also need to know the truth to be free.
~ When the Great Father sent out men to our people, I was poor and thin,; now I am large and stout and fat. It is because so many liars have been sent.....and I have been stuffed full of their lies. ~
RED DOG, 1870
May 18, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
If you don't know what to do about a situation - wait awhile, the answer will come. If weariness overcomes you before you've completed a difficult job, wait awhile, you'll get your second wind.
If you do not agree with someone else's philosophy, don't fret, perhaps later you will come to know that the same philosophy can be reached from many different directions.
If you think the activities of another person or group are frivolous and unnecessary, wait a bit, they most likely will feel the same way about you sometime.
If you don't like what others have to say, wait, they may clarify it - or you may change your mind.
If life hasn't dished you unhappiness, wait a bit, if you've planted any happiness seeds, you will also reap.
We can't always wait, but sometimes waiting is action, and action of the hardest kind. It is difficult to keep quiet when you have something to say, but it more often saves your face later and sometimes your life.
May 19, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day May 19
"To be able to greet the sun with the sounds from all of Nature is a great blessing, and it helps us to remember Who is the real provider of all of our benefits."
Thomas Yellowtail, CROW
The Elders say we should pray to the East every morning. Just try it! Get up early in the morning, watch the sun and listen to the morning sounds, the birds, the winds; smell the air, feel the breeze and the warmth of the sun. Your mid will expand and you will experience oneness with the Great Spirit. You'll realize who is really in charge. You'll realize an interconnectedness. You'll realize how much the Creator loves you! Just try it!
Great Spirit, today, let me feel the Earth, the Father Sun and your presence.
May 19, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
May 19 - Daily Feast
If there is one thing that scares us, it is the thought that any part of life has been wasted. We look back and ask why we let it happen - what was so important that it could steal our youth, our strength, our capacity to be somebody - to just be happy. Is it too late to begin again? Never. It may be with a different set of rules, a standard of values that has changed drastically, but begin again? Yes, Many have started over and have had more happiness and contentment in a short time than in all of what is known as the wasted years. Anyone who has ever traveled a trail of tears wishes they had known then what they know now. But we did not know, and life is not lived by hindsight. We did what we knew to do - sometimes with great ignorance. But if we know the difference now and want to begin again - then why not? And why not now?
~ Years of trial and anxiety, of danger and struggle, have maintained the ....Cherokee people as a distinct community....and such must continue. ~
CHIEF JOHN ROSS
May 19, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
May 19, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Do you remember the interesting story of the lion and the mouse in Aesop's Fables? The lion could have crushed the mouse but was merciful and let it go free. A year later the lion became entangled and the mouse nibbled its way through the net to set the lion free.
It is a dangerous thing to wade through other people's feelings, burning our bridges and believing we will never need them again. The saddest persons on earth must be those who find they have tried to destroy the only one who can help them.
The smallest and seemingly most insignificant has a purpose in this world, and it isn't for us to judge what that purpose is. We have enough to do in finding our own.
As in the fable, we must remember, "Few are so small or weak, I guess...but may assist us in distress....nor shall we ever....if we're wise....the meanest of the least despise."
May 20, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day May 20
"...the sacred ceremonies given to us by the Creator are the Heart of our existence. These ceremonies are our first duty."
Traditional Circle of Elders. NORTHERN CHEYENNE
Hidden in the ceremonies are many truths, many principles, many guidelines for livingâ?? our access to the Unseen World, healing and visions. Because the Indian People didn't have schools or books, the Great Spirit gave us Ceremonies. The ceremonies are handed down from generation to generation to learn their meaning. Today, many Indian People live in cities or urban areas where it's hard to learn the ceremonies. We need to go to the Elders and learn the ceremonies so we can pass them on to our children.
Great Spirit, teach me the Secrets of the Ceremonies.
May 20, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
May 20 - Daily Feast
Many of us would gladly take the responsibility of hurt for those we love. We feel we would be more capable of bearing it, more apt to handle it. We want to leave them as unscathed and near perfect as possible. But we cannot take some people's problems. They must use their own strength and learn what is true and false in living. Not so different from us, they might not take the wisest steps. It many also be hard for them to believe that our experiences have ever been as wretched as their own. It is difficult not to cry with those we love. Our hearts cry, even when frustration makes our faces stern and stoic. But we have to allow other people to put down their feet and take a stand. How can they become strong in their own right if we try to be in their legs?
~ Sometimes we prayed in silence; sometimes each one prayed aloud; sometimes an aged person prayed for all of us....and to Usen. ~
GERONIMO
May 20, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Regret is something everyone has, but no one can afford to keep. Being remorseful is commendable when we should be sorry for wrong behavior, but to live with regret is to add to it day by day. There are those who are unable to admit they have ever been wrong. But there are more who carry with them so much regret they are bowed in spirit.
Thomas Moore, the Irish poet, once said, "Remorse is beholding heaven and feeling hell," but perhaps just knowing heaven can exist makes regret more hellish. And so often it renders the regretful almost powerless to lift themselves out of their predicament.
But there is forgiveness! A daily vow or affirmation can take us a step further in lifting ourselves above the things that cause regret. And if we've settled down in the middle of unhappiness to enjoy our lot in life, then, moment by moment, inch by inch, we shall overcome that, too!
May 21, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day May 21
"A vision could put you on a path you don't want to follow."
Archie Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA
There is a saying, "You move toward and become like that which you think about." If we keep thinking about a bad thing, we will move in that direction. If we think about fear in some area of our life, we will probably experience this fear. We move toward and become like that which we think about. If we think about secret things, these secret things will come to pass. Our visions are very powerful. Visions determine our direction, our lives. If you think about lustful things, it's a matter of time before you'll be wrestling with it. We should think about our visions to make sure they include the Great Spirit in every area.
Great Spirit, today, give me Your vision to follow.
May 21, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
May 21 - Daily Feast
Many are gamblers without knowing it. They demand their right to do something - even when it is not expedient. We can insist on our right to turn at the stoplight, but if someone else has never heard of our right and takes his chances at going through, it is dangerous business. Having rights holds only of the responsibility of them goes with it. Sometimes a right is a privilege we don't dare demand. The Cherokee calls this u na du da lv, acting in a way that is mature and careful of others. Some people tend to believe they are above the basic rules of living. But when life drops a rock on the one who so freely takes advantage, it can be a well-deserved rock. It reminds us to stay within the limits of everything from good taste to common sense.
~ The good road and the road of difficulties you have made me cross; and where they cross the place is holy. ~
BLACK ELK
May 21, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Have you noticed how hardheaded we are about clinging to the way we think something should be done? If it worked once, we think it should again, and perhaps it does. There are proven methods of getting successful results in many things. But ever so often we try to use the same procedure, follow the same general pattern we've used before, only this time it doesn't work.
How we pound our fist against that stone wall! Insisting all the time that there used to be a door in exactly that spot. Who moved the door? Frequently circumstances are to blame. But placing the blame is not the important thing. Finding the way is important.
The way may not be marked plainly, and we have to blaze a new trail, find a new method. But the hardest part of finding that new method is in admitting we need one. The first and most important step is in changing our idea of how it should be done. As soon as we have accepted this fact the mind has a reserve of experiences and knowledge that will hurry in to help. But only after we've admitted the need for it.
May 22, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day May 22
"The earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was... The country was made without lines of demarcation, and it is no man's business to divide it..."
Chief Joseph, NEZ PERCE
There is danger when we start to draw lines and boundaries. This is true whether outside ourselves or inside ourselves. The danger is losing sight of the interconnectedness. When we lose sight of interconnectedness, separation, possessiveness ( this is mine, I can do what I want) and infighting results. Even at an individual level, if we don't believe we are connected to all things we get self-centered and have self-seeking motives. We must think in harmony, balance and integrity. We must see our relationship to the great whole and conduct ourselves accordingly.
Great Spirit, today, let me think beyond boundaries.
May 22, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
May 22 - Daily Feast
The past is to be respected for its rich store of experience - mistakes and all - believes the Cherokee. In it are all the trials and wisdom of our elders, the timeless suffering and seasoning that came to us with a brave front. But we, with less experience and far less wisdom, question why they did certain things. We have only to look at our own recent history to know that many circumstances come in to dictate some of what happened. We do not relate it to our offspring word for word - why we did something, wise or unwise. It is better they take what we have learned and build on it. The young have a tendency to see themselves far more shrewd and able than their elders. But one day, they too will see and understand the patterns that have been laid down. They will forgive and hope to be forgiven for not being miracle workers. The fact that we are here with a load of experience and wisdom behind us speaks positively of the past.
~ Grandfathers, Great Spirit, you have given me the cup of living water, the sacred bow, the power to make life and to destroy it. ~
BLACK ELK
May 22, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Hardly any of us are without some jealousy. We like to think of ourselves above that painful emotion, because such a monstrous feeling is a destructive thing. But if we have not felt a normal amount of it, it is because we have yet to doubt something we love very much.
Margaret, Queen of Navarre, and sister of Francis I, King of France in the fifteenth century, wrote the following words:
"Love may exist without jealousy, although this is rare; but jealousy may exist without love, and that is common; for jealousy can feed on that which is bitter, no less than on that which is sweet, and is sustained by pride as often as by affection."
Jealousy can rear its head when logic is giving you the facts, and throw the whole thing into chaos. But confidence is the enemy of jealousy. Confidence, trust, and faith are all strong parts of a nature where jealousy does not rule.
And jealousy, even in moderation, can introduce us to a serious problem with ourselves, if we let it grow out of proportion. It breed rejection while maturity and understanding keep us safely within the bounds of permissiveness rather than possessiveness.
May 26, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day May 26
"The man who sat on the ground in his tipi meditating on life and its meaning, accepting the kinship of all creatures and acknowledging unity with the universe of things was infusing into his being the true essence of civilization."
Luther Standing Bear, OGLALA SIOUX
There is a concept that says you move toward and become that which you think about. If we think about everything as interconnected and interrelated, we will begin to accept the greater whole and that there is a power who is in charge. If we see the cycles of life, if we see the inner powers, if we see the interdependence of the universe, then we will participate in a harmonious way. We all need to pray and meditate on this. We need to understand the property of unity.
My Creator, let me have the insights of nature and give me the power of acceptance.
May 26, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
May 26 - Daily Feast
Does a child look at an older person and say, "I want to be just like you?" Not usually. More than likely they say to themselves that they hope they are doing better than what they see when they reach the same age. It is a fear thought. Time is getting away and this is what I fear I will be. We are one with other people, we need each other, but we are not all destined to be exactly alike. Common sense and individuality were put in us when we were created - not to be idle but to be used. Why give in to every negative suggestion when all we have to do is tell ourselves it is not, and never will be, acceptable. Tradition is strong in the Cherokee family. Old ones are thought wise and they are respected. But we are all individuals with different gifts that are enhanced by heritage.
~ We never made any trade. Part of the Indians gave up their lands; I never did. The earth is a part of my body, and I never gave up the earth. ~
TOOHULHULSOTE
May 26, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
The destructive hand is one that never finds a friendly hand to shake. Its finger is always pointed at someone in an accusation. It is shaking in someone's face in a threat. The destructive hand is forever lifted against anyone who differs, ready to strike in disagreement, always lifted for attention to let them tell the wrong someone has done.
The destructive hand tries desperately to hold another's good back...ready to sign a complaint....forever in a gesture of disdain.
But pity the destructive hand. It will never know the tenderness of love nor find the clasp of friendship. It will never feel the sun warm on its palm while it lifts someone...or guide another to happier things....or wave or cheer or praise and give thanks.
The destructive hand is the negative approach to all of life. It can never do anything but discourage and frighten. The positive approach to life is found in every gesture of the productive hand; it builds unbreakable structure, unbroken peace, and joy to soothe the most savage heart.
May 28, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day May 27
"One of the things the old people taught me about the spirits was to never have a doubt."
Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
The spirit world is sometimes hard to believe in because we can't see it. Out minds convince us to seek proof for everything. We need to believe that the Unseen World exists and the Unseen World is guided by principles, laws and values. If we have doubts, we can pray to the Great Spirit to remove the doubt. He understands how difficult it can be sometimes, so He's always ready to help us during our doubtful times. We are lucky to have such an understanding and helpful Father.
Great Spirit, today, divorce me from doubt.
May 28, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
May 27 - Daily Feast
Suddenly the hour is gone - and it is anybody's guess what we did with it. Did we enjoy anything? U li lo hv s gi, pleasant times are for a purpose, the Cherokee believes. It is not just u wo tiv di, something to amuse us, but pleasure slows the heart, lowers the blood pressure, and gives ease to the mind. Something beyond the awareness tries to slow the human spirit from living so intensely. It is not natural to push the mind and body until such weariness takes over that there is no natural relief. A pause, a a Tsa we so lv s di, which means a reprieve or rest, will give us strength and renewed vision. Without it, we are burned out and we enjoy nothing.
~ Lots of us may not have learned yet....we all have brains and are anxious to work. ~
ASA DAKLUGIE
May 28, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Don't allow life to mean too much. Keep it light and shallow; spend as much time as possible scoffing at those things meaningful to others; forget the decency and patience in their attitudes.
And look with overbearing revenge to make them pay for what they believe....laugh at the efforts....call attention to their imperfections....and don't forget to learn how to live alone....if not in body, then in spirit. And then don't take the blame for a desert-island soul. It is of one's own making. But remember; oh so well, that life does not stand still while we search for someone to blame for our isolation.
May 28, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day May 28
"The land is a sacred trust held in common for the benefit of the future of our nations."
Haida Gwaii - Traditional Circle of Elders
The Creator made the Earth to support life so that life would continue to reproduce, everything would support one another, and future generations would have the same benefits of supply and beauty as the generations the proceeded them. This cycle will only continue to the degree that we make choices and decisions for the future generations. Today, we are too greedy and selfish. We are cheating our children, grandchildren and the children unborn.
Creator, let me see the consequences of my decisions, and show me how to make healthy corrections.
May 28, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
May 28 - Daily Feast
Too much is learned that adds nothing to life. With the advent of "tell it like it is" the flow of troubled water washed in a mountain of debris. The unlearned feel it necessary to empty their garbage into the ears of other people without considering whether anyone wants to hear it. U yo tsv hi, the Cherokee calls it - not music, not poetry, not gracious words - but pure trash. The container may be new and shiny and touched with bits of colorful paint - but inside is the same old decaying ga da ha, (spoken with disgust), and the word is filth. Little things reveal much about a person - but none more than what he talks about, what he laughs at, what he finds amusing - or even helpful. No matter how beautiful or handsome - the tongue tells all.
~ Yesterday I heard something that made me almost cry. ~
LITTLE WOUND
May 28, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
There must be a great many persons who have questioned their own wisdom in having fought for a principle. To so many, it seems all they gleaned from it was the title "different." Isn't this why so many refuse to stand up for what they believe? We look at them in disbelief, the idea that someone is trying to attract attention. If they are not twitted about their actions they are treated with cold indifference which can be even worse.
It seems that if persons have the strength to say they will fight for a certain truth, they must also have the strength to fight alone without depending on those around them to tell them how they should conform. They must not be embarrassed to be counted as unusual in the pursuit of their particular belief.
But the individuals who find themselves alone in the stand they take must remember that if it is truth they are following it will eventually win and at least they can live with themselves. Not everyone can say that.
H.W. Beecher has written, "It is often said it is no matter what a man believes if he is only sincere. But let a man sincerely believe that seed planted without ploughing is as good as with; that January is as favorable for seed-sowing as April; and that cockle seed will produce as good a harvest as wheat, and is it so?
Sincerity, like trust, must be rooted in those basic truths that are for the good of everyone. If that which we sincerely believe in and live by is truly good, then the results will speak so loudly that all who really want to will see. Until we sincerely want to know good and do good, we will never know it. And until we do, we only half live.
May 30, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day May 29
"Humility is probably the most difficult virtue to realize."
Thomas Yellowtail, CROW
Two definitions of humility are (1) being aware of one's own defects of character, and (2) giving credit where credit is due. This means if you do something and are successful because God gave you certain talents, give credit to God when someone tells you how well you did; this is being humble. If you are successful at something, but had help from friends, spouse, neighbors, give credit to those who helped you; this is being humble. If you have done a task and you alone accomplished it, give credit to yourself; this is being humble. Say the truth and give credit where credit is due.
Grandfather, let me walk a truthful road today.
May 30, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
May 29 - Daily Feast
Little is more symbolic to the Cherokee than a crystal-clear flowing stream. The banks of such a stream have known the most meaningful prayers, the worship and gratitude of the innermost soul. It is here that the Great Spirit speaks to us in supernatural ways, a da to li s to di for the Cherokee. The stream not only cleans and washes away wrong and error but it is the tongue over which slip the words that have been fed there by the last rain. The words are a direct form of communication to the Great Holy Spirit, Who so centers our lives. All rivers run to the sea - whether it is a person's life or the flowing stream. Some of it is turbulent, some peaceful - with depths and shallow places, with swift mainstreams and circling eddies. But it is always moving, always gathering into its flow the experiences that make us who we are.
~ The springs....to bathe in them gives new life; to drink them cures every bodily ill. ~
CHEROKEE WISDOM
May 30, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
The truly humble are those who have no thought of using other people to their own avail. They are aware that any success they may attain comes not entirely from their own intelligence and abilities, but because somewhere along the way they have acknowledged how inadequate they are alone.
The day of the self-sufficient person has never truly been. Without other people, without a sense of humility, success is lost to the overambitious.
English critic John Ruskin once said that the first test of a truly great person is humility.
There is greatness and sincerity when we can say to ourselves that we are only human and except for the grace of God we would even lack those qualities. We realize that the world owes us nothing, and no person owes us anything but love. It is not simply our job to serve ourselves, but it is our duty to serve others.
Humility is one of the finest qualities found in human nature. Without it we are nothing but a brash machine, with it we are warm and kind and always respected.
If we want to be friends to others, we must meet them on their level. This isn't to say we have to be the type they are, but understand them and realize that it is a good thing that we are not all alike. This is the beauty of humanity, the variations that keep the human race from being monotonous.
And there is nothing sweeter to the human ear than to hear someone talk its language. Great persons have realized this and have made themselves adaptable to the little and to the big, to the learned and to the unschooled, in order to be more widely understood.
Who knew better than the Wise Master the importance of meeting others on their own level? The Master looked into the lives of every type of person and saw many changes that needed to be made, but also saw much to love and to waken. And in this gentleness and compassion the Wise Master could meet us all and speak our languages, then to be understood and followed.
We live in such narrow existence's when we cannot communicate with anyone except those on our own level of thought and action. And if we only have one level on which to operate, there's danger of it becoming a shelf for immovable objects.
May 30, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day May 30
"Power comes and goes. It can vanish in the twinkling of an eye, like smoke dissolving in the air."
Archie Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA
The East, South, West and North are the powers of the four directions. The Creator makes these powers available to do things. We pray to the Creator to give us the power to do these things. Often, we are given these powers for a while, then these powers disappear. Power is given and taken from us by the Great Spirit, the source of power. During the time we have this power, we should be responsible and use the power in a good way. Many good things can be accomplished when we realize where this power really comes from.
Great Spirit, today, show me how to use Your power.
May 30, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
May 30 - Daily Feast
When we have lived a long time with trouble we learn to recognize it a long way off. Sometimes it hides behind the look of serenity, sometimes in laughter - but nearly always in the way a person jokes. It takes some understanding, some go li s di yi, some recognition or reckoning, to sense the pain that is so well hidden. In such cases, it often takes one to know one. We need each other. This unusual ability to see and form a kinship with another person makes us friends and loving partners. We have to be true to ourselves, to keep a part of the innermost heart sacred. A friend knows and respects in us what he, himself, must have as well.
~ I speak straight and do not wish to deceive or be deceived. ~
COCHISE
May 30, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Human dignity is that silent something in us that keeps us from falling below the level where others look down on us to make light of our very existence. None of us exists who cannot sense to some degree the feeling that others hold for us. It may create in us a "show them" attitude that takes us through life more successfully, but it will more likely destroy our desire to be anything more than what is expected of us.
It is an appalling thing to see other impose their superiority upon the human dignity of those whose literacy may not be equal to their own. Only profound ignorance could convince anyone they have the right to see and idly judge another's intelligence, or to insult the dignity of any human being.
The little silent people who have not yet discovered within themselves the abilities they need to lift themselves, still have the right and dignity of being human. A small amount of respect and direction might start them on the road to better things, though it might be all uphill. At least if they know it is all uphill they may work harder and reach a place where they can look back at those with lofty ideas about themselves, standing forever stagnant, and feel more compassion than they could ever have felt.
Jun 1, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day May 31
"Sell a country? Why not sell the air, the great sea, as well as the earth? Did not the Great Spirit make them all for the use of his children?"
Tecumseh, SHAWNEE
The White Man's way is to possess, control and divide. It has always been difficult for Indian people to understand this. There are certain things we cannot own that must be shared. The Land is one of these things. We need to re-look as what we are doing to the Earth. We are digging in her veins and foolishly diminishing the natural resources. We are not living in balance. We do not own the Earth; the Earth owns us. Today, let us ponder the true relationship between the Earth and ourselves.
Great Spirit, today, let me see the Earth as you would have me see Her.
Jun 1, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
May 31 - Daily Feast
In this age of defending and demanding rights, we are often faced with the question of who holds us back more than anyone else....and in all honesty we must admit we are the ones. We narrow our vision and develop helpless and hopeless attitudes to defeat us. And yet, we are the ones who speed us on as well. Our good attitudes keep us moving and active and able to do everything without reacting to the smallest incident as a barrier in our way. We are willing to work, to initiate and set in motion the good of life, and do it by not stepping on others. We keep a constant vigil over our lo qui is, star, and reach up that we may lift others up with us.
~ Misfortunes do not flourish particularly in our path. They grow everywhere. ~
BIG ELK
Jun 1, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
There is much to be said of small things. Even in this age of emphasis on bigness, we must realize that bigness is only a mass of small things. An idea is a small thing. With it we can change our world. We can take a tiny seed and give it careful attention and reap a hundred fold. We can take a little idea and give it our attention and build it into a fortune.
A smile is a small thing. Smile once at someone in passing and three will return the smile. Smiling is so contagious that it moves from person to person until a hundred smiling faces are the result of one.
A thought is a small thing. One thought inspires another and another until a mental image is formed. From that mental image blueprints are drawn. And from those blueprints worlds are built.
Here is a small thing. One tiny glimmer of hope can lift us out of the deepest pit of darkness. One whisper of encouragement will help us to know that as long as there's hope there is an excellent chance.
A wish is a small thing. Like a little prayer, it climbs the steps to an idea that makes a smile and gives us hope to make our wishes come true. For in small things are all great things formed, in little beginnings the possibilities of great events.
Jun 1, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day June 1
"You have to have a lot of patience to hear those old people talk, because when they talk, they talk about motivation, the feeling, the unsound that is around the universe. They explain everything to one understanding. They bring it all together, and when they finish, just one word comes out. Just one word. They might talk all day, and just one word comes out."
Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
We need to be careful about judging the old ones when we talk. At first they may not make sense to us. Maybe we'll say they're old fashioned and don't understand. But the old ones do understand! When they speak, listen very carefully. Often it will take weeks or maybe even years before we understand what they are really saying. This is the way of Wisdom. We need to listen, listen, listen.
Great Spirit, today, open my ears so I can hear the Elders.
Jun 1, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
JUNE
De-ha-lu-yi
Da tsalu'nee
Green Corn Month
I am....the Cherokees are....your friends.....Our wish is for peace. Peace at home and Peace among you.....
CHIEF JOHN ROSS
June 1 - Daily Feast
The morning is quiet and the high-pitched cry of the hawk carries clear to the quail and rabbits that rely on their sharp hearing to skitter out of sight. The hawk is hunting, and the small things of nature want no part of it. Threatening sounds - whether from a t wo di, hawk, or sirens, or angry voices - are frightening. As a child, a lesson in survival was learned when a rabbit ran the length of a field beneath a barbed-wire fence with a hawk in pursuit. The hawk was not about to fly into the barbs and gave up to hunt easier prey. The rabbit lay spent from fear, panting and gasping - but unafraid of a child that was no adananuladi, no threat or danger. It is easy to go weak from fear. But how many know where to run to when angry sounds threaten? The hawk does not hover over us but Yoweh does.
~ I hear nothing but pleasant words. ~
MONGAZID, 1825
Jun 1, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
There may be many reasons why man wants to conquer the world, but there is something youthful and soul-stirring, to be able to do it for somebody. Living within oneself is barren and shallow, lacking in warmth and without understanding. But when we can be outgoing and giving, the importance of others becomes doubly strong.
It is impossible to even be selfish without the help of others. Who would we take from, blame troubles on, resent, and criticize? But more important, who would care when we're ill, who would be happy when we're blessed, and who would love us when we least deserve it?
The world may be deluged with problems and solutions, laws to live by, formulas, fear, faith, and the everlasting struggle to survive in the face of others, but it is just as necessary to share laughter in happiness, to know God in a sunset, and to feel joy in a sunrise, all more beautiful because of others.
Victor Hugo wrote that he greatest happiness in life is in knowing that others love us, for ourselves, or rather, they love us in spite of ourselves.
Jun 2, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day June 2
"The Natural Law is the final and absolute authority governing E Te No Ha, the earth we call our Mother."
Traditional Circle of Elders
There is no power greater than the Natural Laws. These powers were set up by the Great Spirit in such a way that the human being has no access to it, except by obeying. If we choose not to follow the Natural Laws, our live will be filled with confusion, tension, anxiety and stress. If we poison the Earth, we poison ourselves. If we poison the Water of the Earth, we poison ourselves. As we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves and our children, even the children unborn. May we think about this today and ask ourselves, "Are we holding and acting toward the Mother Earth in a good way?"
Great Spirit, teach me the Natural Laws that govern the Earth.
Jun 2, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
June 2 - Daily Feast
Late June evenings offer a variety of concerts to the lingering spirit of Tsalagi, the Cherokee. The songs of katydids and crickets rise to a crescendo and shrink back the way a tide swells and recedes. A sudden volley of hoots shoot through the woods and impatient shouts answer. The prairies lie quiet and serene beneath faintly showing stars until coyotes, most likely only two or three, howl like a dozen. The first high-pitched shout is like the head singer at a stomp dance, and then others join in before they stop as suddenly as they start. In the lull, the plaintive voice of he whippoorwill adds a sweet note. It has all been a ga nah is daw, a messenger or ambassador of good will - of peace on earth - not only to the Tsalagi but from the Tsalagi to all the world.
~ June is Da tsalunee, the Green Corn Month. ~
THE CHEROKEE TSALAGI
Jun 2, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
"I owe no man anything but love" is it said. But what is love? Love is duty - whatever duty may require to accomplish a good thing.
Love is peace. One must not only be peaceful but contribute to the peace of others. Let there be peace and let it begin with me.
Love is sometimes pain. We must give up something that causes us pain because it is for the good of the greatest number.
Love is understanding. That others do not have to forever explain their actions to us. That we know their reasons without being told.
Love is courage. Courage to lead where one has the ability to lead. Courage to stand up for what one believes in and wants to live.
Love is faith. Faith in God, faith in self, and faith in others. Everyone is not above reproach, but we must have faith that the majority strives to be.
Coleridge wrote, "He prayeth best who loveth best," which seems to rule out all hollow and self-heard prayers. For those who truly love do not hear themselves only, or rule all life useless because they cannot love or pray.
Life can be as simple as love and prayer. Where the two mingle there can be no jealousy, resentment, or fear.
Jealousy makes us compare our lot with another's. And there can be no comparison, for no two people are alike.
Resentment plunges an otherwise logical soul into despair and an endless journey of revenge.
And fear rushes us headlong into situations that detract, accidents that could be prevented, and long delays in reaching our goals.
But if we can, for a few moments, invite into our hearts a thing called love, then we can pray. And if we pray we have the source of all answers to our aid.
Jun 3, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day June 3
"IN THE BEGINNING were the Instructions... The Instructions was to live in a good way and be respectful to everybody and everything."
Vickie Downey, TEWA/Tesuque Pueblo
A long time ago, in the beginning, the Creator gave to all people and to all things the Wisdom and the knowledge of how to live in harmony. Some tribes call these teachings the original Instructions, the original teachings, or the Great Laws. All of Nature still lives and survives according to these teachings. In modern times, human beings are searching for the Instructions. Many churches claim they have these Instructions. Where are these teachings? The Instructions are written in our hearts.
Great Spirit, today, whisper to me the secrets of the original Instructions.
Jun 3, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
June 3 - Daily Feast
Big changes require many small ones. Any change seems sudden, regardless of how much we prepare for it. We wait for it, ask for it, expect it, and resent its intrusion. Change is needed to stay young and vital and moving. Without it we stagnate, lose our keenness of thought, and too often fall into melancholy. Even in the best of times change takes a certain amount of adjustment. Our biggest problem with change is that we expect it to be bad rather than something that will make us happier. To a Tsa su ga, a flea, a dog is the whole world, says a Cherokee. As much as we like where we are, it isn't the whole world. There are bigger things - and better. We have to be able to see beyond the dog.
~ I have made myself what I am. ~
TECUMSEH, 1810
Jun 3, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Irritation, they say, is something gentle folk should never know. Always passive, they go along the way smiling, no matter what the cost to feelings. But have you ever tried to smile when all the street lights are red and someone honked loudly when you failed to move quickly enough.
Have you heard a politician slur the name of your candidate....and had a promise broken without so much as a faint explanation. Or perhaps the long explanation on how to do something you've done for years....and suddenly you want to make two lists of people you like and people you don't like!
And maybe you've answered the telephone and heard them hang up simply because your voice was not the right voice....Or had them stand back empty handed while you with your packages opened the door for them?
Well, it's no easy matter to be gentle folk and the mildest can get angry all over again by just thinking of an injustice. Perhaps it is trifling to let such little things irritate. But the best of us feel the small things that we never quite get over. We forgive and forget except to think about it occasionally, and then we must consider the words of Seneca, "Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us then the injury that provokes it."
We live in a continual round of adjustments. It is usually an admirable thing to be able to make adjustments easily. Not many can. And, yet, it makes us wonder at times if those who can so freely change and moved without emotions have ever felt very deeply.
We tend to cling to familiar things and familiar customs. There is a great security in traveling a way we know by heart. The roughest road can usually be traveled without incident when we know every turn and bump.
It had been said by those who do scientific research that it takes at least three weeks to adjust to changes. But three months would do it more justice. And it must be done by abandonment, by setting aside for a period of time all things like the old way. Many times it is done not for ourselves alone, for it is foolish to believe a change involves only ourselves.
In our very complex way of life there is no situation to affect only one person. And often the most wonderful thing we can do for someone else is to find our own balance by making adjustments quickly, even in the middle of chaos.
Jun 4, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day June 4
"Wakan Tanka never stops creating."
Archie Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA
The Medicine Wheel teaches about change. It says that which is created will fall apart; that which is loose, will be used to create new. In other words, everything on Earth is participating in a constant change that is being directed by an order of laws and principles which were originated by the Great Spirit. We humans are equipped with natural change abilities. We have the ability to vision; we can use imagination and imagery; we can change belief, attitude, habits and expectations. We need to know ourselves and we need to know how we work inside to enable us to change naturally.
Great Spirit, teach me to change in harmony.
Jun 4, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
June 4 - Daily Feast
What is so strange about using our words to build? Doesn't it make more sense to build something than to tear down? Who is closer to us than ourselves - other than Above-the-Sky, Galun-lati! We spend most of our time listening to our own words - words that go into our ears to build or tear us down. Sometimes they whisper in our silent talk, sometimes we say them and they affect us deep in our hearts. Confidence may come because of what someone else told us, but it is maintained by what we tell ourselves. We boot it every time we say we can do what we once thought impossible. We lose it by confirming what fear told us is true. Talking can change our circumstances when we change the words.
~ Tecumseh said to Big Warrior, "I will stamp my foot on the ground and shake down all your lodges." (An earthquake struck and tumbled the village.) ~
Jun 4, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Everyone is a collector of something. And everyone's collection looks peculiar to someone else. And yet, who knows why an item may have a certain appeal to one particular person. The shape, the color, the whole idea may have a hidden background, but it is most definitely there!
It may be old books, or magazines. Perhaps it is pill bottles, fishing hooks, or something "I may need someday when...." Who knows the reasons old calendars continue to hang, and scraps of this and that may someday be just what I need.
But more dear than any of these are the happy thoughts we collect to use along the way. We can use them to cheer someone, to pass along a word of courage, a simple prayer, a smile. And when someone has time to share with us an experience that we may profit by the pain they felt - yes, these are collector's items. These priceless bits of life's fabric, woven by someone's cares and offered to us in hopes that it will help.
Whatever it is that we collect, we must never forget the dearest collections are the kindnesses, the thoughtful acts, the smiling faces that can be ours by giving the same.
What could be so priceless as true friendship? Friends for which time and space do not exist! It is written, "What a great blessing is a friend with breast so trusty that thou mayest safely bury all thy secrets in it, whose conscience thou mayest fear less than thy own; who can relieve thy cares by his conversation, thy doubts by his counsels, thy sadness by his good humor, and whose very looks give thee comfort."
All of us have had many friends, but the special ones remain forever in our memories. The dearest are those who believe in us and are willing to trust us with their friendship.
We cannot force friendship. It is something mutually felt, mutually understood, and silently accepted. It is our opportunity to demonstrate our very best selves - to ask no questions and to pass no criticisms.
"Before us is a future all unknown, a path untrod;
Beside us a friend well loved and known -
That friend is God."
Jun 5, 2012