It has become increasingly noticeable how the power grab has reached even the lower levels of living. It is a right thing for us to try to raise ourselves. To fail to try would earmark us for failure....and yet up the shaky ladder of success climb so many bodies without spirits, so little understanding of what is ahead....and often less of what is past.
If we could only realize our power comes not from grasping the coattails of others, but from a higher source that knows the way....that places before us the right steps, the correct manner, the much needed wisdom and inspiration.
Why is it that when all this guidance is available to us, we let the littleness of our souls hold us back, believing all the time that any forward motion is because we have learned how to twist situations to our own avail.
How sad the lot of those who discover all the rungs on their ladder are on the same level. "Power will intoxicate the best hearts, as wine the strongest heads," wrote Caleb Colton. "No man is wise enough, nor good enough, to be trusted with unlimited power."
"The one who wishes to be a true medicine person must be a person of faith, and they can only work successfully with those who also have faith."
Fools Crow, LAKOTA
Medicine People are spiritual beings who have made a decision to seek the Red Road. They sacrifice and seek the way of the Creator. After many years of dedication, the Grandfathers teach them about power and about laws and about how to use the medicine. The Medicine People develop tremendous faith in their medicine and in the Creator. When we go to the Medicine People, we too must have faith so they can help us. We can only be helped if we want to be helped. Because the Medicine People know how to help - that is only one half of it. The other half is up to us. We must have faith that the medicine has powers to help.
My Creator, faith is belief without evidence. Today, give me the faith. Let me trust that You are running why life. Let me know You are in charge of all things. Let my mind not wonder; let me stand strong on Your path today.
Habit so dulls the edge of observation that it is easy to pass a tree and never see its beautiful seasons - or be around another person for a lifetime and never see the beauty of the soul. We travel great distances to see something beautiful, and go to great lengths to get a glimpse of a famous person - but our immediate surroundings fade so easily. Familiar faces, a da to li gi, voices, the easy touch of hands - are all taken for granted. With a firm foundation they can be relaxed and confident, but we still need to stay alert to their importance. Even good habits can dull our awareness to things necessary and dear to us.
~ I know every stream and every wood....I have hunted....and lived like my fathers before me, and, like them, I lived happily. ~
We all know that if it were not for the little kindnesses, the helping hands that we receive from those who touch our lives daily, we would fall more often and much harder. Yet, we must remember there comes a time when we cannot expect others to rush to our aid. It is then that we test the strength of our own self-reliance.
We should make every effort to be worthy of the concern and help of others. It is sharing all phases of life that make living more than just an existence. But none of us can support others for long who have no will to use their self-reliance. It is said that God helps those who help themselves, but even God cannot help where help is refused.
Then, how much can we depend on ourselves? How would we react to the same situations we see other people experiencing daily? We, who depend so much on our external advantages to pull us through, cannot truthfully foretell our actions in a crisis. But we can have a reserve of faith and strength behind us so that when others reach out to lift us up, we will be worthy of their time spent in helping to build our self-reliance.
"He [Wakan Tanka] walks with us along the pathways of Life, and He can do for us what we could never do on our own."
Fools Crow, LAKOTA
With the Creator in our lives, we are everything. Without the Creator, we are nothing. When the Creator is in our life, suddenly the impossible becomes possible. The extraordinary becomes ordinary. Things we thought could never happen start to happen. Talents we never know we had, start to blossom. Resources appear. Help arrives to give us guidance and direction. We become happy. We have peace of mind and confidence.
Oh Great Spirit, today I want You in my life. The days that I know You are with me are the days that are perfect. Let me be joyful today.
Attitude is everything if the day is to go well. If we require others to have patience with us and give us u we to li s di, the Cherokee word for pity or sympathy, then our minds are going to be on whether or not we get it, instead of on living well. We forget that we project to others how we want to be treated. Arrogance invites resistance. Hangdog attitudes invite other sour and sullen looks and behavior. Good-natured people are always welcome and give peace to our minds. Whatever we are about, it is to our advantage to know the world is reflecting back to us the mirror-image of pleasant manners - or the stern appearance of touch-me-not. It takes so little to relax and enjoy, so that others can do the same.
~ I am old, it is true; but not old enough to fail to see things as they are. ~
In those moments when we quietly sit with mind centered on the fact that God is only good, and that no situation devious or twisted in appearance, has any power except that which we give it by dwelling on how terrible it is - then, there is hope.
If we can become quiet enough in our own minds to know God is good, it will produce one of those times of sweet serenity that settles like an invisible veil between us and our troubles. In those moments of growth and faith will come peace that passes all understanding.
It is good to live an active life, but some of life's most productive moments are not when the mind and body are hurled through hectic hours at a furious pace. Life offers many tender and beautiful times that demand nothing and give only a quiet calm that will never come in pill form.
Contrary to the belief in any power except God's, there is a happy medium. It does not come simply by demanding, and there are times when it can be touched on only so briefly. But even in our sore travails there is a time when life finds balance and we live in harmony with God's laws.
We are created by God to be vision people. First we set the goal and then we see. If we create within ourselves a picture or vision and we hold that picture or vision in our mind, whatever we picture will show up in our reality. If we can see ourselves being educated, then schools and teachers will show up in our lives. If we picture in our mind a positive, spiritual person to be in our lives, we will attract this type of person in our relationships. How big can our dreams be?
Great Spirit, let my visions today be Your vision. Put within me a vision of the being you would have me be. Then help me to keep the vision in my mind.
At times an idea hits us with the terrific force of a high-flying jet reentering our atmosphere. It takes hold of us and shakes us with the same sound force and it is very often just as startling. A soft-pedaling thought comes to mind and we acknowledge it only briefly, but it comes back again and again, until we stop to think about it. It pays to listen. All good things do not come with mind-smashing sound effects. Some of the best of life comes on soft shoes and barely brushes us. If we are alert, we may savor it for a lifetime. If we are crusty and hard to deal with, a splendid idea may go right by us and light on someone more sensitive.
~ I have heard your words - they have entered one ear and shall not escape the other.... ~
It is easy to have faith in God and love everyone on days when the world is all in order.
There are other days that seem to require more effort than any normal person can possibly muster. Each step seems to be an obstacle to overcome. Every hurt and thought of resentment presents itself in a clamorous roar.
Weariness of body, soul, and spirit will nag the strongest beings into dark moods unless they can find a time away from all that plagues them. That time may be hard to come by, but even a few moments can bring a problem to light.
Twinges of jealousy, feelings of anxiety, all scatter in that light. When the attention is turned from those things that make life all too ordinary they immediately, like a procession, march toward the God-self.
To spend only a few moments counting our blessings will tell us that life is well worth living....the satisfaction of a job well done, the companionship of good friends with whom we share the lighter side and the ones who understand our darkest moods are all blessings.
"We are called hollow bones for our people and for anyone else we can help, and we are not supposed to seek power for our personal use and honor."
Fools Crow, LAKOTA
In order for us to use our power well, we must become a hollow bone. We must prepare ourselves to become a channel. Our channel must be clean before we can use our power well. We must be free of resentments, guilt, shame, anger, self pity and fear. If these things are in us, we cannot be hollow bones. These things block us from our power. The cleaner we are, the more power we move. We must become a hollow bone so the Creator can use us to do what he wants us to do.
My Creator, remove from me today all resentment, anger, fear, guilt and selfishness. Do not let my weaknesses stand in the way of my usefulness to You. Make me a hollow bone so Your power can flow through me.
Just when we think nothing is working there is a glimmer of light. If we could believe in our hearts that what looks impossible can work out, we could bear more easily with hardships. Living is like the weather. It has its surprises, its storms, its dry spells. But if we can hold on, it all changes. The changes come the way we change our minds - unexpectedly and sometimes for no apparent reason. But the reason, theuyelvdvi, real purpose is there. Every word we speak, everything we believe, builds our consciousness and makes us who we are. If we expect nothing good, it will oblige us. We are as unlimited as we say we are, and it is in our power to make the difference.
~ Will we let ourselves be destroyed in our turn, without making an effort worthy of our race? ~
Everyone must have a way of life. The home, the position, the social level, the health of the body and of the emotions are all a part of daily living. But beyond that there must be a reason, a way of life. We must believe in something, live by something, and have a shelter within ourselves where there are no pretenses.
Life cannot be one carefree round of living on the surface. It is a thing of depth and width and height, and full of avenues never investigated. Like the body, it is made up of many parts. Beneath the skin there must beat a heart, a network of nerves, the strength of muscles, and much we cannot begin to explain.
As the body depends upon the heart we must have in our lives something to depend upon, something with which to identify ourselves. There must be a central point, a hitching post to keep all of life running smoothly.
We need something to help us retreat as well as to go forward. We must have something to live by, as well as something for which we would willingly die. We need divine wisdom to see, and the strength to break away, those almost invisible fingers of possessiveness that grip our lives.
We do not simply live, we live because. We live because of others, because of beautiful things and times and places. We live because God gave us life to be happy in, and to find a special way.
"...when faithful human beings or other creatures called upon them for help, they [the Powers of the Four Directions] must send their powers..."
Fools Crow, LAKOTA
Each of the four directions has special powers. These powers or Grandfathers are there to help us. The powers are from the East, the South, the West, and the North. To call upon the power we need to stand in the center and face each of the directions and honor all forms of life in each direction. Facing the East we honor all the two legged, four legged, winged ones, plants' nation and the animals. We repeat this prayer in each of the four directions. This allows us to become centered. When we are centered, then we are ready to call the helpers. It is said, when the student is ready, the teacher appears. If we are to be ready, we need to remember to always get quiet first. We do this by honoring and praying to the four directions.
Grandfathers from the four directions, come to me today with Your powers. Give me Your gifts so I can serve the people.
Someone said it is impossible to spit in the same water twice when it is a flowing stream. It is all water under the bridge - running on down to the sea, merging with other rivers flowing in the same direction. All rivers run to the sea. We cannot stop them any more than we can call back some incident to change it. It is water under the bridge, and has gone to join all the other experiences until their identities are forgotten. There is no use in chasing what is past. We can only love and care for what we have at hand. What is better than to enjoy the present time, the present company? To see this time equally important with the past is to regain some of what we though we had lost.
~ Although ice and snow may lie deep upon my wigwam, I should find a warm fire within. ~
When there's thinking to be done a person does well to have a little private retreat....a place where there's no worry that any minute someone will interrupt. And the very ease of knowing that here is a little time to do nothing but just think.
Except that I must carefully direct those thoughts so never to let them roam to things that serve only to disturb. But where does one find a place these days that affords a time alone?
It doesn't take much room to think. Some have little special places hidden from a view....a hillside maybe....a sunny spot along a path....a closet not so large....a park bench....or they may even take a drive.
But that place that is always available to us is that place within our own selves. This is the secret place within the heart where desires are stored. And no matter what we do, where we go, thoughts are productive.
Here is where thankfulness is stored....here is where love is born....here is where the very life of life is built and rebuilt. This is our retreat when there's thinking to be done.
"What could be greater than to be Wakan-Tanka's mind, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, arms, hands, legs, and feet here on earth?"
Fools Crow, LAKOTA
In order for the Creator to do His work on this earth, He needs the human being to do it. How He guides us is through our eyes, ears, hands, nose, mouth, arms legs and feet. We are instruments of the Creator. We are His keepers of the earth. We are the keepers of our brothers. We are to teach His children. We are to respect the things He has made. We are to take care of ourselves and treat our bodies and our minds with respect. We are to do respectful things. We are to walk the Sacred Path. We should have good thoughts. We should do only things that we think the Creator would have us do. What an honor to be a human being. What an honor that He would talk to us and guide us to perform His wonders.
Oh Great Spirit, let me appreciate the role you have given me. Let my sense be sharp to hear Your voice. Keep my mind clean so I can do the things You would have me do.
Gentleness has amazing strength. Where some would dominate, others are sweet and compassionate and this gives us hope. A gentle person is cool, clear water on a hot day - a refreshing change from hostile attitudes. How many times we have met someone we wanted to admire but couldn't. They would not trust us to see beyond their protective walls. Caring and friendship was sorely needed but bitterly ignored. To understand these things makes us gentle. It gives us the touch we need with every age. Young and old yearn to hear a voice that tells them they are so important, so loved, that nothing could make us turn from them. A gentle word is warm sunshine to every heart, a touch that is never forgotten.
~ Truly, it is a pleasant sky above our heads this day. There is not a cloud to darken it. I hear nothing but pleasant words. ~
When winter presses a cold, gray hand against every living thing and temporarily puts to sleep all outward growth and activity of other seasons, there is within a quiet, invisible, but very active preparation for a lighter, warmer time.
There are times when the winters of life press hard upon us, seeming to keep from us any hope for good. But as the coldest winter does not prevent a tulip from developing a blaze of color within the bulb, there is nothing to prevent our own inner growth.
We quite naturally want the things that will make us happy and we want them now. But there is still a time of preparation, the development of our abilities to recognize the good and the beautiful when we see it. Otherwise, we are apt to look past them, still searching.
The tulip has a plan drawn by God's hand, and more beautiful than anything we can make. We have a way of moving from one time to another, waiting for life to come it us instead of having a plan. But during those waiting periods we need to make a little effort to determine the course and to be ready when the right time comes.
"Whenever you take anything from the earth, remember to leave an offering."
Joe Coyhis, STOCKBRIDGE-MUNSEE
We need to look at nature and its inhabitants as our brothers and sisters. Whenever we pick plants or herbs, we should leave an offering of tobacco. We should talk to the plants and ask their permission to use them. The plants will feel honored to be of service for each of them knows they are here to serve. Each of them knows they carry a special medicine and this medicine is about continuing the cycle of life. We need always to be grateful to our brothers and sisters.
Music is the universal language - a link between people who have no other form of communication. It even helps us to understand ourselves when it brings out an emotion that was too deeply buried. Music was meant to be an integral part of our lives. A familiar tune can sweep us back to another time or another place that we thought was lost. It is the harmony that helps us blend the old with the new and dilutes a bitter memory. Few important events are without music. Bands have rallied us to patriotism, hymns have helped us to be reverent, and the sweet song of a small child can cause a tenderness to come on the hardest heart. The Cherokee calls it di ka no gi dv, the music of the spirit - in the turtledove, in the mockingbird, in the gurgling stream.
~ I take you be the hand with all my heart because you have spoken words of comfort to us. ~
It is said that pearls worn by a happy person have a warm and more lustrous glow.
Pearls are like gentle moments strung together for the happy person - they cannot help but glow.
Gentle moments, like pearls, seem to be so few. Yet, how rich and warm and beautiful they make our lives.
It takes only a few moments to enjoy a talk with someone about good things instead of the bad; it takes only a few moments to drop a line to a shut-in when attention means so much. It takes only a few moments to see a sunset, or read a Scripture, or listen to a child talk.
It takes only a few moments to open the door to happiness. And if happiness seems only a few moments long, so long will trouble if we open the door and let it out instead of harboring it.
Life is made up of a few moments all strung together like pearls. Each moments is a pearl, and it is up to us to pick the ones with the highest luster. If we do not have time to do great things, take a few gentle moments and do small things in a great way.
"We forget so we consider ourselves superior. But we are, after all, a mere part of the creation and we must consider to understand where we are and we stand somewhere between the mountain and the Ant. Somewhere and only there is a part and parcel of the creation."
Chief Oren Lyons, ONONDAGA
Every human being gathers information from the center of a circle. If we are not careful, we soon think we are the center of all things. Therefore, it is easy to become self centered. Once we become self centered we start to think we are above all things and therefore superior. But we are really only one part of a great whole. The universe is all connected. Each part is here to do something special and according to its design. We are here to honor and respect the job of each part. We are neither above nor below anything. We need not be ruler over anything, we need only to live in honor and harmony with the system.
My Creator, help me to view and conduct myself in a manner of respect, dignity and honor to all creation. Let me see You in all things.
Doing wrong to someone is like throwing a rubber ball against a wall - it comes back with equal force. There is no telling where it will return to, so we have to keep a constant vigil not to be caught off guard. It is easier to wish someone well. It doesn't mean we are weak or defenseless but that is we kick at the mud we get on us. And there are some muddy situations we should never try to contend with or understand. Whatever happens to one of us has an effect on all of us. We can't afford the luxury of wishing anyone anything but the best of life. The Cherokee calls this the best of all - wi at tse tiv i.
~ For years I have been on other people's ground and trouble has always come of it. ~
Some of the dearest moments ever spent are those on the road I didn't want to travel. And some of the most magnificent doors I've ever passed through are where before there was no way.
Some of the kindest people I shall ever know are the ones I didn't want to meet. And the greatest abundance I've ever received came from a pittance I wanted to withhold.
Tears I have wanted to shed have turned to happiness because for a moment I could see beyond them. And hope has saved everything when I wanted most to give up in despair.
And suddenly I realized how great my progress could be if I could get myself and my emotions out of the way. How hard I push against the door that opens inward - inward, where faith and hope and trust abide.
There's not enough ambling done any more. There are too many deadlines. Time for a favorite TV show, time to take pills, time for appointments, time to catch a plane. Life is one continual alarm clock.
Never a gentle gait, but always at a dogtrot to meet those deadlines. It seems that dawdling along or staring into space is a waste of time, as the ambitions, eager for superiority, move dangerously ahead.
Many great people have known the wisdom of safeguarding their health and security by taking time to analyze, not in the role of fact sifting, but by allowing the mind to amble, to drift openly from thought to thought. This sitting idly on the sidelines and fishing quietly in the mind can catch many a solution that casting would never hook.
After a period of creative silence, attacking any deadline is made ample. The mind has had time to lay down the brittle aggressiveness and is ready to operate efficiently. Even physical weariness passes and the goal ahead isn't so far in the distance.
When there isn't time to go fishing, remember the words of American author William Mathews: "Knowledge is acquired by study and observation, but wisdom cometh by opportunity of leisure. The ripest thoughts come from a mind which is not always on the stretch, but fed, at times, by a wise passiveness."
"Words hypnotize and deceive everyone at one time or another, but these hypnotic words cannot last long in the hearts of true warriors."
Barney Bush, SHAWNEE
We are a part of an interconnected system. Words in themselves have no meaning. It is the spirit and intent behind the words that really show the meaning. We are connected to each other at the center of the atom which makes up the air and our body. The center of the air's atom system is connected to the center of our body's system. I am connected to you and you are connected to me in the center of our being. If my words have no meaning, you can feel this through the center of your being.
Great Spirit, help me make my word good. Let me do the things I say I will, and let me say the things I will do, and do it.
If we could change one thing about ourselves to see the greatest gain, it would be to stop being the victim. Too many believe they are destined to be victims of broken relationships, disease, poverty, and overbearing personalities - and they say it over and over again. How we see ourselves makes all the difference. If being browbeaten is security, we will always be the underdog. Day after day we throw ourselves into the path of what we think we deserve. But we can change the pattern. We can stop repeating what we have heard all our lives, and begin talking to ourselves with good words. We have hidden gold within us and as soon as we learn it, we will get out of the lunacy of being the perpetual victim.
~ We must help one another and the Great Spirit will help us both. ~
Why is it that we require so much scientific proof for the most ordinary things these days, when the very fact that we lie down and close our eyes at night is the highest proof that God's world is in order. Though perhaps our personal world may not know such sequence. There comes a time when our human limitations insist that we lay down our questions and accept by faith the only way to survive ourselves.
There are those who say they must have tangible evidence that the world and all its wonders be displayed before their eyes to see in wisdom the way things really are. And yet who said the human eyes could see or ears could hear more than one tiny bit of the wonder. Who could be so bold as to believe their senses were strong enough to know, except through faith.
Who could see with the visible eye the hand that changes the seasons, or hear Job's stars that sang together at dawn. Who set the day at rest and brings the morning in all its newness.
Only so far....then explanations know no more....and though we try to disbelieve when all goes wrong, there comes a time when we want no more explanation than that God's world is in order - and we cannot change it.
Surely if someone took our hand and asked us to walk along the world and view the wonders so magnificently displayed....If by some miracle we could see the vastness of it all at once, and still bear up under the beauty of it.....
If we can see the rolling rise and fall of the land - the purple, pink, and golden hues of shadows hung along the mountain sides....If our ears could hear the music of the rippling streams, the rushing waters, the graceful falls.
If by some mere chance we could sense the ebb and flow, the push and relaxing of the tides, the rise and set of the sun, the glittering stars and soft-faced moon that ignores the fact that other worlds encircle ours.....
And as the seasons sprinkle rain and flowers, golden leaves and snowfall....On this continuous circle....always new....always beautiful....
If we can see all this, how then, can we doubt that the earth that God created and saw as good is good. This is our land, and only our own forgetfulness of its source can make it different.
My Creator, today let me remember the reason I'm here on Mother Earth. Let me look into my own eyes and see the beauty You have created. Let me have good thoughts. Being Indian is not the color of my skin. Being Indian is to listen to my heart, to think only the things You have taught, to watch nature and live in harmony. Being Indian is to walk in prayer, to talk to You constantly during the day. Being Indian is to act and to walk in a sacred way.
Today, let me think in beauty, let me walk in beauty, let me pray in beauty.
My people have kept me in the harness....I have never deceived them....I have done the best I could.
CHIEF JOHN ROSS
July 1 - Daily Feast
In these times of instant everything our patience wears thin when we have to wait. Who has not pushed an elevator button a number of times to get there faster? Waiting may well be the hardest work we do. We are less than tolerant of those who keep us waiting. Is their time more important than ours? So we keep pushing, racing our engines and taking chances in order to save five seconds. We can wait wisely - seeing that, sometimes, delays save us from a problem we could have met. How long has it been since we have had such a good excuse to just sit quietly and watch others trying to beat the clock. Time was when our mothers sat all afternoon and embroidered, while their heads and feet rested. Could we not take thirty minutes?
~ We are hoodwinked, duped more and more every year; we are made to feel that we are free when we are not. ~
WASSAJA
'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
There is an old Arabian proverb that if you pitch a lucky man in the Nile he will come up with a fish in his mouth. Just to come up would be enough for most of us, but still we do so many things - perhaps half in jest - that we have hopes will throw off the evil spirits and bring good luck to the rescue.
The tokens we carry we've carried from childhood, when we were careful never to step on a crack in the walk, or pick up a pin - the silly poems that fascinate children, and sometimes follow them into adulthood when the laughter is gone.
Who are the wise? Those who can rise with the sun letting yesterday go....and feel within their hearts the gratitude of being alive....to have the opportunity to glean from their mistakes something that will take them far over that place if ever the pass it again. They know that luck must have a "P" before it to keep them from waiting, to help them turn up something rather than waiting for something to turn up.
And yes, they are lucky who have love to give and the ability to receive it. They have faith in good. And no small amount of peace when they think not how lucky they are, but how blessed!
"If I destroy you, I destroy myself. If I honor you, I honor myself."
Hunbatz Men, MAYAN
It is said, when we need love the most is when we deserve it the least. Whenever I have secret thoughts about someone else, it will put bad feelings inside myself. I will hurt myself. If I secretly hold a grudge or resentment against my brother or sister, I will be a slave to that person until I let them go. Let me remember to look at my brother in a sacred manner. Today, let me think like a Warrior. Let my thoughts toward my brothers and sisters be good thoughts. Let me remember that You are in charge. If I get upset at another person today, let me remember that the most important thing I can do is to first talk to You because, when I am right with You, it is impossible to be out of harmony with my brothers and sisters.
My Creator, take my hand and guide me through today.
To someone who likes to walk, all of nature is a miracle. The sights and sounds and fragrances are ever different and soothing to the spirit. But evening has a special charm when the sunset changes from phase to phase, coloring and shading the fields with an artist's touch. The sky is tinted with the palest pink that has edges of gold - and then, into a subtle movement, purples and deep blues darken the hills along the horizon. The wind-tossed clouds catch the last rays of sunlight, rose-red and wavy like strands of silky hair. Above it all, the evening star emerges cool and blue to dominate little by little. Earth and sky and all between have special times when everything else gives way to beauty. If only we could be so generous with one another.
~ Today you saw a deer bounding through the forest, he was lovely in strength and beauty, fleeter than the winds. ~
In the frantic search for something that has meaning to life, we have a tendency to do a thing simply because everyone else is doing it. It becomes a "thing," a fad that must be done to keep on the inside circle. There's little originality, little thought, but a lot of following along in beaten paths.
It is a mistaken idea to believe that all I see with my eyes and the limits of my thinking are the limits of the world. There is a tremendous interesting world out there never before investigated, and I am an individual like no one else.
It is quite marvelous to break through the shell of the middling and to discover the ability to see and feel, and to hear more keenly. Suddenly, I can feel more kindly, not because of who I am on this earth, but because I'm a child of God.
I can see more color, more light, more vision because I'm not being shown, I'm discovering. My world is no longer based on passing fancies, but on lasting built slowly within me, with love.
"When you are in the woods, you cannot ever be lost. You are surrounded by friends and surrounded by God."
Joe Coyhis, STOCKBRIDGE-MUNSEE
Every plant, every animal, every insect, every bird, every tree is made up of God. God is life and everything is alive. When you are hunting, remember all nature is your friend. All nature has purpose. All nature participates in the life cycle. Nature communicates; Nature talks; Nature listens; Nature forgives; Nature respects; Nature loves. Nature lives in harmony. Nature follows the law. Nature is kind. Nature is balance. The woods are alive and beautiful. She is our friend.
Great Spirit, let me honor and respect the forest and all the life it contains.
We are always rich when we have courage. It is not the circumstance in which we find ourselves but how we handle it that makes the difference. If nothing ever challenged us we might not know our strength - we might never feel the power to overcome something that gives us courage to tackle another O at li, mountain. Giving up does not come on us suddenly, but we cultivate it on a daily basis. Everything, success or failure - or even mediocrity - settles on us as we get ready for it. When we think and talk failure, it happens. When we think we can do something, we can do it. It takes as much effort to lose as it does to win - sometimes more. But to think courage, to think strength, is the breath of life.
~ Why don't you talk and go straight and all will be well? ~
BLACK KETTLE
'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
There are very few days when we have control of our time. No matter what our schedules may be, there is always a change taking place that keeps something from happening when it is supposed to happen. And when the day is ended and our schedules have not been met, then it begins to drag on our spirits.
Soon we become so wound up in the problems of the moment that the delights of our souls drift away and become a part of the mist of "someday." Someday I will get to do what I want to do. Someday when this necessary work is finished - and it is possible that the things we believe to be so necessary are really robbers of our lives? Do we spend too much time with the menial tasks and allow our creativity - the ability to bring newness into our lives - to dry up and become nonexistent?
William Blake called this within us "God." One of the greatest poets ever to live, he believed that if we keep alive our ability to see and feel the beauty of life, our menial tasks will become easy and the way successful.
Yesterday is only a dream, tomorrow only a vision, but today - we live. If we live as we should, our yesterdays will be dreams of happiness, and our tomorrow's will be visions of hope.
Nothing is so sad as the man who spends all his time today judging tomorrow by his experiences of yesterday. He has a vision, but his faith does not support him to pursue it. If some great stroke of good fortune should overtake him, he will be all ready to go, but he doesn't really expect it to happen. So today he sits waiting for the world to change for him, never guessing that he is the one who must change.
No one is so misled as the woman who has such a busy schedule that she hasn't time to listen to her children. She expects to take the time to play with them - someday. But it is today that the bridges must be built from the soul to the body to the spirit. It isn't something built from a quick kiss or a smart smack in the right place, but from daily communion and understanding.
Today is the very life of life when the best things are nearest - breath in our nostrils, light in our eyes, flowers at our feet, duties at our hand, and the path of God before us.
"It does not require many words to speak the truth."
Chief Joseph, NEZ PERCE
The truth shall set you free. This is the truth. When we speak the Truth, we do not need to be defensive. Truth needs no defense. When we speak the Truth, we do not need to attack because Truth cannot be attacked. It is so easy to want to manipulate or to be deceitful or dishonest. My head tells me I can get away with doing these things, after all everybody does it.
My Creator, today let me know Truth. Let me live Truth.
Let me risk the Truth.
Let me make the Truth sweet.
Help me to make my word good.
Let Your spirit and intent be added to by words.
Let My thoughts be Truth.
Remembering can be painful and sometimes without any real benefit. It keeps us feeling guilty and regretting so much that the good memories are washed out. It is easy enough to forget the good that happened, without covering the good with bad memories. No doubt, everything has not been ideal - but haven't we given enough thought to the unhappy times? It doesn't do any good to ruin the present time recalling what went wrong in the past. But we can begin to change. Maybe only a little at first - but honest effort has always changed things for the better and given us self-respect as well. Time grows more and more precious and what we do with it at this moment makes or breaks today and all our tomorrow's.
~ We are not afraid to work and we are not afraid to do right. ~
So you missed an opportunity! And they say that opportunity knocks only once - but, only if you believe it! Opportunity has been known to pound on the door and go unnoticed, and it has been known to whisper and be heard. It is all according to how hard we require opportunity to knock before we recognize it.
Our awareness of opportunity will reveal to us how many times it presents itself; so subtle, it may not be recognized by the casual eye. And usually it seems to be completely unprofitable to us personally. More often than not it is service to others without thought of return. It is humility, a willingness to accept the most humble beginnings. It is joy in finding communication with others and finding a kinship with them.
Have you heard of an opportunity fund? Some call it saving for a rainy day. Rainy days can be lovely, too. A rainy day can be an opportunity to get things done. But an opportunity can be any day, rain or shine.
Do you often have the opportunity to speak to your neighbor? It seems to happen too infrequently these days.
The most fun we can have comes when we've the opportunity to squelch an ugly rumor. You know, "curst be the tongue whence slanderous rumor, withering friendship's faith..." Sometimes a little friendship does wither, but if it really amounts to anything it will survive.
What a splendid opportunity to sit quietly and mentally forgive with such depth and joy as to start life anew. There is no greater blessing, no greater opportunity fund.
American editor A.E. Duning write, "Great opportunities come to all, but many do not know they have met them. The only preparation to take advantage of them, is simple fidelity to what each day brings."
A missed opportunity may well be another opportunity to prepare for a bigger and better one!
Be still and know. Anyone can verbally attack another. Anyone can be a smart Aleck. Anyone can be angry and tell other people things that will hurt them. Anyone can be sarcastic, devaluating and belittling. It takes a Warrior to be silent. Silence is so powerful. Silence can be so loving.
My Creator, if I get into a situation today that needs me to respond with silence, help me to use my silence in a good and sacred way. In my silence, let me be talking to You and You talking to me. Silence is the way of the warrior.
Influence is like the wild phlox that blooms in the woods. Its fragrance drifts toward us, but from where? The distinctive scent tells us it is phlox - or is it wild grapes or plum? In the final analysis we know we smell flowers, but the kind and the location remains a mystery. So it is with advertising or rumor or neighborhood gossip. We know something is going on, because we are being conditioned to take suggestions, to be open to so much we don't need and do not want to hear. The same influence operates in other area - age and illness, loneliness and fear. We not only get it over the airwaves that something miraculous has happened, to be contradicted only days later, but we hear people boldly claiming disease in a joking manner. Influence is subtle like the scent of phlox - or is it petunias?
~ The Great Spirit has given the white man great foresightedness; he sees everything at a distance and makes the most extraordinary things. ~
Haven't you heard someone say, after experiencing something either good or bad, "I knew it was going to be that way." And perhaps the conviction was very strong that certain conditions would take a definite turn. But much of the time we say it not out of conviction, but resignedly agreeing beforehand that something will be a certain way, and usually with dire overtones.
It used to be believed that we had no power to control anything coming to us. We were mere victims of circumstances, almost like stones waiting to be kicked aside. But we were taught, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is."
We must not be so presumptuous as to believe we know everything there is to know about the workings of the mind. But we attract a great many of our problems simply by dwelling on them in our thoughts.
Premonition, or "knowing" things are going to be a certain way, is merely giving us a little time to head off the trouble. Such things should be a challenge, not an accepted rule. "Know" better until you believe it into conviction and into being.
"I believe much trouble and blood would be saved if we opened our hearts more."
Chief Joseph, NEZ PERCE
We are as sick as our secrets. Our ego takes over control of our lives and when that happens our minds get very sick. Then we hurt people and our minds will always justify our actions. Our minds will give us rationalization and excuses that we are justified in doing what we are doing.
My Creator, Let me live today with an open heart. Let me realize to be vulnerable is a strength, not a weakness. Let me realize the power of an open heart. Let me be available to truth. If I get into trouble, let me hear the whisper of your guidance. Let me make heart decisions and let my head catch up to that decision.
A difficult challenge does little harm in comparison to the uncertainty of what to do about it. To take action, or let it ride; to stay or to go, to ask for help or wait for new developments. Indecision can wreck our whole thinking process and stall us out at a time that we most need a clear head. Our emotions rise and fall - from do nothing to do something. One minute we have a clear-cut answer and the next we don't know what to do. The Cherokee calls this a is in, backward thinking, going forward and backing up. It doesn't get us anywhere. There is nothing wrong with questioning, but wavering gets everything out of focus. No clear picture comes out of a shaky camera. Taking an action with a calm mind helps to clarify and give stability to the next steps.
~ You might as well expect rivers to run backward as that any man who was born a free man should be contented when penned up and denied liberty. ~
First things and first times....the newness of the present moment holds such a breath of youth, such a challenge, there are moments in everyone's life they wish they could relive. Just to recall those times when the newness, the memory of first things were beautiful and exciting.
But life never stands still. It moves forward or it decays. It cannot hold on to the past in any way. If the newness of first things has not grown into finer and more beautiful moments, then it cannot go on.
Everyone can recall something so dear that it becomes new again just be thinking about it. Courage, love, joy, contentment, all these can call to mind the special moments that were beginnings of new eras, new times in living. The scales of life tip this way and that to make those times full of meaning and sometimes vividly painful. And then sometimes it takes a season to mend the heart and spirit. When they are ready, the experience of new times and new beginnings and first things will bloom once more and the youthful challenge again enchants.
"You are going to learn the most important lesson - that God is the most powerful thing there is."
Mathew King, LAKOTA
The Medicine Wheel teaches that there are two worlds - the Seen World and the Unseen World, or the Physical World and the Spiritual World. We need information from both of these worlds in order to live our lives in a harmonious way. The most difficult way is to figure things out by ourselves and leave the Great Spirit out of it. When we do this, we are making decisions with information only from the Physical World. This can be called reliance on self. If we ask the Creator to help us, we then get information from the Unseen World or the Spiritual World. The Spiritual World is where we get our power. When we do this, we are God-reliant. Being God-reliant is the same as being on the Red Road.
Great Spirit, whisper the secrets of the Unseen World in my mind's ear.
It is not enough to make something look good. The underlying principle must be good. How else could nature produce such majestic landscapes? They were created because the laws of creativity were good. Now things are made to be temporary - to self-destruct. If it doesn't work very long - junk it. No wonder there are piles of debris. No wonder relationships struggle. The underlying principle is too often based on the idea that if it doesn't work, get rid of it. Few things are as enduring as the hills, few things as calm and serene as the lake on a quiet day. But if we have no firm foundation on which to build, what can we expect but upheaval and having to begin again.
~ The earth is full of minerals of all kinds....the ground is covered with forests of pine....if we give this up....it is the last thing that is valuable to us or the white people. ~
We have often heard it said that God never closes one door unless He opens another. It is a great comfort to know we never really lose when we believe, for any defeat can be turned to good if we will absorb the lesson in it.
And yet, how often we refuse to go through that door that has been opened for us. It is so much easier to stand back and wail about the closed one. There seems to be a certain amount of glorification in defeat. It is a subtle something that hides in us and keeps us from doing well that which we know we are capable of doing. If we show strength, we are afraid we will have to stand alone.
Sometimes a door will close for us because that particular one would have caused us more unhappiness, but it never closes for punishment. God is love and love does not punish, nor does it have any power but to give what is right and good for us. With this knowledge, we can be grace walk through those doors that open to us and know it is right.
"We have to educate ourselves to know who we are. That's what I mean when I say, 'Teach the children.'"
Eddie Benton-Banai, OJIBWAY
It is only by knowing ourselves that we can get in touch with our power. It is said, "Tell me what you know about yourself and I'll tell you what you know about God. Tell me what you know about God and I'll tell you what you know about yourself." As we increase knowledge of ourselves, as we choose to grow spiritually, as we clean up our act, then we can teach the children.
My Creator, You have said "Know thyself." Today let me see the wisdom of this Truth. Give me Your insight of myself. I am always walking the talk and most people can see it. Today, help and guide me on the Red Road.
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
It has become increasingly noticeable how the power grab has reached even the lower levels of living. It is a right thing for us to try to raise ourselves. To fail to try would earmark us for failure....and yet up the shaky ladder of success climb so many bodies without spirits, so little understanding of what is ahead....and often less of what is past.
If we could only realize our power comes not from grasping the coattails of others, but from a higher source that knows the way....that places before us the right steps, the correct manner, the much needed wisdom and inspiration.
Why is it that when all this guidance is available to us, we let the littleness of our souls hold us back, believing all the time that any forward motion is because we have learned how to twist situations to our own avail.
How sad the lot of those who discover all the rungs on their ladder are on the same level. "Power will intoxicate the best hearts, as wine the strongest heads," wrote Caleb Colton. "No man is wise enough, nor good enough, to be trusted with unlimited power."
Jun 22, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day June 22
"The one who wishes to be a true medicine person must be a person of faith, and they can only work successfully with those who also have faith."
Fools Crow, LAKOTA
Medicine People are spiritual beings who have made a decision to seek the Red Road. They sacrifice and seek the way of the Creator. After many years of dedication, the Grandfathers teach them about power and about laws and about how to use the medicine. The Medicine People develop tremendous faith in their medicine and in the Creator. When we go to the Medicine People, we too must have faith so they can help us. We can only be helped if we want to be helped. Because the Medicine People know how to help - that is only one half of it. The other half is up to us. We must have faith that the medicine has powers to help.
My Creator, faith is belief without evidence. Today, give me the faith. Let me trust that You are running why life. Let me know You are in charge of all things. Let my mind not wonder; let me stand strong on Your path today.
Jun 22, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
June 22 - Daily Feast
Habit so dulls the edge of observation that it is easy to pass a tree and never see its beautiful seasons - or be around another person for a lifetime and never see the beauty of the soul. We travel great distances to see something beautiful, and go to great lengths to get a glimpse of a famous person - but our immediate surroundings fade so easily. Familiar faces, a da to li gi, voices, the easy touch of hands - are all taken for granted. With a firm foundation they can be relaxed and confident, but we still need to stay alert to their importance. Even good habits can dull our awareness to things necessary and dear to us.
~ I know every stream and every wood....I have hunted....and lived like my fathers before me, and, like them, I lived happily. ~
TEN BEARS
Jun 22, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
We all know that if it were not for the little kindnesses, the helping hands that we receive from those who touch our lives daily, we would fall more often and much harder. Yet, we must remember there comes a time when we cannot expect others to rush to our aid. It is then that we test the strength of our own self-reliance.
We should make every effort to be worthy of the concern and help of others. It is sharing all phases of life that make living more than just an existence. But none of us can support others for long who have no will to use their self-reliance. It is said that God helps those who help themselves, but even God cannot help where help is refused.
Then, how much can we depend on ourselves? How would we react to the same situations we see other people experiencing daily? We, who depend so much on our external advantages to pull us through, cannot truthfully foretell our actions in a crisis. But we can have a reserve of faith and strength behind us so that when others reach out to lift us up, we will be worthy of their time spent in helping to build our self-reliance.
Jun 23, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day June 23
"He [Wakan Tanka] walks with us along the pathways of Life, and He can do for us what we could never do on our own."
Fools Crow, LAKOTA
With the Creator in our lives, we are everything. Without the Creator, we are nothing. When the Creator is in our life, suddenly the impossible becomes possible. The extraordinary becomes ordinary. Things we thought could never happen start to happen. Talents we never know we had, start to blossom. Resources appear. Help arrives to give us guidance and direction. We become happy. We have peace of mind and confidence.
Oh Great Spirit, today I want You in my life. The days that I know You are with me are the days that are perfect. Let me be joyful today.
Jun 23, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
June 23 - Daily Feast
Attitude is everything if the day is to go well. If we require others to have patience with us and give us u we to li s di, the Cherokee word for pity or sympathy, then our minds are going to be on whether or not we get it, instead of on living well. We forget that we project to others how we want to be treated. Arrogance invites resistance. Hangdog attitudes invite other sour and sullen looks and behavior. Good-natured people are always welcome and give peace to our minds. Whatever we are about, it is to our advantage to know the world is reflecting back to us the mirror-image of pleasant manners - or the stern appearance of touch-me-not. It takes so little to relax and enjoy, so that others can do the same.
~ I am old, it is true; but not old enough to fail to see things as they are. ~
WHITE SHIELD
Jun 23, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
In those moments when we quietly sit with mind centered on the fact that God is only good, and that no situation devious or twisted in appearance, has any power except that which we give it by dwelling on how terrible it is - then, there is hope.
If we can become quiet enough in our own minds to know God is good, it will produce one of those times of sweet serenity that settles like an invisible veil between us and our troubles. In those moments of growth and faith will come peace that passes all understanding.
It is good to live an active life, but some of life's most productive moments are not when the mind and body are hurled through hectic hours at a furious pace. Life offers many tender and beautiful times that demand nothing and give only a quiet calm that will never come in pill form.
Contrary to the belief in any power except God's, there is a happy medium. It does not come simply by demanding, and there are times when it can be touched on only so briefly. But even in our sore travails there is a time when life finds balance and we live in harmony with God's laws.
Jun 24, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day June 24
"Believing people can soar beyond ordinary life."
Fools Crow, LAKOTA
We are created by God to be vision people. First we set the goal and then we see. If we create within ourselves a picture or vision and we hold that picture or vision in our mind, whatever we picture will show up in our reality. If we can see ourselves being educated, then schools and teachers will show up in our lives. If we picture in our mind a positive, spiritual person to be in our lives, we will attract this type of person in our relationships. How big can our dreams be?
Great Spirit, let my visions today be Your vision. Put within me a vision of the being you would have me be. Then help me to keep the vision in my mind.
Jun 24, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
June 24 - Daily Feast
At times an idea hits us with the terrific force of a high-flying jet reentering our atmosphere. It takes hold of us and shakes us with the same sound force and it is very often just as startling. A soft-pedaling thought comes to mind and we acknowledge it only briefly, but it comes back again and again, until we stop to think about it. It pays to listen. All good things do not come with mind-smashing sound effects. Some of the best of life comes on soft shoes and barely brushes us. If we are alert, we may savor it for a lifetime. If we are crusty and hard to deal with, a splendid idea may go right by us and light on someone more sensitive.
~ I have heard your words - they have entered one ear and shall not escape the other.... ~
SHARITARISH
Jun 24, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
It is easy to have faith in God and love everyone on days when the world is all in order.
There are other days that seem to require more effort than any normal person can possibly muster. Each step seems to be an obstacle to overcome. Every hurt and thought of resentment presents itself in a clamorous roar.
Weariness of body, soul, and spirit will nag the strongest beings into dark moods unless they can find a time away from all that plagues them. That time may be hard to come by, but even a few moments can bring a problem to light.
Twinges of jealousy, feelings of anxiety, all scatter in that light. When the attention is turned from those things that make life all too ordinary they immediately, like a procession, march toward the God-self.
To spend only a few moments counting our blessings will tell us that life is well worth living....the satisfaction of a job well done, the companionship of good friends with whom we share the lighter side and the ones who understand our darkest moods are all blessings.
Jun 25, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day June 25
"We are called hollow bones for our people and for anyone else we can help, and we are not supposed to seek power for our personal use and honor."
Fools Crow, LAKOTA
In order for us to use our power well, we must become a hollow bone. We must prepare ourselves to become a channel. Our channel must be clean before we can use our power well. We must be free of resentments, guilt, shame, anger, self pity and fear. If these things are in us, we cannot be hollow bones. These things block us from our power. The cleaner we are, the more power we move. We must become a hollow bone so the Creator can use us to do what he wants us to do.
My Creator, remove from me today all resentment, anger, fear, guilt and selfishness. Do not let my weaknesses stand in the way of my usefulness to You. Make me a hollow bone so Your power can flow through me.
Jun 25, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
June 25 - Daily Feast
Just when we think nothing is working there is a glimmer of light. If we could believe in our hearts that what looks impossible can work out, we could bear more easily with hardships. Living is like the weather. It has its surprises, its storms, its dry spells. But if we can hold on, it all changes. The changes come the way we change our minds - unexpectedly and sometimes for no apparent reason. But the reason, theuyelvdvi, real purpose is there. Every word we speak, everything we believe, builds our consciousness and makes us who we are. If we expect nothing good, it will oblige us. We are as unlimited as we say we are, and it is in our power to make the difference.
~ Will we let ourselves be destroyed in our turn, without making an effort worthy of our race? ~
TECUMSEH
Jun 25, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Everyone must have a way of life. The home, the position, the social level, the health of the body and of the emotions are all a part of daily living. But beyond that there must be a reason, a way of life. We must believe in something, live by something, and have a shelter within ourselves where there are no pretenses.
Life cannot be one carefree round of living on the surface. It is a thing of depth and width and height, and full of avenues never investigated. Like the body, it is made up of many parts. Beneath the skin there must beat a heart, a network of nerves, the strength of muscles, and much we cannot begin to explain.
As the body depends upon the heart we must have in our lives something to depend upon, something with which to identify ourselves. There must be a central point, a hitching post to keep all of life running smoothly.
We need something to help us retreat as well as to go forward. We must have something to live by, as well as something for which we would willingly die. We need divine wisdom to see, and the strength to break away, those almost invisible fingers of possessiveness that grip our lives.
We do not simply live, we live because. We live because of others, because of beautiful things and times and places. We live because God gave us life to be happy in, and to find a special way.
Jun 26, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day June 26
"...when faithful human beings or other creatures called upon them for help, they [the Powers of the Four Directions] must send their powers..."
Fools Crow, LAKOTA
Each of the four directions has special powers. These powers or Grandfathers are there to help us. The powers are from the East, the South, the West, and the North. To call upon the power we need to stand in the center and face each of the directions and honor all forms of life in each direction. Facing the East we honor all the two legged, four legged, winged ones, plants' nation and the animals. We repeat this prayer in each of the four directions. This allows us to become centered. When we are centered, then we are ready to call the helpers. It is said, when the student is ready, the teacher appears. If we are to be ready, we need to remember to always get quiet first. We do this by honoring and praying to the four directions.
Grandfathers from the four directions, come to me today with Your powers. Give me Your gifts so I can serve the people.
Jun 26, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
June 26 - Daily Feast
Someone said it is impossible to spit in the same water twice when it is a flowing stream. It is all water under the bridge - running on down to the sea, merging with other rivers flowing in the same direction. All rivers run to the sea. We cannot stop them any more than we can call back some incident to change it. It is water under the bridge, and has gone to join all the other experiences until their identities are forgotten. There is no use in chasing what is past. We can only love and care for what we have at hand. What is better than to enjoy the present time, the present company? To see this time equally important with the past is to regain some of what we though we had lost.
~ Although ice and snow may lie deep upon my wigwam, I should find a warm fire within. ~
TECUMSEH
Jun 26, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
When there's thinking to be done a person does well to have a little private retreat....a place where there's no worry that any minute someone will interrupt. And the very ease of knowing that here is a little time to do nothing but just think.
Except that I must carefully direct those thoughts so never to let them roam to things that serve only to disturb. But where does one find a place these days that affords a time alone?
It doesn't take much room to think. Some have little special places hidden from a view....a hillside maybe....a sunny spot along a path....a closet not so large....a park bench....or they may even take a drive.
But that place that is always available to us is that place within our own selves. This is the secret place within the heart where desires are stored. And no matter what we do, where we go, thoughts are productive.
Here is where thankfulness is stored....here is where love is born....here is where the very life of life is built and rebuilt. This is our retreat when there's thinking to be done.
Jun 27, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day June 27
"What could be greater than to be Wakan-Tanka's mind, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, arms, hands, legs, and feet here on earth?"
Fools Crow, LAKOTA
In order for the Creator to do His work on this earth, He needs the human being to do it. How He guides us is through our eyes, ears, hands, nose, mouth, arms legs and feet. We are instruments of the Creator. We are His keepers of the earth. We are the keepers of our brothers. We are to teach His children. We are to respect the things He has made. We are to take care of ourselves and treat our bodies and our minds with respect. We are to do respectful things. We are to walk the Sacred Path. We should have good thoughts. We should do only things that we think the Creator would have us do. What an honor to be a human being. What an honor that He would talk to us and guide us to perform His wonders.
Oh Great Spirit, let me appreciate the role you have given me. Let my sense be sharp to hear Your voice. Keep my mind clean so I can do the things You would have me do.
Jun 27, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
June 27 - Daily Feast
Gentleness has amazing strength. Where some would dominate, others are sweet and compassionate and this gives us hope. A gentle person is cool, clear water on a hot day - a refreshing change from hostile attitudes. How many times we have met someone we wanted to admire but couldn't. They would not trust us to see beyond their protective walls. Caring and friendship was sorely needed but bitterly ignored. To understand these things makes us gentle. It gives us the touch we need with every age. Young and old yearn to hear a voice that tells them they are so important, so loved, that nothing could make us turn from them. A gentle word is warm sunshine to every heart, a touch that is never forgotten.
~ Truly, it is a pleasant sky above our heads this day. There is not a cloud to darken it. I hear nothing but pleasant words. ~
MONGAZID
Jun 27, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
When winter presses a cold, gray hand against every living thing and temporarily puts to sleep all outward growth and activity of other seasons, there is within a quiet, invisible, but very active preparation for a lighter, warmer time.
There are times when the winters of life press hard upon us, seeming to keep from us any hope for good. But as the coldest winter does not prevent a tulip from developing a blaze of color within the bulb, there is nothing to prevent our own inner growth.
We quite naturally want the things that will make us happy and we want them now. But there is still a time of preparation, the development of our abilities to recognize the good and the beautiful when we see it. Otherwise, we are apt to look past them, still searching.
The tulip has a plan drawn by God's hand, and more beautiful than anything we can make. We have a way of moving from one time to another, waiting for life to come it us instead of having a plan. But during those waiting periods we need to make a little effort to determine the course and to be ready when the right time comes.
Jun 28, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day June 28
"Whenever you take anything from the earth, remember to leave an offering."
Joe Coyhis, STOCKBRIDGE-MUNSEE
We need to look at nature and its inhabitants as our brothers and sisters. Whenever we pick plants or herbs, we should leave an offering of tobacco. We should talk to the plants and ask their permission to use them. The plants will feel honored to be of service for each of them knows they are here to serve. Each of them knows they carry a special medicine and this medicine is about continuing the cycle of life. We need always to be grateful to our brothers and sisters.
Creator, I thank you for the opportunity of life.
Jun 28, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
June 28 - Daily Feast
Music is the universal language - a link between people who have no other form of communication. It even helps us to understand ourselves when it brings out an emotion that was too deeply buried. Music was meant to be an integral part of our lives. A familiar tune can sweep us back to another time or another place that we thought was lost. It is the harmony that helps us blend the old with the new and dilutes a bitter memory. Few important events are without music. Bands have rallied us to patriotism, hymns have helped us to be reverent, and the sweet song of a small child can cause a tenderness to come on the hardest heart. The Cherokee calls it di ka no gi dv, the music of the spirit - in the turtledove, in the mockingbird, in the gurgling stream.
~ I take you be the hand with all my heart because you have spoken words of comfort to us. ~
LITTLE BEAVER'S WIFE
Jun 28, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
It is said that pearls worn by a happy person have a warm and more lustrous glow.
Pearls are like gentle moments strung together for the happy person - they cannot help but glow.
Gentle moments, like pearls, seem to be so few. Yet, how rich and warm and beautiful they make our lives.
It takes only a few moments to enjoy a talk with someone about good things instead of the bad; it takes only a few moments to drop a line to a shut-in when attention means so much. It takes only a few moments to see a sunset, or read a Scripture, or listen to a child talk.
It takes only a few moments to open the door to happiness. And if happiness seems only a few moments long, so long will trouble if we open the door and let it out instead of harboring it.
Life is made up of a few moments all strung together like pearls. Each moments is a pearl, and it is up to us to pick the ones with the highest luster. If we do not have time to do great things, take a few gentle moments and do small things in a great way.
Jun 29, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day June 29
"We forget so we consider ourselves superior. But we are, after all, a mere part of the creation and we must consider to understand where we are and we stand somewhere between the mountain and the Ant. Somewhere and only there is a part and parcel of the creation."
Chief Oren Lyons, ONONDAGA
Every human being gathers information from the center of a circle. If we are not careful, we soon think we are the center of all things. Therefore, it is easy to become self centered. Once we become self centered we start to think we are above all things and therefore superior. But we are really only one part of a great whole. The universe is all connected. Each part is here to do something special and according to its design. We are here to honor and respect the job of each part. We are neither above nor below anything. We need not be ruler over anything, we need only to live in honor and harmony with the system.
My Creator, help me to view and conduct myself in a manner of respect, dignity and honor to all creation. Let me see You in all things.
Jun 29, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
June 29 - Daily Feast
Doing wrong to someone is like throwing a rubber ball against a wall - it comes back with equal force. There is no telling where it will return to, so we have to keep a constant vigil not to be caught off guard. It is easier to wish someone well. It doesn't mean we are weak or defenseless but that is we kick at the mud we get on us. And there are some muddy situations we should never try to contend with or understand. Whatever happens to one of us has an effect on all of us. We can't afford the luxury of wishing anyone anything but the best of life. The Cherokee calls this the best of all - wi at tse tiv i.
~ For years I have been on other people's ground and trouble has always come of it. ~
TOOKLANNI
Jun 29, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Some of the dearest moments ever spent are those on the road I didn't want to travel. And some of the most magnificent doors I've ever passed through are where before there was no way.
Some of the kindest people I shall ever know are the ones I didn't want to meet. And the greatest abundance I've ever received came from a pittance I wanted to withhold.
Tears I have wanted to shed have turned to happiness because for a moment I could see beyond them. And hope has saved everything when I wanted most to give up in despair.
And suddenly I realized how great my progress could be if I could get myself and my emotions out of the way. How hard I push against the door that opens inward - inward, where faith and hope and trust abide.
There's not enough ambling done any more. There are too many deadlines. Time for a favorite TV show, time to take pills, time for appointments, time to catch a plane. Life is one continual alarm clock.
Never a gentle gait, but always at a dogtrot to meet those deadlines. It seems that dawdling along or staring into space is a waste of time, as the ambitions, eager for superiority, move dangerously ahead.
Many great people have known the wisdom of safeguarding their health and security by taking time to analyze, not in the role of fact sifting, but by allowing the mind to amble, to drift openly from thought to thought. This sitting idly on the sidelines and fishing quietly in the mind can catch many a solution that casting would never hook.
After a period of creative silence, attacking any deadline is made ample. The mind has had time to lay down the brittle aggressiveness and is ready to operate efficiently. Even physical weariness passes and the goal ahead isn't so far in the distance.
When there isn't time to go fishing, remember the words of American author William Mathews: "Knowledge is acquired by study and observation, but wisdom cometh by opportunity of leisure. The ripest thoughts come from a mind which is not always on the stretch, but fed, at times, by a wise passiveness."
Jul 1, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day June 30
"Words hypnotize and deceive everyone at one time or another, but these hypnotic words cannot last long in the hearts of true warriors."
Barney Bush, SHAWNEE
We are a part of an interconnected system. Words in themselves have no meaning. It is the spirit and intent behind the words that really show the meaning. We are connected to each other at the center of the atom which makes up the air and our body. The center of the air's atom system is connected to the center of our body's system. I am connected to you and you are connected to me in the center of our being. If my words have no meaning, you can feel this through the center of your being.
Great Spirit, help me make my word good. Let me do the things I say I will, and let me say the things I will do, and do it.
Jul 1, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
June 30 - Daily Feast
If we could change one thing about ourselves to see the greatest gain, it would be to stop being the victim. Too many believe they are destined to be victims of broken relationships, disease, poverty, and overbearing personalities - and they say it over and over again. How we see ourselves makes all the difference. If being browbeaten is security, we will always be the underdog. Day after day we throw ourselves into the path of what we think we deserve. But we can change the pattern. We can stop repeating what we have heard all our lives, and begin talking to ourselves with good words. We have hidden gold within us and as soon as we learn it, we will get out of the lunacy of being the perpetual victim.
~ We must help one another and the Great Spirit will help us both. ~
PIED RICHE
Jul 1, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Why is it that we require so much scientific proof for the most ordinary things these days, when the very fact that we lie down and close our eyes at night is the highest proof that God's world is in order. Though perhaps our personal world may not know such sequence. There comes a time when our human limitations insist that we lay down our questions and accept by faith the only way to survive ourselves.
There are those who say they must have tangible evidence that the world and all its wonders be displayed before their eyes to see in wisdom the way things really are. And yet who said the human eyes could see or ears could hear more than one tiny bit of the wonder. Who could be so bold as to believe their senses were strong enough to know, except through faith.
Who could see with the visible eye the hand that changes the seasons, or hear Job's stars that sang together at dawn. Who set the day at rest and brings the morning in all its newness.
Only so far....then explanations know no more....and though we try to disbelieve when all goes wrong, there comes a time when we want no more explanation than that God's world is in order - and we cannot change it.
Surely if someone took our hand and asked us to walk along the world and view the wonders so magnificently displayed....If by some miracle we could see the vastness of it all at once, and still bear up under the beauty of it.....
If we can see the rolling rise and fall of the land - the purple, pink, and golden hues of shadows hung along the mountain sides....If our ears could hear the music of the rippling streams, the rushing waters, the graceful falls.
If by some mere chance we could sense the ebb and flow, the push and relaxing of the tides, the rise and set of the sun, the glittering stars and soft-faced moon that ignores the fact that other worlds encircle ours.....
And as the seasons sprinkle rain and flowers, golden leaves and snowfall....On this continuous circle....always new....always beautiful....
If we can see all this, how then, can we doubt that the earth that God created and saw as good is good. This is our land, and only our own forgetfulness of its source can make it different.
Jul 1, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day July 1
"I'm an Indian, I'm one of God's children."
Mathew King, LAKOTA
My Creator, today let me remember the reason I'm here on Mother Earth. Let me look into my own eyes and see the beauty You have created. Let me have good thoughts. Being Indian is not the color of my skin. Being Indian is to listen to my heart, to think only the things You have taught, to watch nature and live in harmony. Being Indian is to walk in prayer, to talk to You constantly during the day. Being Indian is to act and to walk in a sacred way.
Today, let me think in beauty, let me walk in beauty, let me pray in beauty.
Jul 1, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
JULY
Gu-ye-quo-ni
Tsa lu wa'nee
CORN IN TASSEL
My people have kept me in the harness....I have never deceived them....I have done the best I could.
CHIEF JOHN ROSS
July 1 - Daily Feast
In these times of instant everything our patience wears thin when we have to wait. Who has not pushed an elevator button a number of times to get there faster? Waiting may well be the hardest work we do. We are less than tolerant of those who keep us waiting. Is their time more important than ours? So we keep pushing, racing our engines and taking chances in order to save five seconds. We can wait wisely - seeing that, sometimes, delays save us from a problem we could have met. How long has it been since we have had such a good excuse to just sit quietly and watch others trying to beat the clock. Time was when our mothers sat all afternoon and embroidered, while their heads and feet rested. Could we not take thirty minutes?
~ We are hoodwinked, duped more and more every year; we are made to feel that we are free when we are not. ~
WASSAJA
'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Elder's Meditation of the Day July 1
"I'm an Indian, I'm one of God's children."
Jul 1, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
There is an old Arabian proverb that if you pitch a lucky man in the Nile he will come up with a fish in his mouth. Just to come up would be enough for most of us, but still we do so many things - perhaps half in jest - that we have hopes will throw off the evil spirits and bring good luck to the rescue.
The tokens we carry we've carried from childhood, when we were careful never to step on a crack in the walk, or pick up a pin - the silly poems that fascinate children, and sometimes follow them into adulthood when the laughter is gone.
Who are the wise? Those who can rise with the sun letting yesterday go....and feel within their hearts the gratitude of being alive....to have the opportunity to glean from their mistakes something that will take them far over that place if ever the pass it again. They know that luck must have a "P" before it to keep them from waiting, to help them turn up something rather than waiting for something to turn up.
And yes, they are lucky who have love to give and the ability to receive it. They have faith in good. And no small amount of peace when they think not how lucky they are, but how blessed!
Jul 2, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day July 2
"If I destroy you, I destroy myself. If I honor you, I honor myself."
Hunbatz Men, MAYAN
It is said, when we need love the most is when we deserve it the least. Whenever I have secret thoughts about someone else, it will put bad feelings inside myself. I will hurt myself. If I secretly hold a grudge or resentment against my brother or sister, I will be a slave to that person until I let them go. Let me remember to look at my brother in a sacred manner. Today, let me think like a Warrior. Let my thoughts toward my brothers and sisters be good thoughts. Let me remember that You are in charge. If I get upset at another person today, let me remember that the most important thing I can do is to first talk to You because, when I am right with You, it is impossible to be out of harmony with my brothers and sisters.
My Creator, take my hand and guide me through today.
Jul 2, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
July 2 - Daily Feast
To someone who likes to walk, all of nature is a miracle. The sights and sounds and fragrances are ever different and soothing to the spirit. But evening has a special charm when the sunset changes from phase to phase, coloring and shading the fields with an artist's touch. The sky is tinted with the palest pink that has edges of gold - and then, into a subtle movement, purples and deep blues darken the hills along the horizon. The wind-tossed clouds catch the last rays of sunlight, rose-red and wavy like strands of silky hair. Above it all, the evening star emerges cool and blue to dominate little by little. Earth and sky and all between have special times when everything else gives way to beauty. If only we could be so generous with one another.
~ Today you saw a deer bounding through the forest, he was lovely in strength and beauty, fleeter than the winds. ~
METHOATASKE
Jul 2, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
In the frantic search for something that has meaning to life, we have a tendency to do a thing simply because everyone else is doing it. It becomes a "thing," a fad that must be done to keep on the inside circle. There's little originality, little thought, but a lot of following along in beaten paths.
It is a mistaken idea to believe that all I see with my eyes and the limits of my thinking are the limits of the world. There is a tremendous interesting world out there never before investigated, and I am an individual like no one else.
It is quite marvelous to break through the shell of the middling and to discover the ability to see and feel, and to hear more keenly. Suddenly, I can feel more kindly, not because of who I am on this earth, but because I'm a child of God.
I can see more color, more light, more vision because I'm not being shown, I'm discovering. My world is no longer based on passing fancies, but on lasting built slowly within me, with love.
Jul 3, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day July 3
"When you are in the woods, you cannot ever be lost. You are surrounded by friends and surrounded by God."
Joe Coyhis, STOCKBRIDGE-MUNSEE
Every plant, every animal, every insect, every bird, every tree is made up of God. God is life and everything is alive. When you are hunting, remember all nature is your friend. All nature has purpose. All nature participates in the life cycle. Nature communicates; Nature talks; Nature listens; Nature forgives; Nature respects; Nature loves. Nature lives in harmony. Nature follows the law. Nature is kind. Nature is balance. The woods are alive and beautiful. She is our friend.
Great Spirit, let me honor and respect the forest and all the life it contains.
Jul 3, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
July 3 - Daily Feast
We are always rich when we have courage. It is not the circumstance in which we find ourselves but how we handle it that makes the difference. If nothing ever challenged us we might not know our strength - we might never feel the power to overcome something that gives us courage to tackle another O at li, mountain. Giving up does not come on us suddenly, but we cultivate it on a daily basis. Everything, success or failure - or even mediocrity - settles on us as we get ready for it. When we think and talk failure, it happens. When we think we can do something, we can do it. It takes as much effort to lose as it does to win - sometimes more. But to think courage, to think strength, is the breath of life.
~ Why don't you talk and go straight and all will be well? ~
BLACK KETTLE
'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Jul 3, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
There are very few days when we have control of our time. No matter what our schedules may be, there is always a change taking place that keeps something from happening when it is supposed to happen. And when the day is ended and our schedules have not been met, then it begins to drag on our spirits.
Soon we become so wound up in the problems of the moment that the delights of our souls drift away and become a part of the mist of "someday." Someday I will get to do what I want to do. Someday when this necessary work is finished - and it is possible that the things we believe to be so necessary are really robbers of our lives? Do we spend too much time with the menial tasks and allow our creativity - the ability to bring newness into our lives - to dry up and become nonexistent?
William Blake called this within us "God." One of the greatest poets ever to live, he believed that if we keep alive our ability to see and feel the beauty of life, our menial tasks will become easy and the way successful.
Yesterday is only a dream, tomorrow only a vision, but today - we live. If we live as we should, our yesterdays will be dreams of happiness, and our tomorrow's will be visions of hope.
Nothing is so sad as the man who spends all his time today judging tomorrow by his experiences of yesterday. He has a vision, but his faith does not support him to pursue it. If some great stroke of good fortune should overtake him, he will be all ready to go, but he doesn't really expect it to happen. So today he sits waiting for the world to change for him, never guessing that he is the one who must change.
No one is so misled as the woman who has such a busy schedule that she hasn't time to listen to her children. She expects to take the time to play with them - someday. But it is today that the bridges must be built from the soul to the body to the spirit. It isn't something built from a quick kiss or a smart smack in the right place, but from daily communion and understanding.
Today is the very life of life when the best things are nearest - breath in our nostrils, light in our eyes, flowers at our feet, duties at our hand, and the path of God before us.
Jul 5, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day July 5
"It does not require many words to speak the truth."
Chief Joseph, NEZ PERCE
The truth shall set you free. This is the truth. When we speak the Truth, we do not need to be defensive. Truth needs no defense. When we speak the Truth, we do not need to attack because Truth cannot be attacked. It is so easy to want to manipulate or to be deceitful or dishonest. My head tells me I can get away with doing these things, after all everybody does it.
My Creator, today let me know Truth.
Let me live Truth.
Let me risk the Truth.
Let me make the Truth sweet.
Help me to make my word good.
Let Your spirit and intent be added to by words.
Let My thoughts be Truth.
Jul 5, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
July 5 - Daily Feast
Remembering can be painful and sometimes without any real benefit. It keeps us feeling guilty and regretting so much that the good memories are washed out. It is easy enough to forget the good that happened, without covering the good with bad memories. No doubt, everything has not been ideal - but haven't we given enough thought to the unhappy times? It doesn't do any good to ruin the present time recalling what went wrong in the past. But we can begin to change. Maybe only a little at first - but honest effort has always changed things for the better and given us self-respect as well. Time grows more and more precious and what we do with it at this moment makes or breaks today and all our tomorrow's.
~ We are not afraid to work and we are not afraid to do right. ~
TOOKLANNI
Jul 5, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
So you missed an opportunity! And they say that opportunity knocks only once - but, only if you believe it! Opportunity has been known to pound on the door and go unnoticed, and it has been known to whisper and be heard. It is all according to how hard we require opportunity to knock before we recognize it.
Our awareness of opportunity will reveal to us how many times it presents itself; so subtle, it may not be recognized by the casual eye. And usually it seems to be completely unprofitable to us personally. More often than not it is service to others without thought of return. It is humility, a willingness to accept the most humble beginnings. It is joy in finding communication with others and finding a kinship with them.
Have you heard of an opportunity fund? Some call it saving for a rainy day. Rainy days can be lovely, too. A rainy day can be an opportunity to get things done. But an opportunity can be any day, rain or shine.
Do you often have the opportunity to speak to your neighbor? It seems to happen too infrequently these days.
The most fun we can have comes when we've the opportunity to squelch an ugly rumor. You know, "curst be the tongue whence slanderous rumor, withering friendship's faith..." Sometimes a little friendship does wither, but if it really amounts to anything it will survive.
What a splendid opportunity to sit quietly and mentally forgive with such depth and joy as to start life anew. There is no greater blessing, no greater opportunity fund.
American editor A.E. Duning write, "Great opportunities come to all, but many do not know they have met them. The only preparation to take advantage of them, is simple fidelity to what each day brings."
A missed opportunity may well be another opportunity to prepare for a bigger and better one!
Jul 6, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day July 6
"Silence is the cornerstone of character."
Charles Alexander Eastman, OHIYESA SANTEE SIOUX
Be still and know. Anyone can verbally attack another. Anyone can be a smart Aleck. Anyone can be angry and tell other people things that will hurt them. Anyone can be sarcastic, devaluating and belittling. It takes a Warrior to be silent. Silence is so powerful. Silence can be so loving.
My Creator, if I get into a situation today that needs me to respond with silence, help me to use my silence in a good and sacred way. In my silence, let me be talking to You and You talking to me. Silence is the way of the warrior.
Jul 6, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
July 6 - Daily Feast
Influence is like the wild phlox that blooms in the woods. Its fragrance drifts toward us, but from where? The distinctive scent tells us it is phlox - or is it wild grapes or plum? In the final analysis we know we smell flowers, but the kind and the location remains a mystery. So it is with advertising or rumor or neighborhood gossip. We know something is going on, because we are being conditioned to take suggestions, to be open to so much we don't need and do not want to hear. The same influence operates in other area - age and illness, loneliness and fear. We not only get it over the airwaves that something miraculous has happened, to be contradicted only days later, but we hear people boldly claiming disease in a joking manner. Influence is subtle like the scent of phlox - or is it petunias?
~ The Great Spirit has given the white man great foresightedness; he sees everything at a distance and makes the most extraordinary things.
~
CROW BELLY
Jul 6, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Haven't you heard someone say, after experiencing something either good or bad, "I knew it was going to be that way." And perhaps the conviction was very strong that certain conditions would take a definite turn. But much of the time we say it not out of conviction, but resignedly agreeing beforehand that something will be a certain way, and usually with dire overtones.
It used to be believed that we had no power to control anything coming to us. We were mere victims of circumstances, almost like stones waiting to be kicked aside. But we were taught, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is."
We must not be so presumptuous as to believe we know everything there is to know about the workings of the mind. But we attract a great many of our problems simply by dwelling on them in our thoughts.
Premonition, or "knowing" things are going to be a certain way, is merely giving us a little time to head off the trouble. Such things should be a challenge, not an accepted rule. "Know" better until you believe it into conviction and into being.
Jul 7, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day July 7
"I believe much trouble and blood would be saved if we opened our hearts more."
Chief Joseph, NEZ PERCE
We are as sick as our secrets. Our ego takes over control of our lives and when that happens our minds get very sick. Then we hurt people and our minds will always justify our actions. Our minds will give us rationalization and excuses that we are justified in doing what we are doing.
My Creator, Let me live today with an open heart. Let me realize to be vulnerable is a strength, not a weakness. Let me realize the power of an open heart. Let me be available to truth. If I get into trouble, let me hear the whisper of your guidance. Let me make heart decisions and let my head catch up to that decision.
Jul 7, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
July 7 - Daily Feast
A difficult challenge does little harm in comparison to the uncertainty of what to do about it. To take action, or let it ride; to stay or to go, to ask for help or wait for new developments. Indecision can wreck our whole thinking process and stall us out at a time that we most need a clear head. Our emotions rise and fall - from do nothing to do something. One minute we have a clear-cut answer and the next we don't know what to do. The Cherokee calls this a is in, backward thinking, going forward and backing up. It doesn't get us anywhere. There is nothing wrong with questioning, but wavering gets everything out of focus. No clear picture comes out of a shaky camera. Taking an action with a calm mind helps to clarify and give stability to the next steps.
~ You might as well expect rivers to run backward as that any man who was born a free man should be contented when penned up and denied liberty. ~
CHIEF JOSEPH
Jul 7, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
First things and first times....the newness of the present moment holds such a breath of youth, such a challenge, there are moments in everyone's life they wish they could relive. Just to recall those times when the newness, the memory of first things were beautiful and exciting.
But life never stands still. It moves forward or it decays. It cannot hold on to the past in any way. If the newness of first things has not grown into finer and more beautiful moments, then it cannot go on.
Everyone can recall something so dear that it becomes new again just be thinking about it. Courage, love, joy, contentment, all these can call to mind the special moments that were beginnings of new eras, new times in living. The scales of life tip this way and that to make those times full of meaning and sometimes vividly painful. And then sometimes it takes a season to mend the heart and spirit. When they are ready, the experience of new times and new beginnings and first things will bloom once more and the youthful challenge again enchants.
Jul 8, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day July 8
"You are going to learn the most important lesson - that God is the most powerful thing there is."
Mathew King, LAKOTA
The Medicine Wheel teaches that there are two worlds - the Seen World and the Unseen World, or the Physical World and the Spiritual World. We need information from both of these worlds in order to live our lives in a harmonious way. The most difficult way is to figure things out by ourselves and leave the Great Spirit out of it. When we do this, we are making decisions with information only from the Physical World. This can be called reliance on self. If we ask the Creator to help us, we then get information from the Unseen World or the Spiritual World. The Spiritual World is where we get our power. When we do this, we are God-reliant. Being God-reliant is the same as being on the Red Road.
Great Spirit, whisper the secrets of the Unseen World in my mind's ear.
Jul 8, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
July 8 - Daily Feast
It is not enough to make something look good. The underlying principle must be good. How else could nature produce such majestic landscapes? They were created because the laws of creativity were good. Now things are made to be temporary - to self-destruct. If it doesn't work very long - junk it. No wonder there are piles of debris. No wonder relationships struggle. The underlying principle is too often based on the idea that if it doesn't work, get rid of it. Few things are as enduring as the hills, few things as calm and serene as the lake on a quiet day. But if we have no firm foundation on which to build, what can we expect but upheaval and having to begin again.
~ The earth is full of minerals of all kinds....the ground is covered with forests of pine....if we give this up....it is the last thing that is valuable to us or the white people. ~
WHITE GHOST
Jul 8, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
We have often heard it said that God never closes one door unless He opens another. It is a great comfort to know we never really lose when we believe, for any defeat can be turned to good if we will absorb the lesson in it.
And yet, how often we refuse to go through that door that has been opened for us. It is so much easier to stand back and wail about the closed one. There seems to be a certain amount of glorification in defeat. It is a subtle something that hides in us and keeps us from doing well that which we know we are capable of doing. If we show strength, we are afraid we will have to stand alone.
Sometimes a door will close for us because that particular one would have caused us more unhappiness, but it never closes for punishment. God is love and love does not punish, nor does it have any power but to give what is right and good for us. With this knowledge, we can be grace walk through those doors that open to us and know it is right.
Jul 9, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day July 9
"We have to educate ourselves to know who we are. That's what I mean when I say, 'Teach the children.'"
Eddie Benton-Banai, OJIBWAY
It is only by knowing ourselves that we can get in touch with our power. It is said, "Tell me what you know about yourself and I'll tell you what you know about God. Tell me what you know about God and I'll tell you what you know about yourself." As we increase knowledge of ourselves, as we choose to grow spiritually, as we clean up our act, then we can teach the children.
My Creator, You have said "Know thyself." Today let me see the wisdom of this Truth. Give me Your insight of myself. I am always walking the talk and most people can see it. Today, help and guide me on the Red Road.
Jul 9, 2012