Life offers us a great deal of stormy weather. In the beginning we are quite strong about it, taking things in stride and moving confidently along. The things that test us seem to give us extra strength we didn't know belonged to us. And quite suddenly there is an awareness that enough is enough. But life doesn't know it, and the storm goes on and so do we.
Even though we are quite willing to give as long as we have to give, there seems to be no more stretch to the strength, either spiritually, mentally, or physically. We question how much longer, how many more times we shall be able to reach into our bag of reserves to borrow another ounce of strength.
Of course, the first thing we must do is take our minds off the thing as we do not want it, and begin to think steadily about how we do want it. It allows our creative minds to find the answers. It may mean we will have to wait awhile in the dark, but when the light comes, it is radiant.
There are many things that stay our feet along the way, but faith that this too will pass can make that way serene.
"When we want to talk to Him we burn tobacco and it takes our prayers all the way up to the Sky World."
Louis Farmer, ONONDAGA
Our herbs and our medicines are all here for the purpose of serving. Offering tobacco as a gift to the Creator is proper use of our medicine. In this way, we are able to communicate from the physical world to the spiritual world. Sometimes we have a hard time coming up with the right words when we pray especially if we are really mixed up. The tobacco and the sage will take the intent to the spirit world. The meaning behind the words are more important the words. The Creator always knows our intent. The tobacco helps us get to the Sky World.
Today, my Creator, I offer You this tobacco. I want to thank You for being in my life. I want to tell You how much I appreciate the honor of being here to serve You. Tell me this morning what I can do for You. You are the reason I live.
First impressions are reflections of what we are ready to think. How easy to believe we already know another person when we know ourselves so little. None of us reveal who we really are until we feel safe, and then it is a long time before we trust anyone enough to call them friend. We need to be told that we are liked - not once but many times, at li a le-yu go di-wo di s ge s di, or "twice or more say it," is the way a Cherokee puts it. Even the most innocent of us tends to judge. But to judge before we know someone may show a lack of sincerity in our own makeup - or maybe even a little fear that we may see in others what we are afraid of finding in ourselves.
~ We concealed nothing. We came not secretly nor in the night. We came in open day. ~
We pray for a change, we hope for a change, but we wait impatiently. Is God not hearing us? We asked. Where is the answers?
If our prayers were suddenly answered, would we be ready? Or would we look behind us for the familiar things, the people, the habits, the routine?
If we were instantly healed, instantly prospered, instantly sought after and loved, then what would we do? Attention, compassion and self-pity are sometimes more important than having everything changed for the better. The fear of being without something to keep us working with the same burden, dealing with familiar pain, can stop us from knowing what it is to be free and well.
If we can envision life without a particular problem we can turn our minds to real change and have it happen. If we can see change, receive it, and know the joy, then gratitude and thanksgiving sets it in place.
"You want to know who's a real medicine man? He's the one who doesn't say 'I'm a medicine man.' He doesn't ask you to come to him. You've got to go and ask him. And you'll find he's always there among his own people."
Louis Farmer, ONONDAGA
The Medicine Man is a role model of what it is like to live in harmony and balance with the Creator. It takes a long time, a lot of sacrifice and discipline to become a Medicine Man. A Medicine Man is humble and never crass about anything. He knows he lives to do the will of the Great Spirit. He knows he is to help the people. He lives very low key - the more low key he lives, the more people seek him out - and such is life. The more one serves the people and is quiet about it, the more he is sought out. The quieter he is, the more powerful is his medicine.
Great Spirit, allow me this day to be humble. Allow me this day not to seek attention, but to live quietly and keep my focus and attention on serving You.
We talk about choosing our friends, but true friends are self-selected. It is they who decide to respond and by what method. And finally they make themselves our friends by being loyal and having a genuine concern for our well being - or allowing privacy when it is needed. Acquaintances wait and judge. And sometimes it is better to be acquaintances when we cannot find a common ground on which to be friends. There is honesty in admitting we cannot be dear friends to all people. But there is always something special. A friend is a unali - without question or fear or concern for equal time. This is why friends are dear to us. They have chosen to be so.
~ The white man does not obey the Great Spirit; that is why the Indian never could agree with him. ~
In this day of emphasis on right connections with the right people, into the right places, at the right time, we must have truly extraordinary qualities to become successes on our own.
They who have worked hard and achieved success often carry a double burden by wrongful accusations of being privileged characters. Perhaps some to whom doors automatically open because of right connections seem to be privileged characters, but they, like dictators, have a limited existence.
Having connections may help us on the ladder of life, but it will never keep those rungs steady beneath our feet. Only our own greatness keeps us tall, sun-crowned. We must have something to give, something to offer before we can expect to be truly privileged characters. And then, we will have earned the right to our privileges. We are somewhat like God, blamed for much we don't do and seldom given credit for the good we have done.
Whatever the future, the world still needs citizens like those J.G. Holland wrote about nearly a century ago: "God give us men. The times demand strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and willing hands....Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog, in public duty and in private thinking!"
Look behind you. See your sons and your daughters. They are your future. Look farther and see your sons' and your daughters' children and their children's children even unto the Seventh Generation. That's the way we were taught. "Think about it: you yourself are a Seventh Generation."
Leon Shenandoah, ONONDAGA
The Creator designed us with a free will. That means we function from choices and consequences. It is important that we practice thinking about consequences before we make decisions about choices. Every choice I make is like setting up dominos one after the other that produce consequences. Not just for me but also for my children and for the children that are unborn. My choices and decision today will have consequences for seven generations. For example, if I work on my own spiritual development and I walk the Red Road, the odds are that my children will. They will marry and their children will follow the Red Road and so will my grandchildren even up to the seventh generation. This will happen because of the choices and decisions that I make today.
Great Spirit, grant that the choices and decisions that I make today will honor Your laws and values. May I live in peace today that will ripple into the seventh generation.
Rejoice when the going gets rough, when everything turns mean. It is time to shout and clap our hands - if only in the privacy of our own minds. To rejoice in difficulty doesn't seem reasonable, because the natural way would be to give up and cry. But we rebound from trouble faster when we turn off the tears and turn on the joy. It comes from the inside and goes to the outside - and that is how the u hi so di, the spell or gloom, is broken. If we have never done it before, we need to learn how to think joy and act joyful, because the heart is listening - and it is out of the heart that all issues are settled.
~ I beg you now to believe that, all miserable as we seem in your eye, we consider ourselves nevertheless much happier than you. ~
How much voice do we really have in our own affairs? How free are we to speak out on the things we know and believe and want to say? How much voice do we have in public affairs?
How much goes unsaid because it may be bad for business, or it might make us look foolish? How often we should speak up but think it is none of our business. How quiet we are when someone's unethical hand does wrong?
What is it that inhibits us? Our own fears. Fear of our own ignorance, fear of losing, fear of the bugaboos we know lurk somewhere, but just aren't sure where.
Who are the people who are free of fears? They are the individuals who govern themselves in such a manner as to have thought our their own ideas enough to be able to speak freely for themselves.
Ethics would seem to be something to ignore if you wish to be successful in business. Many people strive harder today than at any other time to divide their lives so that being seen in church is good taste, and being unethical in business proves they are shrewd. Being successful isn't nearly as important as proving that they've gotten that way by the clever undoing of their opposition.
There was a time when building a better mouse trap by the most efficient methods gave us satisfaction, but too often these days we are impressed because someone is smart. Not smart with intelligence, but smart with the cunning that goes along with the jungle code of getting before someone gets you.
The person who tries to get ahead by ethical methods, and by wanting only to provide something better than is already in existence, must also be equipped to withstand ridicule.
Frankly, the race of the tortoise and the hare is still on, and while the hare is tearing around showing off its ability to be a fast runner, the tortoise is making progress, and never losing its way.
Socrates, being asked the way to honest fame, said, "Study to be what you wish to seem." Success takes time and moral discipline, but our success will be as human beings first, and then the crown of success in business will sit easily and firmly.
"Everyone got to find the right path. You can't see it so it's hard to find. No one can show you. Each person got to find the path by himself."
Charlie Knight, UTE
There are certain times in our lives when a voice whispers to us. The voice doesn't always talk. Usually we hear it best when we are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Inside of every person is the knowledge that a Supreme Being exists. Sometimes a restlessness occurs and it makes me feel I need to be doing something or I need to be going somewhere or maybe I start wondering who am I? Often when this happens, I feel lost. Inside of everyone is the natural, built-in desire to be walking the Red Road, or to be seeking a relationship with the Creator. No one can force us to make this journey. We must make this journey because we want to. This journey is not on the outside. The path is inside of ourselves. It is inside that we must begin our search.
Oh Great Spirit, help me this day to look within myself. If trouble arises, let me realize that it's not what is going on but how I am looking at what's going on. Give me Your power this day to conduct myself according to Your way of life.
AUGUST Ga-lo-ni - Eastern
Galo'nee - Western
End of Fruit Month
Inclination to move from this land has no abiding place in our hearts, and when we move we shall move by the course of nature to sleep under this ground which the Great Spirit gave to our ancestors and which now covers them in their undisturbed repose.
CHIEF JOHN ROSS, 1830
August 1 - Daily Feast
Going fishing to the Cherokee is a na su hv s gv, and it is never a waste of time. And neither is dawdling along, or staring into space. Great people have known the wisdom of taking time to let their minds drift with the cork on a fishing line. Who is to say that sitting quietly doesn't do more than running all over looking aggressive and building up blood pressure? Silence and down-deep thought can be just as active as making a big stir. Sometimes we learn something by study, but going fishing makes us wise. We know we can't sit still forever - but a little escape from the stress and pressure certainly makes a happier, healthier person.
~ Several of our young people.....were instructed in all your sciences....but when they came back to us they were bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in the woods.... ~
Prisoners never love their jails. And the same holds true for all kinds of prisoners, whether they be dogs on leashes or human beings tied to responsibilities. If they are there of their own free will and because they have a sense of belonging, the connecting link is made of love.
Responsible people with an assignment, and the feeling that it is theirs alone, will do it to the best of their ability and see it through. But is they must be watched and directed in every step, then it is a jail and the first thought is how to get out.
Freedom to be an individual with the right to make even small decisions is a precious possession. Freedom to come and go can build faith and trust within people, to make them stick closer than brothers. The rigid rules and constant prodding of a free spirit will force them to find that freedom.
We simply cannot keep another in bondage without being in bondage ourselves. To hold humanity by invisible force is to keep constant watch. And even beneath that watchful eye there will be a continual search for escape.
Anyone completely dependent upon others must always bear their will-O-the-wisp attitudes and the rising and lowering of the emotional tides. However, it is presumptuous of anyone to believe they can possibly be completely independent of others. Without other people, we cannot exist.
But to believe we are doing our best for anyone except ourselves is to build on sand. Of course others inspire us. They give us reasons to be better. They give us the benefit of their experience, but we seldom learn from that. We demand experience of our own. So consequently, we err and make it right. We mar and erase. And sometimes we try and fail, but always it is up to us to decide whether we do better or worse.
We can despair easily of allowed to become completely and utterly dependent upon others. They are human and they make mistakes. But we must know some measure of forgiveness the same as we must know some independence, if only in the spirit. And if the spirit is free, then all else shall be too.
"When you get older and you are ready, your ancestors will show up to guide you."
Joe Coyhis, STOCKBRIDGE-MUNSEE
Many of us, when we are young, spend a portion of our lives in learning. Unfortunately, some of us spend this time learning the hard way. When we are young we sometimes think we know everything. Sometimes we do foolish things. As we get a little older, we realize we don't know anything. This is when we become teachable. There is a saying that goes, when the student is ready, the teacher appears. We usually aren't teachable unless we are ready. The ancestors are waiting and willing to help. When we are ready, many beautiful teachers start to come into our lives. Then we really start to grow and mature. We are ready for the spiritual lesson.
It is not easy to forget the hours we spent as children along some sparkling stream - and there were more sparkling streams then. It is not hard to remember every sound that carried up the creek, how the fishing was, and how it tasted fresh from the water and cooked in an old tin skillet over an open fire. There were a nv s tsigi, violet flowers, blooming in clusters along the banks - and poison ivy we had to avoid - and didn't always. A cardinal sang a fishing song and the sound of oars dipped in warm water with a soft splish-splash. Bugs, like people on water-skis, slipped over the surface of water. And as we passed, tsisdvna, crawfish backed into holes in the mud. Every moment was a thing of joy and knocks softly on our minds today when the need for solitude is there.
~ What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night....the breath of a buffalo in the winter time....a little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. ~
The setting of the sun on an old year is a kind of summing up time. What have you accomplished? What were your goals? Will they be higher in the new year?
Whatever your personal plans and whatever the reasons back of them, there are common everyday kinds of people that should be kept in view. They have positive outlooks, and are best recognized when sincerely listening to a child's words.
You will see them when they steady the elderly, you will know them by their kindness. You will not often hear their prayers as they are for their God. But you will know they are to be depended upon and that they will not tire of these things for it is their natural role.
Think about these people when you set your plans. They are good to remember. Your success or failure depends upon these people being you.
"Always remember you are Indian - do things to make your people proud."
Joe Coyhis, STOCKBRIDGE-MUNSEE
All our choices and decisions will reflect on our people. We need to assume the accountability of honoring people. We must remember to conduct ourselves in a sacred way. Sometimes this is hard. But we must remember we have the assistance of the Spirit World, and we have the principles and values by which we should live written in our hearts. The Creator will help us develop into a strong people if we just learn to depend upon Him.
Great Spirit, lead me on the path of the Red Road.
Love and abuse are never compatible. When someone claims to love us regardless of how they treat us, we should take it with a grain of salt. It is the cry of someone who needs to lean more than to love. Need is a net thrown over a prey. It is the spider tightening the threads of its web to catch what it needs. Love doesn't threaten and intimidate one minute and practice persuasion and promises the next. Love is not just emotional words. It is the need to give and support and protect, even when comfort is threatened. It is not manipulation and it is never, never u yo I gv ne di, abuse.
~ A child believes that only the action of someone who is unfriendly can cause pain. ~
Frequently quoted American editor and author Christian Nestell Bovee wrote that sensitiveness is closely allied to egotism - indeed excessive sensitivity is only another name for morbid self-consciousness.
He wrote that the cure for it was to make more of our objectives and less of ourselves. And it isn't easy to make less of ourselves.
Everyone at some time has felt extreme sensitivity toward people and surroundings. It is a sensitiveness that does not always have a good effect - seemingly for no reason at all we exercise no control over the emotions. It can be frightening to realize that we are quite as capable of destroying as we are, at other times, of building.
It is written in the essays of Aristotle that there are right things to say and a right way of saying them; and the same is true of listening. So often we make a casual remark, not meant to be tactless, but somehow it turns out that way. When there is a desire to appear witty, or clever, at someone else's expense, there should be no pride in the results.
And when we listen to someone's casual remark and take offense, we must examine our own thoughts. If we allow our minds to run in channels of vulgarity and mockery, then we can also expect to interpret others' words to mean the same things.
We can so easily read the wrong things into others' conversations, and in our own efforts to express ourselves say such foolish things that we lose the priceless gifts of relaxation and fun of conversing with other people. And for those reasons we must cultivate the art of speaking and listening with the warmest heart - which harbors nothing that is not right.
It is a good idea in the most sensitive times to recognize them for what they are and to make a pact within one's self to by pass this time for serious thought and decision making. This, above all, should be a time for relaxing against the wind of oversensitivity. To resist it only strengthens it, and to look at it clearly and coolly will take away its mystery and its heat.
It is well to remember that the too-sensitive person is not the true self, but the one with the marvelous mental attitude most certainly is - wait for that person.
"Telling about our lives is important for those who come after as, for those who will see our experience as part of their own historical struggle."
Linda Hogan, CHICKASAW
How important it is for us to support one another. How important it is for us to know our culture and to share our experiences with one another. How powerful it is to be authentic. How important it is to hold no secrets. I am as sick as my secrets.
Grandfather, allow me today to be willing to share with my brother and sister. Let my eyes see You in their eyes. Let me not judge them but only love them. Grandfather, help me, for I am Your humble servant.
Anytime we fall down in doing anything and we get up and have another go at it, count it all progress. It is getting up that makes a warrior, di tli hi, as the Cherokee says it. Getting up doesn't mean the warrior is fearless or that he is totally self-confident. It does mean that he gains confidence as he persistently keeps trying, and he fully expects strength to come as he needs it. He asks, na quu na? How about now? Everyone is afraid of a challenge, afraid of being down and staying down. But relying on the Great Spirit gives the courage to speak powerful words to bolster the human spirit. So, how about now?
~ I know the Great Spirit is looking down upon me from above, and will hear what I say.... ~
Remember all those times when you made three trips to the other room to get something, and before you got there you had already forgotten what it was? Didn't the thought of age diminishing your memory enter your mind at those times?
There's really no need to waste time thinking that way. It is not the case of a scattered memory, but a skittery mind, jumping from one subject to another with only circumstances to remind you.
And haven't you awakened sharply in the middle of the night because suddenly you remembered something you should have done, or something you must do? Age again? No, it was the only time your subconscious mind ever found you quiet enough to remind you of something you wanted to remember.
Life would be so much more orderly if we took several minutes night and morning to sit completely away from outside sights and sounds to recall the important things. As long as we are able to see and hear the activity about us we have difficulty thinking soundly. The conscious mind is capable of carrying just so much, and then the debris must be cleared away before the "filed away" things in the subconscious can be remembered.
"It is a paradox in the contemporary world that in our desire for peace we must willingly give ourselves to struggle."
Linda Hogan, CHICKASAW
The Grandfathers have taught us about sacrifice. We have been taught to pray for the people in a pitiful way. Struggle and conflict is neither good nor bad, it just is. Everything that grows experiences conflict. When the deer is born it is through conflict. When the seed first grows, it is through conflict. Conflict precedes clarity. Everything has the seasons of growth. Recognize - acknowledge - forgive and change. All of these things are done through conflict.
Great Spirit, give me the courage today to see that struggle and conflict are here to teach me lessons that are a gift from you.
It is strange how the same words spoken yesterday have a different meaning today. What can we say that we have not already said before? And what can be said that has not been said so many ways? Some words can be said any number of times and still be new. The Cherokees say, Gv ge yu a, I like you or I love you. I love you to the ultimate amount for one day. But it will not compare with tomorrow. Tomorrow brings its own container to be filled. As the sun rises and the moon sets, time moves swiftly, and the need to love and be loved never changes. It helps us appreciate the finer things, knowing our hours together are beautiful as polished gems that never lose their glow and always retain their value.
~ I felt glad as the ponies do when the fresh green grass starts in the beginning of the year. ~
It doesn't seem that a simple thing like going fishing could have such excellent results when the world suddenly seems too much. It is a very difficult thing to worry when your mind is fixed intently on a little red and white plastic float bobbing in the water.
Just taking one's mind off the general routine of living for even a short time is like a much needed and appreciated vacation. We seldom recognize the need for getting away from the monotony of following each day with another day exactly like it. We lose the value of the hours and minutes and lump them all together and plod along expecting miracles to come someday and save us.
The effort we have to give is in releasing the problem and concentrating on something beautifully simple and uncomplicated. Living doesn't seem so ominous when we can go fishing for a little peace and quiet, and sidetrack the things that weigh so heavily on our minds.
Good health is such a blessing. We don't all realize how much we aid or harm our own health. In fact, we give much more thought to being careful not to get wet than being careful not to get angry. And it is said that anger can lower resistance to colds much quicker than getting wet.
It is a proven fact that to feel love builds a resistance to illnesses while resentment and hate can destroy both mind and body.
Longfellow once wrote that joy, temperance, and repose would slam the door on the doctor's nose. There's no doubt but that most doctor's noses are safe. But they, too, would be glad if more patients would exercise their abilities to lift themselves out of much of their ill health by knowing some measure of joy rather than self pity, some healthy thoughts and less thoughts of self.
We lower our resistance to ill health in many ways, but none works against us as surely as worry, anxiety, and care, plus our inability to recognize the fact that we are our own greatest enemy.
"We have to have one mind for the Four Directions. Until we reach that one mind, we cannot be filled with understanding.... The Creator will not answer until you have just one mind, just like if you have one person."
Grandfather William Commanda, ALGONQUIN
The Elders have taught us to balance our lives emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. If I am out of control emotionally, I get angry, doubtful or erratic, I am out of balance. If I trigger bad mental pictures of my brothers and sisters, I am out of balance. If I get too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, I am out of balance physically. If I don't pray and talk to the Creator daily, I am out of balance spiritually. To be centered, I must be in balance. The Creator talks to me in the quiet and still place. So if I get angry, what I should do first is to pause and get still so I can hear the guidance of the Grandfathers.
Oh Great Spirit whose voice I hear in the winds, protect and keep me safe today - hear my prayers.
Nature is positive. When one part of it drops away and returns to the great continuum of life, new shoots, new sprouts of life stand nearby to complete the purpose. One season moves on so that another can take its place - but it is no more and no less important than the one before. It is inherent in nature to be positive - as it was in the beginning for human nature. But human nature was given the option of choosing good or bad. It chose to disobey, and now we know fear and anxiety. A Cherokee expression, u so nv-I ya dv ne di, calls this a wrong act, a misdeed, that brought about a long-standing situation that has to be dealt with more than we would like. But we have a choice as well, and we must consider who is standing alongside to be the new sprout to complete the purpose.
~ Great Spirit.....To the center of the world you have taken me and showed me the goodness and the beauty and the strangeness of the greening earth.....you have showed me, and I have seen. ~
Surely there is nothing so peaceful to the eye as the quiet, soft-hued hills resting in the autumn sun. We think if we could only get to those hills we could walk in the warmth of that sunlight and feel that peace in every nerve and muscle.
But so frequently we are unable to follow our wills. We are forced to sit where we are. And the very thought of being bound to this spot sometimes makes us restless, perhaps beyond reason. It creates a feeling of panic, that life will never be peaceful.
And then we look up into the limitless sky and see the depths and immensity of the universe, and we know that nothing binds us. That is, unless we want to be bound.
If we were to go to those hills, there would be others in the distance that would look as inviting. To hunt for peace outside ourselves is to ever be in search, and so to be bound again. But to loose that infinitely beautiful truth that peace is never there or there - but here, within me.
Most of us are lovers of familiar things. We love the routine of living, the security of knowing what is going to happen at a certain hour on a certain day. We love the knowledge that we will continue to love others even though we may not like what they are doing at the moment. We find great peace in knowing others will continue to love us even when we've been foolish.
The exciting and livable life is not always one of being on the go, being in entertaining places. The real life of life is not spangles that glitter and one continual round of gaiety.
Life is contentment, living in depth with a genuine love for work seasoned with recreation and freedom to worship where we choose and to pursue our talents as we please.
English author Samuel Johnson tells us that the fountain of content must spring up in the mind; and they who have so little knowledge of human nature as to see happiness by changing anything but their own dispositions will waste their lives in fruitless efforts.
"Everything I know I learned by listening and watching."
Vernon Cooper, LUMBEE
Sometimes my mind is talking so fast about so many different things that I can't slow it down. All day long I am judging and making assumptions about everything.
Great Spirit, help me this day to slow down. Help me to listen â?? quietly. Help me to watch carefully. Help me to listen to my inner voice. Let me listen and watch only the thing You would have me observe. Guide my eyes and my ears to be focused on You. Grandfather, love me today and teach me to be quiet.
The path through the woods has a light layer of scarlet leaves that have fallen early from the woodbine. Crickets are chirping the coming of a new season - and the sassy blue jay, tla yv ga, agrees. Touching the earth is a lovely feeling that once again we find our beginnings. Whether we walk of plant or plow, it is a place created for us, a place to stand with bare feet to feel comfort spread quietly through us. The pulse of the earth slows our own and tranquilizes confusion. Seeing the ga lv lo I, sky, in its limitless depths stirs us to imagine, to stretch our awareness to know how much beauty is provided for us. It helps us to see that mean things can only last as long as we allow them. Nothing can hem us in when we know the freedom of spirit.
~ I was born on the prairies where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures.... ~
We all develop our own ways of centering our lives on something. In our minds we each have a design of what we think we are capable of being. If we want to be what we think we are capable of being, then we must hold our design firmly in our minds until it is secured as the focal point.
Each life must have that focal point, that center of interest where all phases of life come together. A focal point gives strength and meaning to the smallest details of everyday living.
Dimension and depth belong to the life that is centered. Though it may take many forms we must always have a "home" to return to, knowing that here are the roots, the things that really matter.
There must be a blending of our lives with others. But to be happy with one's self, that focal point must be steady and true before we can feel contented that "all's right with the world."
"The Creator told every one of us in our tribal beginnings to look after our ceremonies, and each other."
Barney Bush, SHAWNEE
Our ceremonies are important and each has a purpose. They teach us about the Creator and about each other. The ceremonies teach us to be humble and teach us to pray. They teach us to look inside ourselves. We should remember to pray each morning. Ask the Creator to guide our thinking. Think only good thoughts. Think good thoughts about our relatives and about our brothers and sisters. Pray for our children in ceremony. Give thanks to the Great Mystery for life. All life is sacred. Pray in a sacred way.
Oh Great Spirit, I come to You this morning in ceremony. I come to this sacred place to talk to You. I thank You for Your guidance and protection. Give me Your eyes today so I may see the beauty in all things.
Life is one long courtship of things we want or fear. Whether it is something we want or something we want to avoid, we gu na da yi li da s di, court it, we woo it through our thoughts and words, reaching with intense effort. When our desires are too rigid, we have been known to create a psychological wall that shuts off the natural flow to carry out our heart's desire. We simply can't do what we want to do. When something is to be avoided at all costs, we tend to vision it so vividly that it has no choice but to come our way. The same mental law turns back what we want as well. We have to be careful about what we want, because we are apt to get it. It is our nature to court, but wisdom should always be there.
~ I ran to the spring to fetch water for them when they were thirsty. By these little services I won their affection.... ~
There are two words in every life that mean more towards perfecting that life than any other thing. Those two words are the basis for every action. They are "personal responsibility."
Daniel Webster once wrote that the most important thought he ever had was that of his individual responsibility to God. It was his personal responsibility.
No matter how understanding others may be, how kind, and tolerant, there comes a time when we cannot ask, nor expect to receive, help in our struggle. There are simply times when other people cannot cover for our poor performance. It soon becomes time for us to stand on our own feet, express our own feelings, and search out our own beliefs.
Others can run interference for us, make excuses for us, and guess at our feelings. But we don't begin to live until we've accepted our personal responsibilities. We must learn to express truth in everything from showing our love to voting in an election.
Life is one personal responsibility after another. Shifting it to another's shoulders loses some of the most important steps. Failure to recognize it is folly; ignoring it is stupidity; and accepting it is to find more truth and more strength than was ever imagined or expected.
"Praying to seek a vision, to seek truth is always right. Truth builds upon itself - as the true mark of a warrior who conducts himself/herself accordingly - so that its beauty may shine in the faces of our children."
Barney Bush, SHAWNEE
We move toward and become like that which we think about. What we think about creates our vision. If our thoughts are wise and good, then our vision becomes strong and truthful. If our thoughts are junk, then our vision becomes contaminated, so it's important to be aware of what we are thinking about. As I live my vision, my children watch and they will live their lives the same way. We need to live the walk of the Warrior. We need to walk in beauty and respect.
Oh Great Spirit, give me a vision for today. Let me see truth. Let me walk in beauty. Let my heart guide me in truth. The law says the truth shall set you free. Let me be free today.
Tradition is a basic part of life. It provides a pattern on which we can depend to give us a sense of belonging, a security. But it can also be a block in the way of new progress and new learning. We owe it to ourselves to preserve, ka no he lv hi, the old ways of life, the traditions. But we owe it to ourselves not to be so deeply conditioned to doing something the same way for so long that we stagnate for the sake of it. Too many of us sit on the fence, walk the middle of the road and keep our vision limited. It is not in our makeup to betray a tradition. But to break out of a mold in which we have been hand-pressed, to soar in our own right, is to be worth our salt - and worthy of all that has brought us this far.
~ In the Indian the spirit of the land is still vested; it will be until other men are able to divine and meet its rhythm. ~
At times, Americans seem too easily taken, too docile to political movements, and too indifferent to their own responsibilities as a free people. How easy it is to turn our heads and tell ourselves that there are intelligent people in high authority looking after our interests and that they will never let our freedom be lost. This kind of thinking is a fallacy. America still belongs to the people, and it is up to us to tell our representatives in Washington that we want it kept that way.
We are too easily led to believe that we deserve a way of life that appears free and easy. But seemingly free handouts will eventually take away our freedom unless we decide to personally do something about it.
Americans are known for their ability to start with a little ingenuity and a lot of faith to build powerful financial empires. But in great and small there beats a heart of devotion to God and country. In battle, no one could display more bravery, more determination, or more loyalty than these defenders of America. In the face of seeming defeat, young Americans have stood together and fought courageously.
Now, people of all ages must stand together. We must make our views known to the government. We must continually develop within ourselves moral, physical, and spiritual strength; and we must pray to God - without that faith, all is lost
"Nature is the storehouse of potential life of future generations and is sacred."
Audrey Shenandoah, ONONDAGA
We need to honor and respect our Mother Earth. She is the source of all life. The sun shines life to the earth, then the earth produces life in all forms and in a balanced way. Everything is here to serve everything else. If we interrupt the flow in any way, we leave nothing for the future generations. Before every decision is made, we should ask, and answer, a final question, "If we do this, what will be the effects on the seventh generation? What will we cause our children to live with?" We need to have respect and love for all things and for all people. We need to do this for ourselves and for all the children still unborn.
My Creator, let me look at nature today and let me have the highest respect for all the things I see. All the two legged, the four legged, the winged ones, the plants, the water, the air, the Mother Earth. Let me have respect for myself.
Warm August evenings afford us a view of the honey-slow movements of summer, go gi, in Cherokee. Cattle graze peacefully across meadows and the mockingbird that lives at the top of the mulberry tree sings the songs of other birds with great mimicry. The sky is streaked with vapor trails from jets still caught in the last rays of sunlight, just before a smudgy darkness settles over the horizon. Clouds, the kind and artist strives to paint, change colors before our eyes and sweep the western sky. It is the best time to escape the daytime heat and walk along the feed road that winds through the meadows. Tall sunflowers nod in a sudden cool breeze and the white fluff of milkweed carries across the fence row. This is, to hi dv - the peace - u ne la nv hi, the peace of God that passes all understanding.
~ Might I behold thee, Might I know thee, Might I consider thee, Might I understand thee, O Lord of the universe. ~
Have you ever stood on the sidelines and watched the drama of your own difficulties being acted out in someone else's life? Does it provoke a feeling of gratitude that here I will witness something that will help me solve my own problems? Or does it invite a feeling of smugness that they were not so capable of hiding theirs as I have been of concealing mine.
Hiding one's difficulties can be compared to concealing an elephant. The only possible way to keep it a secret would be to keep it from those who could care less in the first place. If they were face to face with your elephant they would register little surprise and proceed immediately to forget it.
If fact, there is considerable danger in looking down on those who are trying to get their lives on the right track. At least they have the intestinal fortitude to try. And to pretend that one has nothing to overcome is merely polishing the front glass while the back door falls away.
Smugness or compassion? It was Cowper who reminded us, "Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, but God will never."
The Elders tell us the greatest gift we can seek is peace of mind, to walk in balance, to respect all things. For us to do this, we must have peace within ourselves and peace within ourselves cannot come unless we are walking the path the Creator would have us walk. Sometimes the tests on this path are difficult, but we know that each test makes us stronger.
Oh Great Spirit, I ask You to whisper Your wisdom in my heart. You are the only one who knows the secret to peaceful living and the mystery of harmony. Teach me of Your peace, understanding and balance and guide me onto your good path.
At some point, all of us stand at a crucial fork in the road and decide which way we will go. When we stand firm in what we know is right, we can make the decision with confidence. We love that person who can stand at ease when everything threatens to go downhill. He not only looks like he can fight - which the Cherokee calls, a la s di, but he is wearing an invisible armor of faith that makes him invincible. When we have chosen the right road and we are ready to do battle, a way is made where there has been no way. Our feet are set to go, and when we reach that crucial spot, we mark the road for those who follow.
~ Teach us the road to travel, and we will not depart from it forever. ~
Before we can share with others, we must have something to share. And all of us do have something to give. Not material things, but we can share our peace and our love and our loyalty.
Before we can share with others, there must be others with whom to share. For if we are selfish and self-centered enough, we will never have to worry about sharing anything. We will be alone.
Before we can expect others to share with us, we must be capable of accepting. We must be worthy of others who desire to share with us; we must deserve their love.
Before the two of us can ever find anything in this world of mutual interest, we must have enough concern and enough love to feel a need within to produce something good enough to offer; not only to others, but to ourselves. If we have abused our own nature with thoughts of bitterness, harboring painful experiences, self-condemnation for little progress regardless of circumstances, then we have nothing to offer.
The French philosopher Achille Poincelot once said, "Some people think that all the world should share their misfortunes, though they do not share in the sufferings of anyone else."
"With one mind we address our acknowledgment, respect, and gratefulness to all the sacred Cycle of Life. We, as humans, must remember to be humble and acknowledge the gifts we use so freely in our daily lives."
Audrey Shenandoah, ONONDAGA
The sacred Cycle of life - the baby, the youth, the adult, the Elder. Let us respect all directions, the four directions of the Grandfathers; let us respect their power. Let us remember we belong to the earth, the earth does not belong to us. Help us to be respectful to all the gifts You have given us.
Oh Great Spirit, help me this day to be humble. Let me not attack anything in deed or in my thoughts. Let my thoughts focus on the beauty You have created in all things.
Time and space mean nothing to friends. They find each other again and again, to share the things that are important - and a great many things that are ordinary, everyday events. Tsu na li I, friends or close ones, forgive us whether we deserve it or not. They know how easy it is to get off center. But they have high hopes for us - maybe even higher than we have for ourselves. We are at our best when someone chooses to be that kind of friend, to make allowances for our lapses of memory - for no other reason than precious, loyal friendship. It is a quiet, peaceful and dear relationship that never grows old and never ends. Being such a friend is a sweet and blessed responsibility.
~ The Great Spirit has smiled upon us and made us glad. ~
Two qualities so well liked in people are brightness and warmth, both parts of the sun. Sir David Brewster was a Scottish physicist of the eighteenth century. His study of the material world and its phenomena called the sun glorious, "the center and soul of our system, the lamp that lights it, the fire that heats it, the magnet that guides and controls it, the fountain of color which gives its azure to the sky, its verdure to the fields, its rainbow hues to the gay world of flowers, and the purple light of love to the marble cheek of youth and beauty.
What more beautiful qualities for any human being to possess than to have a soul at the center of its system, to light the appearance, to warm the feelings, to guide and control it through its colorful moods, and to let it rise as high as the azure skies and as wide as the gay world of flowers. But better yet, to be most beautiful with the purple light of love. What more to be given than the same qualities of the sun - by one Creator.
To live we need more than light, we need warmth. We need more than strength, we need grace. And more than all these we need love. There can be no greater joy than to see our respect for each other - the warmth and grace and love that bind together people in mutual concern.
Only when we can lay aside our personal feelings, our self-concern and worry of our own gain, can we join in true communion and fellowship with others. And to feel a sense of belonging is necessary to humankind.
It is the nature, not only to be liked and wanted, but to like and want others. And in this relationship find not just warmth but light, not only grace but strength, and in all of these find love.
"Walk in the light and thou shalt see they path, though thorny, bright; for God, by grace, shall dwell in thee, and God himself is light." - BARTON
"A bit of sunshine, a drop of rain, a puff of life from the Great Spirit as He gently breathed upon that spot, created the Native Americans. They were well formed and agile, copper colored and proud."
Harriet Starleaf Gumbs, SHINNECOCK
We are made in the image of the Great Spirit. A long time ago He breathed life into our ancestors. He made the Indian strong. He created a Warrior. Our ancestors created more warriors. We have been tested throughout the seasons and we are still here, stronger than ever. It is good to be Indian. We are proud of ourselves and our ancestors. Mostly we are proud the Great Spirit has never forsaken us, and continues to guide us.
My Creator, let me live my life today in a way that would make my ancestors proud. Let me remember each month that I am here to serve You. Today let me conduct my life in a way that also would make You proud.
There are right things to say and right ways of saying them, but many times we hit on a touchy subject because we were talking when we should have been listening. A casual remark that doesn't mean much to us can strike a nerve in someone else. Even when we disregard other people's feelings by saying they are too sensitive - it may be that we are too, in ge ya at hv na - careless or callous. Over the years we may learn how to make friends and how to keep them - and most of it is done by controlling our tongues. No matter how close we are to someone, it does not give us the right to say anything we choose.
~ You must not hurt anybody or do harm to anyone. ~
Henry David Thoreau, whose love for simplicity often took him into solitude, also wrote of the sensitive side of human nature. "The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling."
How easy it is to destroy the only approach to our true selves. And how often communications are broken down by the brutal force of "getting to the point" and speaking "frankly."
The only time an agreement has been reached by the frankly routine is when two people already believe in the same thing. And it is a most infrequent occasion when two people can meet head-on and believe the other honest because that person is direct and wordy.
More often, there must be some thought given to the sensitivity of the other person. First, that person is a human being with human dignity; feelings and thoughts, strong likes and dislikes. And it is a considerate person who has the sensitive perception and insight into the heart of another, and because of that thoughtfulness can be more honest and direct and progress by it.
Nevertheless, if one has to be constantly on the outlook to keep from offending a friend, then that person is not really a friend. It isn't difficult to be a friend to someone who is endearing to everyone. Indeed it is a pleasure to be counted among that person's friends. But it is another thing altogether to be a friend to someone who finds little friendship anywhere.
Other people seldom see us as we are. In fact, who we truly are is lost somewhere among our daily contacts. We react differently to nearly every person we meet. Their personality and ours may blend beautifully or they may clash horribly. And we can rather tell where the fault lies when we balance out the blends and the clashes. Are we easy to be friends with, or are we merely acquaintances and nothing more?
If people have to dodge around so many issues in order to keep us sweet, we need to hear some truth about ourselves. If we can't do it, it may have to come from a friend. Then we must remember the words of Thomas a' Becket, "Better are the blows of a friend than the kisses of an enemy."
"It's time Indians tell the world what we know... About nature and about God. So I'm going to tell you what I know and who I am. You guys better listen. You got a lot to learn."
Mathew King, LAKOTA
A long time ago the Creator came to Turtle Island and said to the Red People - "You will be the keepers of the Mother Earth. Among you I will give the wisdom about nature, about the interconnectedness of all things, about balance and about living in harmony. You Red People will see the secrets of nature. You will live in hardship and the blessing of this is you will stay close to the Creator. The day will come when you will need to share the secrets with the other people of the earth because they will stray from their spiritual ways. The time to start sharing is today."
Oh Great Spirit, today I am ready for You to use me as a channel of Your peace. Let my walk today be visible so the people will say "There goes a Man of God." I want to know what He knows. If they ask, I will tell them to go out into the wilderness and pray for You to guide them.
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Life offers us a great deal of stormy weather. In the beginning we are quite strong about it, taking things in stride and moving confidently along. The things that test us seem to give us extra strength we didn't know belonged to us. And quite suddenly there is an awareness that enough is enough. But life doesn't know it, and the storm goes on and so do we.
Even though we are quite willing to give as long as we have to give, there seems to be no more stretch to the strength, either spiritually, mentally, or physically. We question how much longer, how many more times we shall be able to reach into our bag of reserves to borrow another ounce of strength.
Of course, the first thing we must do is take our minds off the thing as we do not want it, and begin to think steadily about how we do want it. It allows our creative minds to find the answers. It may mean we will have to wait awhile in the dark, but when the light comes, it is radiant.
There are many things that stay our feet along the way, but faith that this too will pass can make that way serene.
Jul 29, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day July 29
"When we want to talk to Him we burn tobacco and it takes our prayers all the way up to the Sky World."
Louis Farmer, ONONDAGA
Our herbs and our medicines are all here for the purpose of serving. Offering tobacco as a gift to the Creator is proper use of our medicine. In this way, we are able to communicate from the physical world to the spiritual world. Sometimes we have a hard time coming up with the right words when we pray especially if we are really mixed up. The tobacco and the sage will take the intent to the spirit world. The meaning behind the words are more important the words. The Creator always knows our intent. The tobacco helps us get to the Sky World.
Today, my Creator, I offer You this tobacco. I want to thank You for being in my life. I want to tell You how much I appreciate the honor of being here to serve You. Tell me this morning what I can do for You. You are the reason I live.
Jul 29, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
July 29 - Daily Feast
First impressions are reflections of what we are ready to think. How easy to believe we already know another person when we know ourselves so little. None of us reveal who we really are until we feel safe, and then it is a long time before we trust anyone enough to call them friend. We need to be told that we are liked - not once but many times, at li a le-yu go di-wo di s ge s di, or "twice or more say it," is the way a Cherokee puts it. Even the most innocent of us tends to judge. But to judge before we know someone may show a lack of sincerity in our own makeup - or maybe even a little fear that we may see in others what we are afraid of finding in ourselves.
~ We concealed nothing. We came not secretly nor in the night. We came in open day. ~
MANGAS COLORADAS
Jul 29, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
We pray for a change, we hope for a change, but we wait impatiently. Is God not hearing us? We asked. Where is the answers?
If our prayers were suddenly answered, would we be ready? Or would we look behind us for the familiar things, the people, the habits, the routine?
If we were instantly healed, instantly prospered, instantly sought after and loved, then what would we do? Attention, compassion and self-pity are sometimes more important than having everything changed for the better. The fear of being without something to keep us working with the same burden, dealing with familiar pain, can stop us from knowing what it is to be free and well.
If we can envision life without a particular problem we can turn our minds to real change and have it happen. If we can see change, receive it, and know the joy, then gratitude and thanksgiving sets it in place.
Jul 30, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day July 30
"You want to know who's a real medicine man? He's the one who doesn't say 'I'm a medicine man.' He doesn't ask you to come to him. You've got to go and ask him. And you'll find he's always there among his own people."
Louis Farmer, ONONDAGA
The Medicine Man is a role model of what it is like to live in harmony and balance with the Creator. It takes a long time, a lot of sacrifice and discipline to become a Medicine Man. A Medicine Man is humble and never crass about anything. He knows he lives to do the will of the Great Spirit. He knows he is to help the people. He lives very low key - the more low key he lives, the more people seek him out - and such is life. The more one serves the people and is quiet about it, the more he is sought out. The quieter he is, the more powerful is his medicine.
Great Spirit, allow me this day to be humble. Allow me this day not to seek attention, but to live quietly and keep my focus and attention on serving You.
Jul 30, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
July 30 - Daily Feast
We talk about choosing our friends, but true friends are self-selected. It is they who decide to respond and by what method. And finally they make themselves our friends by being loyal and having a genuine concern for our well being - or allowing privacy when it is needed. Acquaintances wait and judge. And sometimes it is better to be acquaintances when we cannot find a common ground on which to be friends. There is honesty in admitting we cannot be dear friends to all people. But there is always something special. A friend is a unali - without question or fear or concern for equal time. This is why friends are dear to us. They have chosen to be so.
~ The white man does not obey the Great Spirit; that is why the Indian never could agree with him. ~
FLYING HAWK
Jul 30, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
In this day of emphasis on right connections with the right people, into the right places, at the right time, we must have truly extraordinary qualities to become successes on our own.
They who have worked hard and achieved success often carry a double burden by wrongful accusations of being privileged characters. Perhaps some to whom doors automatically open because of right connections seem to be privileged characters, but they, like dictators, have a limited existence.
Having connections may help us on the ladder of life, but it will never keep those rungs steady beneath our feet. Only our own greatness keeps us tall, sun-crowned. We must have something to give, something to offer before we can expect to be truly privileged characters. And then, we will have earned the right to our privileges. We are somewhat like God, blamed for much we don't do and seldom given credit for the good we have done.
Whatever the future, the world still needs citizens like those J.G. Holland wrote about nearly a century ago: "God give us men. The times demand strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and willing hands....Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog, in public duty and in private thinking!"
Jul 31, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day July 31
Look behind you. See your sons and your daughters. They are your future. Look farther and see your sons' and your daughters' children and their children's children even unto the Seventh Generation. That's the way we were taught. "Think about it: you yourself are a Seventh Generation."
Leon Shenandoah, ONONDAGA
The Creator designed us with a free will. That means we function from choices and consequences. It is important that we practice thinking about consequences before we make decisions about choices. Every choice I make is like setting up dominos one after the other that produce consequences. Not just for me but also for my children and for the children that are unborn. My choices and decision today will have consequences for seven generations. For example, if I work on my own spiritual development and I walk the Red Road, the odds are that my children will. They will marry and their children will follow the Red Road and so will my grandchildren even up to the seventh generation. This will happen because of the choices and decisions that I make today.
Great Spirit, grant that the choices and decisions that I make today will honor Your laws and values. May I live in peace today that will ripple into the seventh generation.
Jul 31, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
July 31 - Daily Feast
Rejoice when the going gets rough, when everything turns mean. It is time to shout and clap our hands - if only in the privacy of our own minds. To rejoice in difficulty doesn't seem reasonable, because the natural way would be to give up and cry. But we rebound from trouble faster when we turn off the tears and turn on the joy. It comes from the inside and goes to the outside - and that is how the u hi so di, the spell or gloom, is broken. If we have never done it before, we need to learn how to think joy and act joyful, because the heart is listening - and it is out of the heart that all issues are settled.
~ I beg you now to believe that, all miserable as we seem in your eye, we consider ourselves nevertheless much happier than you. ~
GASPESIAN CHIEF, 1676
Jul 31, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
How much voice do we really have in our own affairs? How free are we to speak out on the things we know and believe and want to say? How much voice do we have in public affairs?
How much goes unsaid because it may be bad for business, or it might make us look foolish? How often we should speak up but think it is none of our business. How quiet we are when someone's unethical hand does wrong?
What is it that inhibits us? Our own fears. Fear of our own ignorance, fear of losing, fear of the bugaboos we know lurk somewhere, but just aren't sure where.
Who are the people who are free of fears? They are the individuals who govern themselves in such a manner as to have thought our their own ideas enough to be able to speak freely for themselves.
Ethics would seem to be something to ignore if you wish to be successful in business. Many people strive harder today than at any other time to divide their lives so that being seen in church is good taste, and being unethical in business proves they are shrewd. Being successful isn't nearly as important as proving that they've gotten that way by the clever undoing of their opposition.
There was a time when building a better mouse trap by the most efficient methods gave us satisfaction, but too often these days we are impressed because someone is smart. Not smart with intelligence, but smart with the cunning that goes along with the jungle code of getting before someone gets you.
The person who tries to get ahead by ethical methods, and by wanting only to provide something better than is already in existence, must also be equipped to withstand ridicule.
Frankly, the race of the tortoise and the hare is still on, and while the hare is tearing around showing off its ability to be a fast runner, the tortoise is making progress, and never losing its way.
Socrates, being asked the way to honest fame, said, "Study to be what you wish to seem." Success takes time and moral discipline, but our success will be as human beings first, and then the crown of success in business will sit easily and firmly.
Aug 1, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day August 1
"Everyone got to find the right path. You can't see it so it's hard to find. No one can show you. Each person got to find the path by himself."
Charlie Knight, UTE
There are certain times in our lives when a voice whispers to us. The voice doesn't always talk. Usually we hear it best when we are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Inside of every person is the knowledge that a Supreme Being exists. Sometimes a restlessness occurs and it makes me feel I need to be doing something or I need to be going somewhere or maybe I start wondering who am I? Often when this happens, I feel lost. Inside of everyone is the natural, built-in desire to be walking the Red Road, or to be seeking a relationship with the Creator. No one can force us to make this journey. We must make this journey because we want to. This journey is not on the outside. The path is inside of ourselves. It is inside that we must begin our search.
Oh Great Spirit, help me this day to look within myself. If trouble arises, let me realize that it's not what is going on but how I am looking at what's going on. Give me Your power this day to conduct myself according to Your way of life.
Aug 1, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
AUGUST
Ga-lo-ni - Eastern
Galo'nee - Western
End of Fruit Month
Inclination to move from this land has no abiding place in our hearts, and when we move we shall move by the course of nature to sleep under this ground which the Great Spirit gave to our ancestors and which now covers them in their undisturbed repose.
CHIEF JOHN ROSS, 1830
August 1 - Daily Feast
Going fishing to the Cherokee is a na su hv s gv, and it is never a waste of time. And neither is dawdling along, or staring into space. Great people have known the wisdom of taking time to let their minds drift with the cork on a fishing line. Who is to say that sitting quietly doesn't do more than running all over looking aggressive and building up blood pressure? Silence and down-deep thought can be just as active as making a big stir. Sometimes we learn something by study, but going fishing makes us wise. We know we can't sit still forever - but a little escape from the stress and pressure certainly makes a happier, healthier person.
~ Several of our young people.....were instructed in all your sciences....but when they came back to us they were bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in the woods.... ~
SIX NATIONS
Aug 1, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Prisoners never love their jails. And the same holds true for all kinds of prisoners, whether they be dogs on leashes or human beings tied to responsibilities. If they are there of their own free will and because they have a sense of belonging, the connecting link is made of love.
Responsible people with an assignment, and the feeling that it is theirs alone, will do it to the best of their ability and see it through. But is they must be watched and directed in every step, then it is a jail and the first thought is how to get out.
Freedom to be an individual with the right to make even small decisions is a precious possession. Freedom to come and go can build faith and trust within people, to make them stick closer than brothers. The rigid rules and constant prodding of a free spirit will force them to find that freedom.
We simply cannot keep another in bondage without being in bondage ourselves. To hold humanity by invisible force is to keep constant watch. And even beneath that watchful eye there will be a continual search for escape.
Anyone completely dependent upon others must always bear their will-O-the-wisp attitudes and the rising and lowering of the emotional tides. However, it is presumptuous of anyone to believe they can possibly be completely independent of others. Without other people, we cannot exist.
But to believe we are doing our best for anyone except ourselves is to build on sand. Of course others inspire us. They give us reasons to be better. They give us the benefit of their experience, but we seldom learn from that. We demand experience of our own. So consequently, we err and make it right. We mar and erase. And sometimes we try and fail, but always it is up to us to decide whether we do better or worse.
We can despair easily of allowed to become completely and utterly dependent upon others. They are human and they make mistakes. But we must know some measure of forgiveness the same as we must know some independence, if only in the spirit. And if the spirit is free, then all else shall be too.
Aug 2, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day August 2
"When you get older and you are ready, your ancestors will show up to guide you."
Joe Coyhis, STOCKBRIDGE-MUNSEE
Many of us, when we are young, spend a portion of our lives in learning. Unfortunately, some of us spend this time learning the hard way. When we are young we sometimes think we know everything. Sometimes we do foolish things. As we get a little older, we realize we don't know anything. This is when we become teachable. There is a saying that goes, when the student is ready, the teacher appears. We usually aren't teachable unless we are ready. The ancestors are waiting and willing to help. When we are ready, many beautiful teachers start to come into our lives. Then we really start to grow and mature. We are ready for the spiritual lesson.
Creator, help me to become ready and teachable.
Aug 2, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
August 2 - Daily Feast
It is not easy to forget the hours we spent as children along some sparkling stream - and there were more sparkling streams then. It is not hard to remember every sound that carried up the creek, how the fishing was, and how it tasted fresh from the water and cooked in an old tin skillet over an open fire. There were a nv s tsigi, violet flowers, blooming in clusters along the banks - and poison ivy we had to avoid - and didn't always. A cardinal sang a fishing song and the sound of oars dipped in warm water with a soft splish-splash. Bugs, like people on water-skis, slipped over the surface of water. And as we passed, tsisdvna, crawfish backed into holes in the mud. Every moment was a thing of joy and knocks softly on our minds today when the need for solitude is there.
~ What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night....the breath of a buffalo in the winter time....a little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. ~
CROWFOOT, 1821
Aug 2, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
The setting of the sun on an old year is a kind of summing up time. What have you accomplished? What were your goals? Will they be higher in the new year?
Whatever your personal plans and whatever the reasons back of them, there are common everyday kinds of people that should be kept in view. They have positive outlooks, and are best recognized when sincerely listening to a child's words.
You will see them when they steady the elderly, you will know them by their kindness. You will not often hear their prayers as they are for their God. But you will know they are to be depended upon and that they will not tire of these things for it is their natural role.
Think about these people when you set your plans. They are good to remember. Your success or failure depends upon these people being you.
Aug 3, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day August 3
"Always remember you are Indian - do things to make your people proud."
Joe Coyhis, STOCKBRIDGE-MUNSEE
All our choices and decisions will reflect on our people. We need to assume the accountability of honoring people. We must remember to conduct ourselves in a sacred way. Sometimes this is hard. But we must remember we have the assistance of the Spirit World, and we have the principles and values by which we should live written in our hearts. The Creator will help us develop into a strong people if we just learn to depend upon Him.
Great Spirit, lead me on the path of the Red Road.
Aug 3, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
August 3 - Daily Feast
Love and abuse are never compatible. When someone claims to love us regardless of how they treat us, we should take it with a grain of salt. It is the cry of someone who needs to lean more than to love. Need is a net thrown over a prey. It is the spider tightening the threads of its web to catch what it needs. Love doesn't threaten and intimidate one minute and practice persuasion and promises the next. Love is not just emotional words. It is the need to give and support and protect, even when comfort is threatened. It is not manipulation and it is never, never u yo I gv ne di, abuse.
~ A child believes that only the action of someone who is unfriendly can cause pain. ~
CHASED-BY-BEARS
Aug 3, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Frequently quoted American editor and author Christian Nestell Bovee wrote that sensitiveness is closely allied to egotism - indeed excessive sensitivity is only another name for morbid self-consciousness.
He wrote that the cure for it was to make more of our objectives and less of ourselves. And it isn't easy to make less of ourselves.
Everyone at some time has felt extreme sensitivity toward people and surroundings. It is a sensitiveness that does not always have a good effect - seemingly for no reason at all we exercise no control over the emotions. It can be frightening to realize that we are quite as capable of destroying as we are, at other times, of building.
It is written in the essays of Aristotle that there are right things to say and a right way of saying them; and the same is true of listening. So often we make a casual remark, not meant to be tactless, but somehow it turns out that way. When there is a desire to appear witty, or clever, at someone else's expense, there should be no pride in the results.
And when we listen to someone's casual remark and take offense, we must examine our own thoughts. If we allow our minds to run in channels of vulgarity and mockery, then we can also expect to interpret others' words to mean the same things.
We can so easily read the wrong things into others' conversations, and in our own efforts to express ourselves say such foolish things that we lose the priceless gifts of relaxation and fun of conversing with other people. And for those reasons we must cultivate the art of speaking and listening with the warmest heart - which harbors nothing that is not right.
It is a good idea in the most sensitive times to recognize them for what they are and to make a pact within one's self to by pass this time for serious thought and decision making. This, above all, should be a time for relaxing against the wind of oversensitivity. To resist it only strengthens it, and to look at it clearly and coolly will take away its mystery and its heat.
It is well to remember that the too-sensitive person is not the true self, but the one with the marvelous mental attitude most certainly is - wait for that person.
Aug 4, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day August 4
"Telling about our lives is important for those who come after as, for those who will see our experience as part of their own historical struggle."
Linda Hogan, CHICKASAW
How important it is for us to support one another. How important it is for us to know our culture and to share our experiences with one another. How powerful it is to be authentic. How important it is to hold no secrets. I am as sick as my secrets.
Grandfather, allow me today to be willing to share with my brother and sister. Let my eyes see You in their eyes. Let me not judge them but only love them. Grandfather, help me, for I am Your humble servant.
Aug 4, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
August 4 - Daily Feast
Anytime we fall down in doing anything and we get up and have another go at it, count it all progress. It is getting up that makes a warrior, di tli hi, as the Cherokee says it. Getting up doesn't mean the warrior is fearless or that he is totally self-confident. It does mean that he gains confidence as he persistently keeps trying, and he fully expects strength to come as he needs it. He asks, na quu na? How about now? Everyone is afraid of a challenge, afraid of being down and staying down. But relying on the Great Spirit gives the courage to speak powerful words to bolster the human spirit. So, how about now?
~ I know the Great Spirit is looking down upon me from above, and will hear what I say.... ~
SITTING BULL
Aug 4, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Remember all those times when you made three trips to the other room to get something, and before you got there you had already forgotten what it was? Didn't the thought of age diminishing your memory enter your mind at those times?
There's really no need to waste time thinking that way. It is not the case of a scattered memory, but a skittery mind, jumping from one subject to another with only circumstances to remind you.
And haven't you awakened sharply in the middle of the night because suddenly you remembered something you should have done, or something you must do? Age again? No, it was the only time your subconscious mind ever found you quiet enough to remind you of something you wanted to remember.
Life would be so much more orderly if we took several minutes night and morning to sit completely away from outside sights and sounds to recall the important things. As long as we are able to see and hear the activity about us we have difficulty thinking soundly. The conscious mind is capable of carrying just so much, and then the debris must be cleared away before the "filed away" things in the subconscious can be remembered.
"Be still and know...."
Aug 5, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day August 5
"It is a paradox in the contemporary world that in our desire for peace we must willingly give ourselves to struggle."
Linda Hogan, CHICKASAW
The Grandfathers have taught us about sacrifice. We have been taught to pray for the people in a pitiful way. Struggle and conflict is neither good nor bad, it just is. Everything that grows experiences conflict. When the deer is born it is through conflict. When the seed first grows, it is through conflict. Conflict precedes clarity. Everything has the seasons of growth. Recognize - acknowledge - forgive and change. All of these things are done through conflict.
Great Spirit, give me the courage today to see that struggle and conflict are here to teach me lessons that are a gift from you.
Aug 5, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
August 5 - Daily Feast
It is strange how the same words spoken yesterday have a different meaning today. What can we say that we have not already said before? And what can be said that has not been said so many ways? Some words can be said any number of times and still be new. The Cherokees say, Gv ge yu a, I like you or I love you. I love you to the ultimate amount for one day. But it will not compare with tomorrow. Tomorrow brings its own container to be filled. As the sun rises and the moon sets, time moves swiftly, and the need to love and be loved never changes. It helps us appreciate the finer things, knowing our hours together are beautiful as polished gems that never lose their glow and always retain their value.
~ I felt glad as the ponies do when the fresh green grass starts in the beginning of the year. ~
TEN BEARS
Aug 5, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
It doesn't seem that a simple thing like going fishing could have such excellent results when the world suddenly seems too much. It is a very difficult thing to worry when your mind is fixed intently on a little red and white plastic float bobbing in the water.
Just taking one's mind off the general routine of living for even a short time is like a much needed and appreciated vacation. We seldom recognize the need for getting away from the monotony of following each day with another day exactly like it. We lose the value of the hours and minutes and lump them all together and plod along expecting miracles to come someday and save us.
The effort we have to give is in releasing the problem and concentrating on something beautifully simple and uncomplicated. Living doesn't seem so ominous when we can go fishing for a little peace and quiet, and sidetrack the things that weigh so heavily on our minds.
Good health is such a blessing. We don't all realize how much we aid or harm our own health. In fact, we give much more thought to being careful not to get wet than being careful not to get angry. And it is said that anger can lower resistance to colds much quicker than getting wet.
It is a proven fact that to feel love builds a resistance to illnesses while resentment and hate can destroy both mind and body.
Longfellow once wrote that joy, temperance, and repose would slam the door on the doctor's nose. There's no doubt but that most doctor's noses are safe. But they, too, would be glad if more patients would exercise their abilities to lift themselves out of much of their ill health by knowing some measure of joy rather than self pity, some healthy thoughts and less thoughts of self.
We lower our resistance to ill health in many ways, but none works against us as surely as worry, anxiety, and care, plus our inability to recognize the fact that we are our own greatest enemy.
Aug 6, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day August 6
"We have to have one mind for the Four Directions. Until we reach that one mind, we cannot be filled with understanding.... The Creator will not answer until you have just one mind, just like if you have one person."
Grandfather William Commanda, ALGONQUIN
The Elders have taught us to balance our lives emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. If I am out of control emotionally, I get angry, doubtful or erratic, I am out of balance. If I trigger bad mental pictures of my brothers and sisters, I am out of balance. If I get too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, I am out of balance physically. If I don't pray and talk to the Creator daily, I am out of balance spiritually. To be centered, I must be in balance. The Creator talks to me in the quiet and still place. So if I get angry, what I should do first is to pause and get still so I can hear the guidance of the Grandfathers.
Oh Great Spirit whose voice I hear in the winds, protect and keep me safe today - hear my prayers.
Aug 6, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
August 6 - Daily Feast
Nature is positive. When one part of it drops away and returns to the great continuum of life, new shoots, new sprouts of life stand nearby to complete the purpose. One season moves on so that another can take its place - but it is no more and no less important than the one before. It is inherent in nature to be positive - as it was in the beginning for human nature. But human nature was given the option of choosing good or bad. It chose to disobey, and now we know fear and anxiety. A Cherokee expression, u so nv-I ya dv ne di, calls this a wrong act, a misdeed, that brought about a long-standing situation that has to be dealt with more than we would like. But we have a choice as well, and we must consider who is standing alongside to be the new sprout to complete the purpose.
~ Great Spirit.....To the center of the world you have taken me and showed me the goodness and the beauty and the strangeness of the greening earth.....you have showed me, and I have seen. ~
BLACK ELK
Aug 6, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Surely there is nothing so peaceful to the eye as the quiet, soft-hued hills resting in the autumn sun. We think if we could only get to those hills we could walk in the warmth of that sunlight and feel that peace in every nerve and muscle.
But so frequently we are unable to follow our wills. We are forced to sit where we are. And the very thought of being bound to this spot sometimes makes us restless, perhaps beyond reason. It creates a feeling of panic, that life will never be peaceful.
And then we look up into the limitless sky and see the depths and immensity of the universe, and we know that nothing binds us. That is, unless we want to be bound.
If we were to go to those hills, there would be others in the distance that would look as inviting. To hunt for peace outside ourselves is to ever be in search, and so to be bound again. But to loose that infinitely beautiful truth that peace is never there or there - but here, within me.
Most of us are lovers of familiar things. We love the routine of living, the security of knowing what is going to happen at a certain hour on a certain day. We love the knowledge that we will continue to love others even though we may not like what they are doing at the moment. We find great peace in knowing others will continue to love us even when we've been foolish.
The exciting and livable life is not always one of being on the go, being in entertaining places. The real life of life is not spangles that glitter and one continual round of gaiety.
Life is contentment, living in depth with a genuine love for work seasoned with recreation and freedom to worship where we choose and to pursue our talents as we please.
English author Samuel Johnson tells us that the fountain of content must spring up in the mind; and they who have so little knowledge of human nature as to see happiness by changing anything but their own dispositions will waste their lives in fruitless efforts.
Aug 7, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day August 7
"Everything I know I learned by listening and watching."
Vernon Cooper, LUMBEE
Sometimes my mind is talking so fast about so many different things that I can't slow it down. All day long I am judging and making assumptions about everything.
Great Spirit, help me this day to slow down. Help me to listen â?? quietly. Help me to watch carefully. Help me to listen to my inner voice. Let me listen and watch only the thing You would have me observe. Guide my eyes and my ears to be focused on You. Grandfather, love me today and teach me to be quiet.
Aug 7, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
August 7 - Daily Feast
The path through the woods has a light layer of scarlet leaves that have fallen early from the woodbine. Crickets are chirping the coming of a new season - and the sassy blue jay, tla yv ga, agrees. Touching the earth is a lovely feeling that once again we find our beginnings. Whether we walk of plant or plow, it is a place created for us, a place to stand with bare feet to feel comfort spread quietly through us. The pulse of the earth slows our own and tranquilizes confusion. Seeing the ga lv lo I, sky, in its limitless depths stirs us to imagine, to stretch our awareness to know how much beauty is provided for us. It helps us to see that mean things can only last as long as we allow them. Nothing can hem us in when we know the freedom of spirit.
~ I was born on the prairies where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures.... ~
GERONIMO
Aug 7, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
We all develop our own ways of centering our lives on something. In our minds we each have a design of what we think we are capable of being. If we want to be what we think we are capable of being, then we must hold our design firmly in our minds until it is secured as the focal point.
Each life must have that focal point, that center of interest where all phases of life come together. A focal point gives strength and meaning to the smallest details of everyday living.
Dimension and depth belong to the life that is centered. Though it may take many forms we must always have a "home" to return to, knowing that here are the roots, the things that really matter.
There must be a blending of our lives with others. But to be happy with one's self, that focal point must be steady and true before we can feel contented that "all's right with the world."
Aug 8, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day August 8
"The Creator told every one of us in our tribal beginnings to look after our ceremonies, and each other."
Barney Bush, SHAWNEE
Our ceremonies are important and each has a purpose. They teach us about the Creator and about each other. The ceremonies teach us to be humble and teach us to pray. They teach us to look inside ourselves. We should remember to pray each morning. Ask the Creator to guide our thinking. Think only good thoughts. Think good thoughts about our relatives and about our brothers and sisters. Pray for our children in ceremony. Give thanks to the Great Mystery for life. All life is sacred. Pray in a sacred way.
Oh Great Spirit, I come to You this morning in ceremony. I come to this sacred place to talk to You. I thank You for Your guidance and protection. Give me Your eyes today so I may see the beauty in all things.
Aug 8, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
August 8 - Daily Feast
Life is one long courtship of things we want or fear. Whether it is something we want or something we want to avoid, we gu na da yi li da s di, court it, we woo it through our thoughts and words, reaching with intense effort. When our desires are too rigid, we have been known to create a psychological wall that shuts off the natural flow to carry out our heart's desire. We simply can't do what we want to do. When something is to be avoided at all costs, we tend to vision it so vividly that it has no choice but to come our way. The same mental law turns back what we want as well. We have to be careful about what we want, because we are apt to get it. It is our nature to court, but wisdom should always be there.
~ I ran to the spring to fetch water for them when they were thirsty. By these little services I won their affection.... ~
PLAYFUL CALF
Aug 8, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
There are two words in every life that mean more towards perfecting that life than any other thing. Those two words are the basis for every action. They are "personal responsibility."
Daniel Webster once wrote that the most important thought he ever had was that of his individual responsibility to God. It was his personal responsibility.
No matter how understanding others may be, how kind, and tolerant, there comes a time when we cannot ask, nor expect to receive, help in our struggle. There are simply times when other people cannot cover for our poor performance. It soon becomes time for us to stand on our own feet, express our own feelings, and search out our own beliefs.
Others can run interference for us, make excuses for us, and guess at our feelings. But we don't begin to live until we've accepted our personal responsibilities. We must learn to express truth in everything from showing our love to voting in an election.
Life is one personal responsibility after another. Shifting it to another's shoulders loses some of the most important steps. Failure to recognize it is folly; ignoring it is stupidity; and accepting it is to find more truth and more strength than was ever imagined or expected.
Aug 9, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day August 9
"Praying to seek a vision, to seek truth is always right. Truth builds upon itself - as the true mark of a warrior who conducts himself/herself accordingly - so that its beauty may shine in the faces of our children."
Barney Bush, SHAWNEE
We move toward and become like that which we think about. What we think about creates our vision. If our thoughts are wise and good, then our vision becomes strong and truthful. If our thoughts are junk, then our vision becomes contaminated, so it's important to be aware of what we are thinking about. As I live my vision, my children watch and they will live their lives the same way. We need to live the walk of the Warrior. We need to walk in beauty and respect.
Oh Great Spirit, give me a vision for today. Let me see truth. Let me walk in beauty. Let my heart guide me in truth. The law says the truth shall set you free. Let me be free today.
Aug 9, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
August 9 - Daily Feast
Tradition is a basic part of life. It provides a pattern on which we can depend to give us a sense of belonging, a security. But it can also be a block in the way of new progress and new learning. We owe it to ourselves to preserve, ka no he lv hi, the old ways of life, the traditions. But we owe it to ourselves not to be so deeply conditioned to doing something the same way for so long that we stagnate for the sake of it. Too many of us sit on the fence, walk the middle of the road and keep our vision limited. It is not in our makeup to betray a tradition. But to break out of a mold in which we have been hand-pressed, to soar in our own right, is to be worth our salt - and worthy of all that has brought us this far.
~ In the Indian the spirit of the land is still vested; it will be until other men are able to divine and meet its rhythm. ~
STANDING BEAR
Aug 9, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
At times, Americans seem too easily taken, too docile to political movements, and too indifferent to their own responsibilities as a free people. How easy it is to turn our heads and tell ourselves that there are intelligent people in high authority looking after our interests and that they will never let our freedom be lost. This kind of thinking is a fallacy. America still belongs to the people, and it is up to us to tell our representatives in Washington that we want it kept that way.
We are too easily led to believe that we deserve a way of life that appears free and easy. But seemingly free handouts will eventually take away our freedom unless we decide to personally do something about it.
Americans are known for their ability to start with a little ingenuity and a lot of faith to build powerful financial empires. But in great and small there beats a heart of devotion to God and country. In battle, no one could display more bravery, more determination, or more loyalty than these defenders of America. In the face of seeming defeat, young Americans have stood together and fought courageously.
Now, people of all ages must stand together. We must make our views known to the government. We must continually develop within ourselves moral, physical, and spiritual strength; and we must pray to God - without that faith, all is lost
Aug 10, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day August 10
"Nature is the storehouse of potential life of future generations and is sacred."
Audrey Shenandoah, ONONDAGA
We need to honor and respect our Mother Earth. She is the source of all life. The sun shines life to the earth, then the earth produces life in all forms and in a balanced way. Everything is here to serve everything else. If we interrupt the flow in any way, we leave nothing for the future generations. Before every decision is made, we should ask, and answer, a final question, "If we do this, what will be the effects on the seventh generation? What will we cause our children to live with?" We need to have respect and love for all things and for all people. We need to do this for ourselves and for all the children still unborn.
My Creator, let me look at nature today and let me have the highest respect for all the things I see. All the two legged, the four legged, the winged ones, the plants, the water, the air, the Mother Earth. Let me have respect for myself.
Aug 10, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
August 10 - Daily Feast
Warm August evenings afford us a view of the honey-slow movements of summer, go gi, in Cherokee. Cattle graze peacefully across meadows and the mockingbird that lives at the top of the mulberry tree sings the songs of other birds with great mimicry. The sky is streaked with vapor trails from jets still caught in the last rays of sunlight, just before a smudgy darkness settles over the horizon. Clouds, the kind and artist strives to paint, change colors before our eyes and sweep the western sky. It is the best time to escape the daytime heat and walk along the feed road that winds through the meadows. Tall sunflowers nod in a sudden cool breeze and the white fluff of milkweed carries across the fence row. This is, to hi dv - the peace - u ne la nv hi, the peace of God that passes all understanding.
~ Might I behold thee, Might I know thee, Might I consider thee, Might I understand thee, O Lord of the universe. ~
INCA SONG
Aug 10, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Have you ever stood on the sidelines and watched the drama of your own difficulties being acted out in someone else's life? Does it provoke a feeling of gratitude that here I will witness something that will help me solve my own problems? Or does it invite a feeling of smugness that they were not so capable of hiding theirs as I have been of concealing mine.
Hiding one's difficulties can be compared to concealing an elephant. The only possible way to keep it a secret would be to keep it from those who could care less in the first place. If they were face to face with your elephant they would register little surprise and proceed immediately to forget it.
If fact, there is considerable danger in looking down on those who are trying to get their lives on the right track. At least they have the intestinal fortitude to try. And to pretend that one has nothing to overcome is merely polishing the front glass while the back door falls away.
Smugness or compassion? It was Cowper who reminded us, "Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, but God will never."
Aug 11, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day August 11
"May there be peace when we meet."
Audrey Shenandoah, ONONDAGA
The Elders tell us the greatest gift we can seek is peace of mind, to walk in balance, to respect all things. For us to do this, we must have peace within ourselves and peace within ourselves cannot come unless we are walking the path the Creator would have us walk. Sometimes the tests on this path are difficult, but we know that each test makes us stronger.
Oh Great Spirit, I ask You to whisper Your wisdom in my heart. You are the only one who knows the secret to peaceful living and the mystery of harmony. Teach me of Your peace, understanding and balance and guide me onto your good path.
Aug 11, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
August 11 - Daily Feast
At some point, all of us stand at a crucial fork in the road and decide which way we will go. When we stand firm in what we know is right, we can make the decision with confidence. We love that person who can stand at ease when everything threatens to go downhill. He not only looks like he can fight - which the Cherokee calls, a la s di, but he is wearing an invisible armor of faith that makes him invincible. When we have chosen the right road and we are ready to do battle, a way is made where there has been no way. Our feet are set to go, and when we reach that crucial spot, we mark the road for those who follow.
~ Teach us the road to travel, and we will not depart from it forever. ~
SATANK
Aug 11, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Before we can share with others, we must have something to share. And all of us do have something to give. Not material things, but we can share our peace and our love and our loyalty.
Before we can share with others, there must be others with whom to share. For if we are selfish and self-centered enough, we will never have to worry about sharing anything. We will be alone.
Before we can expect others to share with us, we must be capable of accepting. We must be worthy of others who desire to share with us; we must deserve their love.
Before the two of us can ever find anything in this world of mutual interest, we must have enough concern and enough love to feel a need within to produce something good enough to offer; not only to others, but to ourselves. If we have abused our own nature with thoughts of bitterness, harboring painful experiences, self-condemnation for little progress regardless of circumstances, then we have nothing to offer.
The French philosopher Achille Poincelot once said, "Some people think that all the world should share their misfortunes, though they do not share in the sufferings of anyone else."
Aug 12, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day August 12
"With one mind we address our acknowledgment, respect, and gratefulness to all the sacred Cycle of Life. We, as humans, must remember to be humble and acknowledge the gifts we use so freely in our daily lives."
Audrey Shenandoah, ONONDAGA
The sacred Cycle of life - the baby, the youth, the adult, the Elder. Let us respect all directions, the four directions of the Grandfathers; let us respect their power. Let us remember we belong to the earth, the earth does not belong to us. Help us to be respectful to all the gifts You have given us.
Oh Great Spirit, help me this day to be humble. Let me not attack anything in deed or in my thoughts. Let my thoughts focus on the beauty You have created in all things.
Aug 12, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
August 12 - Daily Feast
Time and space mean nothing to friends. They find each other again and again, to share the things that are important - and a great many things that are ordinary, everyday events. Tsu na li I, friends or close ones, forgive us whether we deserve it or not. They know how easy it is to get off center. But they have high hopes for us - maybe even higher than we have for ourselves. We are at our best when someone chooses to be that kind of friend, to make allowances for our lapses of memory - for no other reason than precious, loyal friendship. It is a quiet, peaceful and dear relationship that never grows old and never ends. Being such a friend is a sweet and blessed responsibility.
~ The Great Spirit has smiled upon us and made us glad. ~
KEOKUK
Aug 12, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Two qualities so well liked in people are brightness and warmth, both parts of the sun. Sir David Brewster was a Scottish physicist of the eighteenth century. His study of the material world and its phenomena called the sun glorious, "the center and soul of our system, the lamp that lights it, the fire that heats it, the magnet that guides and controls it, the fountain of color which gives its azure to the sky, its verdure to the fields, its rainbow hues to the gay world of flowers, and the purple light of love to the marble cheek of youth and beauty.
What more beautiful qualities for any human being to possess than to have a soul at the center of its system, to light the appearance, to warm the feelings, to guide and control it through its colorful moods, and to let it rise as high as the azure skies and as wide as the gay world of flowers. But better yet, to be most beautiful with the purple light of love. What more to be given than the same qualities of the sun - by one Creator.
To live we need more than light, we need warmth. We need more than strength, we need grace. And more than all these we need love. There can be no greater joy than to see our respect for each other - the warmth and grace and love that bind together people in mutual concern.
Only when we can lay aside our personal feelings, our self-concern and worry of our own gain, can we join in true communion and fellowship with others. And to feel a sense of belonging is necessary to humankind.
It is the nature, not only to be liked and wanted, but to like and want others. And in this relationship find not just warmth but light, not only grace but strength, and in all of these find love.
"Walk in the light and thou shalt see they path, though thorny, bright; for God, by grace, shall dwell in thee, and God himself is light." - BARTON
Aug 13, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day August 13
"A bit of sunshine, a drop of rain, a puff of life from the Great Spirit as He gently breathed upon that spot, created the Native Americans. They were well formed and agile, copper colored and proud."
Harriet Starleaf Gumbs, SHINNECOCK
We are made in the image of the Great Spirit. A long time ago He breathed life into our ancestors. He made the Indian strong. He created a Warrior. Our ancestors created more warriors. We have been tested throughout the seasons and we are still here, stronger than ever. It is good to be Indian. We are proud of ourselves and our ancestors. Mostly we are proud the Great Spirit has never forsaken us, and continues to guide us.
My Creator, let me live my life today in a way that would make my ancestors proud. Let me remember each month that I am here to serve You. Today let me conduct my life in a way that also would make You proud.
Aug 13, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
August 13 - Daily Feast
There are right things to say and right ways of saying them, but many times we hit on a touchy subject because we were talking when we should have been listening. A casual remark that doesn't mean much to us can strike a nerve in someone else. Even when we disregard other people's feelings by saying they are too sensitive - it may be that we are too, in ge ya at hv na - careless or callous. Over the years we may learn how to make friends and how to keep them - and most of it is done by controlling our tongues. No matter how close we are to someone, it does not give us the right to say anything we choose.
~ You must not hurt anybody or do harm to anyone. ~
WOVOKA
Aug 13, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Henry David Thoreau, whose love for simplicity often took him into solitude, also wrote of the sensitive side of human nature. "The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling."
How easy it is to destroy the only approach to our true selves. And how often communications are broken down by the brutal force of "getting to the point" and speaking "frankly."
The only time an agreement has been reached by the frankly routine is when two people already believe in the same thing. And it is a most infrequent occasion when two people can meet head-on and believe the other honest because that person is direct and wordy.
More often, there must be some thought given to the sensitivity of the other person. First, that person is a human being with human dignity; feelings and thoughts, strong likes and dislikes. And it is a considerate person who has the sensitive perception and insight into the heart of another, and because of that thoughtfulness can be more honest and direct and progress by it.
Nevertheless, if one has to be constantly on the outlook to keep from offending a friend, then that person is not really a friend. It isn't difficult to be a friend to someone who is endearing to everyone. Indeed it is a pleasure to be counted among that person's friends. But it is another thing altogether to be a friend to someone who finds little friendship anywhere.
Other people seldom see us as we are. In fact, who we truly are is lost somewhere among our daily contacts. We react differently to nearly every person we meet. Their personality and ours may blend beautifully or they may clash horribly. And we can rather tell where the fault lies when we balance out the blends and the clashes. Are we easy to be friends with, or are we merely acquaintances and nothing more?
If people have to dodge around so many issues in order to keep us sweet, we need to hear some truth about ourselves. If we can't do it, it may have to come from a friend. Then we must remember the words of Thomas a' Becket, "Better are the blows of a friend than the kisses of an enemy."
Aug 14, 2012
David White Hawk Administrator
Elder's Meditation of the Day August 14
"It's time Indians tell the world what we know... About nature and about God. So I'm going to tell you what I know and who I am. You guys better listen. You got a lot to learn."
Mathew King, LAKOTA
A long time ago the Creator came to Turtle Island and said to the Red People - "You will be the keepers of the Mother Earth. Among you I will give the wisdom about nature, about the interconnectedness of all things, about balance and about living in harmony. You Red People will see the secrets of nature. You will live in hardship and the blessing of this is you will stay close to the Creator. The day will come when you will need to share the secrets with the other people of the earth because they will stray from their spiritual ways. The time to start sharing is today."
Oh Great Spirit, today I am ready for You to use me as a channel of Your peace. Let my walk today be visible so the people will say "There goes a Man of God." I want to know what He knows. If they ask, I will tell them to go out into the wilderness and pray for You to guide them.
Aug 14, 2012