Daily Feast - January

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January 1 - Daily Feast

Volume II

ONE
So-Qua

Cold Month
Una la at nee'

The prairie is large and good, and so are the heavens above, and I do not want them stained by the blood of war.

SATANTA, KIOWA CHIEFTAIN

Early morning sunlight sets frosted grasses ablaze with gems, topaz, emeralds, diamonds, and the heart is supremely rich, u wa nei I, and very enlightened. Such mornings call us to brightness of spirit and to healing the deep hurts of the soul. Step out and breathe in the peace. Turn up the palms to give thanks and receive strength for the day and wisdom to begin this year. Because nature thrives where humans give up, the negative is turned away. All around us the breathtaking views tell us to do the same.

~ You look at me and see an ugly old man, but within I am filled with great beauty. ~

TLO TSI HEE
OLD MAN BUFFALO GRASS
NAVAJO

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 1

"...because if you believe in something, and believe in it long enough, it will come into being."

--Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE

We are created by the Great One to accomplish His will through our mental pictures or visions. Our thoughts are three dimensional: words, pictures and feelings. We create the vision by thinking the words and we create feeling for the vision by feeling enthusiasm, desire, commitment and other strong beliefs. Once we create the vision, we move toward and become like that which we think about. All visions are tested by our self talk; for example, "This isn't going to happen, where is the money coming from anyway?" When this happens, we need to let go of the test and focus on belief in the vision. Why? Because God said if we believe it long enough, He will guarantee it!!!

Great One, let my beliefs be strong today. Help me to have faith in my visions.

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"THINK ON THESE THINGS"

By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Here it is -- the New Year. We have seen many unusual changes and we can expect even more. These are unusual times we live in and predictions from times past are happening before our eyes. True, there have been many that were far out, but more have come to pass -- and more will come.

Give backing to every good thing and watch every word that it does not sink us, as individuals, in quick sand we did not know existed. This cannot be business as usual. It must be carefully handled and patiently studied if we are to reap our rich harvest.

Ignorance is like the man Emerson wrote about, "The civilized man has built a coach, but lost the use of his feet." We have to know we are daily building our lives and we need to be conscious of the blueprint we are following.

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January 2 - Daily Feast

Volume II

Little quiet spells are as rare as jewels. Many can't stand even a little silence and try to fill it with empty chatter - or with words that should never have been spoken. It is a great art to be silent. The Cherokee calls it da lo ni ge s to di - e lu we i, which is golden silence. We paint with our words that which we want others to see, and we choose colors to communicate, to understand, to sense. The fewest words make silence speak most eloquently.

~ The fruits of silence are self-control, courage, endurance, patience and dignity. ~

OHIYESA, DAKOTA

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 2

"People have to be responsible for their thoughts, so they have to learn to control them. It may not be easy, but it can be done."

--Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE

WE control our thoughts by controlling our self talk. At any moment we choose we can talk to ourselves differently. The fight comes with the emotions that are attached to our thoughts. If our emotion is high and seems to be out of control, we can say to ourselves STOP IT!, take a few deep breaths, then ask the Creator for the right thought or the right decision or the right action. If we practice this for a while, our thought life will be different. It helps if in the morning we ask God to direct our thinking. God loves to help us.

Great Spirit, today, direct my thinking so my choices are chosen by You.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

What would the old Indians thought about the time we are living in? Some would only grunt but their thoughts would have been profound. They had ways of "hearing through the bushes", meaning they could hear the signs of the times -- yes, they had ways we do not understand with all our electronic equipment.

When we stopped believing in the supernatural we gave up our sensitive understanding, our ability to hear through the bushes. When we were very young we had no TV, no radio, no cell phones or taped music. Our perception was very sharp, and though our mother tried to put a lid on mine, I would say it all anyway.

Children without cartoons are more "knowing" than those whose minds are being entertained but not particularly taught. Never feel bad because of what was not available. Be glad that you can think and be richly blessed, and don't be surprised when you can "hear through the bushes."

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January 3 - Daily Feast

Some say reality is a thing that can be touched. But reality is more real in the invisible than all we see and touch with our fingers. Trying to face reality without knowing what it is, is little different from seeing a tiny stone and finding it is a boulder buried in the earth. Reality is not a one-dimensional flat surface where everything is visible - but it is spirit and life and faith and love. We many not observe these things but we feel their influence. Prayer is the straight line to the invisible, changing what we see from above and beneath. We cannot see it, but it is the substance of reality, the u w wi and a da nv to, heart and soul of life in its highest form.

~ It does not require many words to speak the truth. ~

CHIEF JOSEPH

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 3

"We don't have to say or think what we don't wish to. We have a choice in those things, and we have to realize that and practice using that choice."

--Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE

Having choices makes us fully accountable. No one can make us think anything we don't want to think. No one can determine our behavior and how we act. It's not what's going on but how we look at what's going on. If someone does something and we get upset, we can change how we look at it any time we want. We can tell ourselves in the morning that the day is going to be beautiful and that we have expectations that great things will happen. Doing this daily sets our mind to look for the joy and the excitement of each day.

Great Spirit, help me to choose my thoughts with Your wisdom.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

All of us have memories that we can go back and enjoy the simple times and comforting experiences. When the present gets too heavy transport body, soul, and spirit into one of those good memories and enjoy it all over again.

One of my childhood duties was to bring the cows home from the pasture every evening. A wonderful discovery was how gentle our bull was and I would ride him home from the pasture with all the milk cows following. He was not only gentle, he was smart and as soon as we reached a grove of thorn trees he went through it every time. Didn't take long to get off, but it was not just the herd that is remembered but the evening sun and the barking dog in the distance. Shadows took on a blue haze and the hollows and hills changed with the light.

Those evenings are as comforting now as then. I know they are because I remember it so clearly.

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January 4 - Daily Feast

Volume II

Tough-spirited, sensitive, poetic, Geronimo. Thousands could not subdue him, his freedom was too important and his life too entwined in the refuge of nature. But a time came when he wanted to surrender and live peaceably. He simply commented: "I have to die sometime, but even if the heavens were to fall on me I want to do what is right. There is one God looking down on us all. We are all children of God. God is listening to me. The sun, darkness, the winds are all listening to what we say."

It is in our power to day, "I hear You, and I surrender."

~ I am going to try to live well and peaceably. ~

GERONIMO - APACHE

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 4

"Our circle is timeless, flowing, it is a new life emerging from death-life winning out over death."

--Lame Deer, LAKOTA

When we look at the world in the manner which the Great Spirit designed it, we can see why it makes sense to live in harmony with it: the trees grow and bear fruit, the fruit has seeds, the seeds fall to the ground, the ground grows new trees, old trees die to make way for the young. Any time we think we can interrupt this cycle or change it we will experience turmoil and confusion. The Human Cycle exists as the baby becomes the youth, the youth becomes the adult, the adult has children, the adult becomes the Elder, and the Elder teaches the youth. Elders go on to the Spirit World. Spirit comes into babies to produce new life. Flow into the flow. Be the path of least resistance.

My Creator and my Maker, today, teach me to just flow with the river of life.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Our mother used to take all the neighborhood young people on a moonlight hike across the prairies. We always found a haystack that gave reason to shove and push and throw hay at each other. Then we would stretch out and our mother would tell us about the stars, pointing out different ones -- and the moon.

We were all quiet, listening to her words until she told us about the different phases of the moon. Some asked when the moon would be full and she said, "The moon is always full." We all contradicted her but she said, "We see the moon in all its phases but it is always the same." She told us there is a lunar moon and a solar moon according to time, and that the moon is the only satellite that orbits our world.

The ultimate lesson was things are happening even if we cannot see it. She said that we were disbelieving because wanted to see and touch everything -- but it takes faith to know what is going on whether we can see it or not.

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January 5 - Daily Feast

Volume II

The ground beneath our feet can seem awfully slippery at times. Something mental or emotional catches us off guard and we fall to our knees as though we are totally helpless. Never add self-criticism to the load. This is one of the first things we try to do - blame ourselves that we could not see. Why were we not stronger? Why did our faith fail and where did the power go in a crisis? We grieve because we think we have failed - because we could not hold the line. No, we have not failed, we have loved. We have held life softly and reverently and change has come.

~ Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove has been hallowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished. ~

SEATTLE - SUQUAMISH 1786 to 1866

"A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II" by Joyce Sequichie Hilfer

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 5

"But first, let us join hands and pray."

--Starleaf, SHINNECOCK

Where two or more human beings joined together for a common cause, the helpers and the Grandfathers will show up to help. When our Indian people come together, the Elders say, "always pray first-do a ceremony and ask the Creator to be with us and to help us. We can never pray enough." The Elders also say, "pray in a circle because the Creator made things in circles. When we stand in a circle and pray together, a sacred hoop will form above the people. This is the spiritual way."

Oh Great Spirit, through my prayers I can find Your guidance. I pray You guide my path today. Touch my life with Your holy breath.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Most successful ventures have behind them some hardships. We as human beings demand such experiences before we can truly appreciate the meaning of victory. No one promised that life would be one long gala event, but if we're made of durable stuff, we neither let it hinder us nor make us run roughshod to get ahead.

We must always recognize past hardships for what they are. We cannot ignore them, for they are a part of our makeup. But neither can we let them become crutches to lean upon when there's need for an excuse.

Bitterness over past experiences wastes valuable time. Perhaps it was those hardships that gave us the strength to rise above the mediocre things. However crude, ugly, or unhappy, even tragic, some of the times may seem, as seen alone, when combined with all our other knowledge they form the perfect circle and play no more important part than all the rest.

In the words of American poet John Neal, "No man ever worked his passage anywhere in a dead calm."

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January 6 - Daily Feast

Volume II

What have we of life's beautiful things? A rainbow's shimmering hues when a shower has ended? A warm brown puppy in the sunlight? A mockingbird singing while a thin veil of clouds is drawn like misty curtains across the face of the moon; a playhouse where string is stretched from tree to tree to shut out invaders; children's laughter and the fluttering of bird wings in a tiny flowing stream? The best of beautiful things are still free. They are bits and pieces of joyful things that become part of us - a child in a field of daisies, a friendly hand, a smile, a whispered prayer. What are we that is not a fragment from a past happiness - a i yu quu -v hna i - to hi dv, a moment of peace?

~ When we see the changes of day and night, the sun, moon, and stars in the sky, and the changing seasons upon the earth.... anyone must realize that it is the work of someone more powerful than man. ~

CHASED-BY-BEARS - SANTEE SIOUX

"A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II" by Joyce Sequichie Hilfer

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 6

"When we're through with this earth and all these problems, we don't have to come back. But as long as we're here we have a job to do and a purpose to fulfill and that means dealing with the circumstances around us."

--Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE

We are put on the earth to participate in life. We have a beautiful mind, we have the ability to pray, we have the ability to change, we have the ability to accept, and we have choices. All things God created are constantly changing. This constant change causes our circumstances to change. Sometimes we say life is difficult. During these times we need to use our tools: the tools of prayer, and the tools of meditation. We are designed to change and live joyfully on this earth. The only requirement for living joyfully is to live according to the laws, principles and values given to us by the Creator.

Great Spirit, give me Your courage today, and guide my footsteps.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Think on pleasant things. Deliberately turn your thoughts to something pleasant when the pressures are too intense. And be careful as undisciplined thought quickly sifts back to the unhappy, unsettled mind.

The greater part of the time we are victims of our emotions. They play havoc with our peace of mind and are great friends of pessimism. They tell us things are true with such sincerity that we believe them into fact. They convince us things are a certain way and that we cannot remedy them with any amount of effort.

But stop where you are and consider what it is you are listening to and how it affects your feelings. Do a turnabout and take the positive route of deliberately replacing thoughts of unhappiness, injustices, and misunderstandings with the thought that these are merely chariots to carry us past all that has withheld freedom.

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January 7 - Daily Feast

To the Cherokee, the land is not dirt and stone and trees, it is a life-nourisher. The seed is more than a dormant embryo, it is life. The person is more than a human creature, he is spirit. It is never the worship of nature - but it is the love and adoration of that which set it all in motion, the Substance behind moisture, the sunlight, the rise and fall of the tides. Incredible things are happening right before our eyes, but most are looking for things to mourn and things to celebrate. Look behind the events. The rays of sun can damage - but the reason behind all these depths and heights heals and restores.

~ The sun is my father; the earth is my mother; on her bosom I will repose. ~

TECUMSEH - SHAWNEE

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 7

"..when we become hollow bones there is no limit to what the Higher Powers can do in and through us in spiritual things."

--Frank Fools Crow, LAKOTA

If we want to be of maximum use to the Creator, we must ready ourselves to do so. if we are to become a channel for His purposes, we must prepare ourselves to do so. If we have resentment, fear, selfishness, or anger, we are not hollow bones. We must be rid of these things. We must change ourselves. We must ask for forgiveness for ourselves and forgive our brothers and sisters. We must keep our insides clean. We cannot use our power in a good way when we have blockages such as hate, judgment and envy. When we are free of these things the Higher Powers can use us beyond our wildest imagination. Then we can really help ourselves and help our people. Only when we are hollow bones can we have an effect on the world.

Oh Great Spirit, remove from me the things that block my usefulness to You. Remove from my day all thinking that is out of harmony with Your ways. Grant me Your peace and allow me to function as a hollow bone.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Following the wrong map will not get us where we want to be. Time and time again we have followed this map and though it seemed right we have always ended up in a sad place. Everyone has been on the wrong road at some time, but if they continue to insist their map is right -- then stress follows.

How many times we have asked ourselves what we are doing wrong. Chances are we don't ask because we really want to know. Do we ask for new directions or because we may be able to blame someone else? We know who must change.

Take the directions and flush them, they are bad news and even though it is not what we want to do, do we really want to find ourselves in another sad place?

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January 8 - Daily Feast

Volume II

Every day is a day of worship to the spiritual nature of the Tsi la gi. Born close to the basics, he sees "God in the clouds and hears Him in the wind", as Alexander Pope wrote. The innate greatness of it buoys him up and helps him walk in a whole new dimension. Reasons to understand come in the simplest of things - the ice crystals touching his face are just another form of the same moisture that forms dew and snowflakes, raindrops, and even steam when under pressure. It is no mystery that the Threefold Being can be together and yet separate. Simplicity - and yet, deep throbbing life that might not be seen with the naked eyes, but is sensed all the same.

~ I think the Great Spirit is looking at all that is said here, and for that reason I am talking the truth. ~

LITTLE RAVEN - ARAPAHO LEADER

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 8

"Native Americans are essentially calling for righteousness. By this they mean a shared ideology developed by all people using their purest and most unselfish minds."

--Lorraine Canoe/Tom Porter, MOHAWK

The Native way is to first focus on decisions that will be good for the people and then for yourself. Righteousness means "to think right." Our way is to consider the good of all first. This helps our minds to be unselfish and pure. This it he spiritual way. This can be very hard to do because the world we live in says to take care of yourself first. A man of God cannot be taken advantage of unless it is the will of the Creator. The Creator really controls everything. To have a good future, the people must gather in a circle and pray for the highest good for the people.

Great Mystery, today let me love instead of being loved. Let me be giving instead of receiving. Show me the advantages of having a giving heart.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Winter has a way of sneaking a storm in on us when we least expect it. A cold blanket settles on the land and we wonder how the birds and wild animals can survive -- but they do. So many people have to work outside and they must wear layers of clothes to endure the raw wind.

Weather is unpredictable. Plan something for outside and watch how the sky darkens and the wind blows and the food gets gritty. Sounds a little like life doesn't it? We plan, we work, we give something what we believe to be the perfect touch, only to have our plans ago awry.

Is there anything we can really depend on not changing? Only one thing. The Greater One is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Try to get around it and nothing works. Depend on it and life takes on a whole new luster.

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January 9 - Daily Feast

Volume II

When someone slings a dart, a comment that hurts, we want to hit back. The indignity of an attack for no reason is beyond our understanding. Persons with no conscience sling arrows without thought of where they hit. Their desire is to hit something. What we have not known is that we can turn them back. We don't have to accept everything that is said. The quickest way to deflate the egotist is to see him as not important enough to take into account. His type of disease is contagious, and you should never expose yourself to such painful maladies.

~ You have compelled us to do that which makes us ashamed. ~

CORNPLANT - SENECA CHIEF 1781

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 9

"So, with the Native way, it's not whether people find out about what you've done or not... that's not nearly as strong as having your source of morality within you, having your morality arise out of an inner perception of what is wrong, ridiculous, or shameful. You are your own judge."

--Eunice Baumann-Nelson, Ph.D., PENOBSCOT

Inside each of us is a voice. It is a quiet voice. It is a guiding voice. If we listen for it, it will guide us, and help us avoid disaster. It is especially active when we are afraid, when we are in doubt, when we are scared, when we need help, and when we get angry. If we are excited emotionally, it is hard to hear this voice. If we are angry, it's hard to hear this voice because it is usually quiet. The best thing we can do is to practice getting quiet. If we don't get quiet, there is another voice called the judge. It tells us to attack or say bad things to other people or to judge ourselves. This voice is loud and usually gets us into trouble.

Creator, Great Mystery, help me listen for the quiet voice. Let me know this voice of Yours. Your ways are gentle. Guide me with this voice. Thank you.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

So many mysteries, so much in question, so much to hold us in uncertainty.

Maybe we have settled our minds too much on what we have learned and what is obvious without considering what truth really is. Truth is real. The rule of thumb that keeps us on the right road. But what is truth? Truth is the unchangeable, the perfect that cannot be detracted from -- nor added to. It is the same from any angle and anyone who believes he can twist it just a little will not be surprised that he has only twisted his own view.

We cannot make something wrong into something right by saying it must be the way we see it. The heart and spirit know the difference and we must take heed of the age-old wisdom that comes forth when we ask it to come.

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January 10 - Daily Feast

Volume II

Know that you are not the only one to ever feel humiliation and pain. There is nothing new under the sun. Many have been through this valley and they understand what you are having to bear. Never lose faith because you asked and did not receive. We can ask amiss, but more than likely we are edged out by a subtle something we do not recognize as danger. As remote as it seems, this experience will pass. This time and place and reason cannot be stolen when the space is filled with praise, because praise is giving.

~ We always give the Great Spirit something. I think that is good. ~

BLACKFOOT - CROW CHIEF

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 10

"We cannot escape remembering the important things that have happened, and we cannot escape the awareness of the important things that have not happened."

--Ralph Salisbury, CHEROKEE

There is a Master Plan. There are Natural Laws that run the universe. Everything on the earth has a purpose. Change is constant. That which is built is constantly being destroyed. That which is loose is being used to build new things. Nothing can be destroyed, only rearranged. Change will happen and every setback is only temporary. In other words, the Creator is in charge. We are not in charge. He designed the universe. He runs the universe and He will change what needs to be changed. As humans, it is easier for us to participate in all of this if we are spiritual. We need to be tuned in. Therefore, God gave us the spiritual concept of acceptance. When things change, we can change ourselves through the principle of acceptance.

Great Spirit, let me live today in acceptance of Your will. Today let us do it Your way.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

What great surprises wait in store for us? What seemingly unbelievable events startle our ability to reason and what logic evades us just when we had begun to think we could do anything? Suddenly we are walking in the deep dark woods with no light and nothing to guide our steps.

We do not know it all. When we begin to think we have the world by the tail we had better reassess our standing place. What was once a secure footing is now shaky ground. Where is our help? Everything we had figured out as right no longer has validity and we begin to look for the light.

If only we would all look for the light. If only we were not so set in our ways, defending our right to be someone that knows it all, we could stand in the light. Listen, without the Light there is no life. When we give in to the fact that something greater exists for us, we feel the hold on our consciousness loosen.

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January 11 - Daily Feast

People know important things about living, but too often know it with their heads and not their hearts. Heart knowledge changes a person at the core. It is important to know that it is not what goes into us that makes a difference but what comes out. Give the heart reason to rejoice - not because of outer circumstances but from that inner source of knowing that we do not have to lie down and die because some said it. Give the heart reason to say, "I will live and not die, I will rejoice and not cry."

~ My friends, I have been asked to show you my heart. I am glad to have a chance to do so. ~

CHIEF JOSEPH - NEZ PERCE

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 11

"Race and language makes no difference; the barriers are gone when persons can come together on high spiritual levels."

--Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE

Not only are race and language barriers overcome by spirituality, but all things are overcome by spirituality. Inside every human being is the spirit. When we see people, we can choose to look at their outside or we can choose to look at their inside. Spirituality resides inside of others, we must be able to look at our own inside. If we see spirituality inside ourselves, we will see spirituality inside others. The saying is, "what you sees is what you gets."

My Creator, let me see all my brothers and sisters through the spiritual eye.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Keep hope alive and thriving because it is the stuff that faith shapes and forms to answer our prayers. Hope with all your heart and then be glad when it works.

Never think any worthy desire is hopeless. Don't give up on those needs and wishes that seem to never be fulfilled. Our faithfulness to them is the very thing that keeps them in the forefront so that we never forget.

Hope is the substance of the heart and spirit. The minute we think something is hopeless we drain away power and strength and the vision to see it all come true. There is nothing that will run us down and force the truth on us, because it is our quest, our chance to escape our hopelessness and to become individuals of ability.

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January 12 - Daily Feast

A wall stands between what our senses tell us and what our spirits know to be true. Our eyes, our hearing, our touch, tell us things are one way - but our circumstances tell us we need strong medicine beyond what we can see and feel. Why can't something overtake us and supply companionship and healing and money for both needs and wants? Probably because we are caught up in what we see and hear and sense, and we know too little about the spiritual. We have two kinds of awareness - sense awareness and spiritual knowing. Intellect says we know it all. Spirit grieves for the power and gold sifting through ragged holes in our undeveloped awareness of who we are and what is available to us.

~ I am the maker of my own fortune - as great as the conception of my own mind, when I think of the spirit that rules the universe. ~

TECUMSEH - SHAWNEE CHIEF, 12th of August, 1810

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 12

"The first thing that we want you to understand is that spirit has no color or race to it. It doesn't matter whether your skin is white, black, red, Hispanic, whatever. No one out there is any better than you, and you are no better than anyone else out there."

--John Peters (Slow Turtle), WAMPANOAG

We are all created to be of equal worth. We may be different sizes, different heights, different ages, different colors, we may have different beliefs and be of different cultures. In the unseen world, we are all spirit formed into different shapes and colors but we are all worthy. For example, you can have water, you can have steam, or you can have ice. Which of these is not made up of H2O?

My Creator, today, let me see equal worthiness in all people.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

We know without being told when we have acted unkindly or behaved unjustly toward another. Intolerance, whether it is personal superiority or religious bigotry, serves only to isolate us from the greatest joy in life - the sharing of ideals and happiness and friendship.

We must be patient and fair toward anyone whose opinions differ from our own. There is a much better chance of convincing those whom we hope to influence by being an example rather than a voice.

It is much easier to be led than to be pushed, and not so hard to be tolerant when we recognize within ourselves the reasons we are not always tolerant.

It sometimes becomes habitual to be dissatisfied with everything we see others do. We don't take time to understand and know the basis for their actions. We often fall short of listening to them long enough to understand, and their next words or actions may explain it.

We cannot afford to be intolerant, because no matter how good our ideas are, there is always a better one.

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January 13 - Daily Feast

Volume II

So few people are worthy of our tears - only a few. Our personal space is invaded and we are made to think we caused the rift that follows. This is an illusion that is not worthy of the price we try to pay. It is the elders' privilege to look back and smile. They, too, have known the ideal, the magnificent, the ultimate - and they have cried. But a da to li s di, that wonderful grace, provided knowledge of how to hold one loose thread in place by joy - not tears. And then came peace.

~ It is the duty of the brave when injured to lay peace aside....and then to lay down again in peaceful quiet. ~

PUSHMATAHA - CHOCTAW CHIEF, 1812

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 13

"When you remove love and try to replace it with monetary things, you've got nothing ... get him to understand that he has to love himself before he can love anything else."

--John Peters (Slow Turtle), WAMPANOAG

It is said, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." That's the trouble, most of us do.

Great Spirit, You are love; You are spirit. Spirit and love are interconnected. I am spiritual. Let me realize what I am really made of.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Bad feelings are burdens. When we get to the point of believing the whole world is sour because we don't understand it, we have a lot of self-searching to do. Maybe we helped it to lose its sweetness. Maybe we're the bad apple that soured the whole lot.

Our first thought should be to make amends. Sometimes we can't, and when such is the case we need to get out of the way and let time and nature take its course.

Life is too beautiful to go on being a bitter pill that insists that everyone swallow it. As in the words of Caleb C. Colton, an English clergyman around the turn of the century, "the man who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own dispositions, will waste his life in fruitless efforts, and multiply the grief which he proposes to remove."

We need to unburden ourselves by forgetting our problems and doing something that will put a smile on someone else's face.

The quickest way to solve the problem of hurt feelings is to inquire if this situation is important to the whole of existence. Does this particular thing mean more than any of the other things of life? It is amazing how quickly trials fade into nothingness when faced with this question. It places before us the need to decide here and now the meaning of our whole existence.

There are not many things in our lives that we can truthfully say mean everything to us. The small things are important and very dear, but the really significant things we count on one hand - life, our loved ones, our good desires, our faith, and our nation.

One of the most magnified situations in this day is taking life too seriously. In the stress of too much mental confusion, we seem unable to laugh off so many little irritations. We let personality rule us into making each little problem the source of great anxiety and dramatically lay hold of it until it chokes us.

The worthwhile side of this life is too important to let ourselves become involved with things that mean little to us. Too much of the trouble in the world is caused from ego-building important that would never be missed in anyone's existence.

[admin]

January 14 - Daily Feast

Volume II

Many trails lead away from the right path. Our feet wander far for answers to the same questions our old ones sang about and prayed over in the quiet of their own thoughts. Do we have new problems? No, it is the same one, tsv s gi na, the enemy that tries to rule our thinking and actions. He comes dressed in circumstances that will entice us to his way. But he is still the same old enemy who keeps trying. There is nothing new under the sun. The same devils that tried the souls of ancient men have a new vulnerable generation - and not enough are aware of the danger.

~ From here on I want to live in peace. ~

GERONIMO - APACHE

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 14

"It is a native tradition to sit in a circle and talk-to share what is in your heart."

--John Peters (Slow Turtle), WAMPANOAG

The talking circle is also a listening circle. The talking circle allows one person to talk at a time for as long as they need to talk. So much can be gained by listening. Is it a coincidence that the Creator gave us one mouth and two ears? The power of the circle allows the heart to be shared with each other. What we share with each other also heals each other. When we talk about our pain in the circle, it is distributed to the circle, and we are free of the pain. The talking circle works because when the people form a circle, the Great Mystery is in the center.

My Creator, give me the courage to share, and the courage to listen.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

The weather forecast tells us snow is possible and as hard as it is to get around, the woods are beautiful when snow falls. We can look down and see the floor of the bottomland woods and there are deer walking around searching for tufts of green and a few acorns. They seem to prefer what they can find than to eat from a pile of yellow corn on the west slope.

With temperatures down to nearly zero, frost forms on the tree limbs and the morning wind blows thousands of little sparkles into the air and the sunbeams catch and turn them into silver showers. Little gifts from winter makes us appreciate the sights and even more the fireside and the sound of logs shifting in the fireplace. In less than sixty days we will be mapping out the garden.

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January 15 - Daily Feast

Volume II

The pond reflects a day of mist in gray tones. When the sky is blue, the pond is blue. Patterns like icewebs spread across the frozen surface in the middle of winter - so like we are when we take on the moods of others. Hills and lakes and fields are touched by the actions of the sky and wind. In the night season and all though the day changes take place. Sometimes the sky glitters with wings - sometimes it is softened by snowflakes. Man's soul has a light like that of a lantern that is untroubled in the turmoil of wind and storm. But we must know what we are reflecting.

~ My Grandchildren, be good. Try to make a mark for yourselves. Learn all you can. ~

SITTING BULL - SIOUX MEDICINE MAN AND CHIEF

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 15

"It's all spirit and it's all connected."

--Grandfather William Commanda, ALGONQUIN

If everything is connected, we cannot disconnect. To disconnect is not a real choice. This is why we are always spiritual no matter what we do. Every alcoholic is spiritual. All our brothers and sisters are spiritual. We may not be behaving correctly, but nevertheless, we are spiritual. Our choice is to live out of harmony with spiritual ways or in harmony with spiritual ways. Everything is spiritual.

Great Spirit, give me the knowledge to be in harmony with the spirit today.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Only a few months until the third volume of CHEROKEE FEAST OF DAYS will be published. A book is a new baby and treated with the same care -- except for the diapers. This child is sub-titled Many Moons and meant to lift hearts and give someone a pleasant hour.

Recent nights have had splendid moons -- so bright the whole land is visible. The deer stay to the shadows and even the owls seldom call when it is so light. Cherokee people use the moon to show how everything is in the round. The shape of our eyes are curved toward round, the world is round and so the moons and stars and many other things. But the best is the circle which is infinity -- life everlasting, no beginning and no end.

[admin]

January 16 - Daily Feast

Volume II

Use your imagination for its intended use - to create beauty and happiness and justice. If you use it for unfriendly reasons, it will eventually steal your wings and your feet. The Cherokee way of saying it is di gu yi s gi, the paymaster, the returns based on how it has been used. Do not envy another person, for your own imagination has grand gifts for you. Great suffering has been the lot of many who used their talented minds to bring hurt and pain where there should have been harmony.

~ There was nothing between him and the Big Holy. The contact was immediate and personal. ~

CHIEF LUTHER STANDING BEAR - LAKOTA

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 16

"If people are going to get back into balance, one of the things they have to do is seek the truth. They have to start really speaking the truth themselves, and that's a difficult thing to do. The way it is now in the world, we don't mind lying."

--John Peters (Slow Turtle), WAMPANOAG

Well, everybody's doing it. Do unto others before they do unto you. If it wasn't for back luck I would have no luck at all. These are excuses and rationalizations for giving up accountability. Be true to yourself. Seek the truth, The Great Spirit is the truth. The truth shall set you free. This is the truth. We cannot be free if we are dishonest nor can we live a balanced life if we are dishonest. As we grow, we need to start taking stands. All warriors take stands. The warrior's belief is constantly being aligned to truth. The warrior will always know where he/she stands.

Great Spirit, help me today to seek Your truth, not my truth.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Vision to see, faith to believe, courage to do. With these things we improve living every day. Vision to see what we do want instead of visualizing all the wrong things. Faith to believe that good overcomes the bad. We give strength to whatever we believe in -- good or bad.

It we let our doubts rule us and our fears control us, then we are believing in the wrong things. We need courage to go do the right things -- the thing we know is right regardless of what someone is trying to suggest to us. Courage to be oneself, to have faith, to believe in good, to see beyond what seems to be and then to work toward what we are capable of being.

[admin]

January 17 - Daily Feast

Volume II

Tender gifts come to us all - gifts from some deep inner space that is priceless and stirs our most creative sense. A beautiful, personal revelation is like touching electricity without its harmful effects. But this is something to be kept in the heart and not talked about to others. If others have never known the touch of a shooting star nor felt the awe of being given spiritual knowledge, their response is incredulity and disbelief - which makes us question our own sanity. Protect the gift, treasure it, love it. The time will come to use it.

~ They are clean to a fault....they keep their stock in good order, and are hard working, painstaking people. ~

AGENT THOMAS JORDAN
(ABOUT THE NES PERCES)
SEPTEMBER 6, 1881

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 17

"In our story of Creation, we talk about each one of us having our own path to travel, and our own gift to give and to share. You see, what we say is that the Creator gave us all special gifts; each one of us is special. And each one of us is a special gift to each other because we've got something to share."

--John Peters (Slow Turtle), WAMPANOAG

We are all equally special. We need to focus on what is right for ourselves. As we focus on what is right for ourselves, we will start to see our special gifts. Then we can see how to share our special gifts with others. If we focus on what's wrong with ourselves, we will not be able to see our gifts. Then we will think we have nothing to give others and we become selfish and withdrawn. The more we focus on our good, the more we see the good in others. The more we see the good in others, the more we see the gifts they have to share. What you sees is what you gets!

My Creator, today, let me use the gifts You have given me. Let me use them wisely.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

When two people walk together in the deep woods, everyone has to be a good bush-partner. Walking the path ahead of someone requires holding the strong green branches until the other is clear.

Life must have its good bush-partners to shelter each other in the rough places, to walk together with the idea that we are each to help the other. Less breakage, less injury to heart and hand and spirit. We could do a great service by simply thinking before we speak, to control our thoughts before we put them into words.

Circumstances will always present themselves and can cause heartache and turmoil, but if we are good bush partners, we will make it easier by watching out for others.

[admin]

January 18 - Daily Feast

Volume II

Talk to your body, talk to your mind, and give support to your spirit. These are your friends, your lifemates, your agility, your harmony, and your joy. Degrade them and they will fail you - not out of revenge but because it is you who keeps them in working order, who supplies them with the strength and well-being they need. Tell your legs and feet and knees how strong and steady they are, and tenderly clean the mind of trash you may have inadvertently thrown there. When something is out of order, call it back into place - and give thanks for the privilege. These are precious things, never talk negatively to them or condemn them - because you will be condemning yourself.

~ The Indian thinks of places and sends his prayers there to win help and blessing. ~

DAKOTA WISEMAN - 1800's

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 18

"Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind and spirit."

--Charles A. Eastman (Ohiyesa), SANTEE SIOUX

Be still and know. All new learning's, all ideas about new things, creativity, daydreaming and mental effectiveness come to those who learn about silence. All warriors know about the power of silence. All Elders know about stillness. Be still and know God. Meditation is about the place of silence. This is the place to hear God's voice. We can find tremendous amounts of knowledge in the place of silence. This is the sacred place of God.

Great Spirit, teach me the power of silence.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Perfection delights the soul of the super-orderly person. The perfect relationship, the perfect gift, the perfect time, all these things give the would-be perfect person the belief that everyone and everything should be perfect.

Far too often, perfection precludes love. Without love, nothing remotely perfect survives. With love, the imperfect is either lost from view or is so beautiful in its own way that we see it as beautiful.

Whatever we give of ourselves with love is the perfect gift. It is given at the right time and in the right way -- and it is free of attachments, such as owing a return gift, having to be without even the least fault, and allowing others the freedom to be themselves.

[admin]

January 19 - Daily Feast

Volume II

Rigid routine, rigid thought, can make rigid bodies. Turn off the paved path and put your foot on the earth. Feel the pulse, the life, the clean earth. If there are things that keep you from seeing the horizon, look straight up. The sky is there above the smoke, the smog, the haze that would hide the blue. Reach out and lay your fingers in the flow of any little stream - clean water is there behind the chemicals, beyond the things that would pollute. Lift your spirit above the sirens and shrill voices and ugliness of graceless personalities. Pause for even a minute in an attitude of worship. It is your day.

~ Each soul must meet the morning sun, the new sweet earth and the Great Silence alone. ~

OHIYSA - SANTEE DAKOTA

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 19

"Heal yourself - your physical and spiritual bodies. Regenerate yourself with light, and then help those who have poverty of the soul. Return to the inner spirit, which we have abandoned while looking elsewhere for happiness."

--Willaru Huayta, QUECHUA NATION, PERU

It is difficult to look inside ourselves, especially when we see conflict or confusion. During times of conflict we need to realize that we are talking to ourselves about our thoughts. This conversation is printing in our subconscious and forming our beliefs. During times of conflict we need to ask the spirit to control our self-talk. Only through finding that inner place and going there during troubled times will we ever find happiness.

Great Spirit, You are my peace and you dwell within me. Let me look for You within myself.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

"Though we speak with the tongues of men and angels and give our bodies to be burned, if we are irritable or hard to live with, it all accounts for nothing," wrote Margaret Widdemer.

Wouldn't it be a blessing to ourselves and to others if we could be as gentle and considerate in temper as we expect others to be? It is not a good thing to keep pent up then emotions that rules us so continually, but neither is it good to be too quick and too constantly blowing off steam.

It may serve as a tension reliever to us, but it can soon ruin our relationships with others. And without our realizing it, we can soon become chronic complainers.

Worry, physical ailments and weariness can cause a short temper that we think others should understand. And most have a way of knowing if that is the case, but prolonged impositions on other people will wear that tolerance very thin. It takes two to have an argument, but it takes only one to start it.

The need to forgive and to be forgiven should never be overlooked. To pass over a disagreement quickly without thought to the damage we've done can take the shine off any friendship. There can be no merit in forgetting if we cannot first forgive.

There are two voices in this world that will be forever unpopular. One is the voice of self-pity, the other is the voice that yells all the time. One declares itself to be the victim of great injustices, the other yells to demand justice.

Those who believe themselves to be the victim of injustice - those who believe they are meant to suffer - will always find conditions to prove they are right.

And those who yell, "Look what I've sacrificed," and always with the theme, "What I've tried to do for you," have slowed another's progress and stopped their own.

True victims of circumstance are easily recognized, and do not care to be noticed as such. And those who yell their merits have received their rewards, so there aren't any others.

Both have their attentions turned inward, but to the sorrow of most.... their voices are not.

[admin]

January 20 - Daily Feast

Volume II

The wounded frequently want to hurt others. Meanness is not always involved but an unconscious bitterness that wants to control. The worst wounds are not always physical. Some who have suffered psychological wounds are bent on full payment whether or not it is due. The pity of it is, the wounded is the only one that cannot escape. Pain and unforgiveingness are replayed day after day - as though sadness is an honorable reason never to heal. Whole lifetimes are given to demanding respect and veneration - for no other reason than life has dealt them a wound, a wound that would heal if there were a little love.

~ A man ought to desire that which is genuine instead of that which is artificial. ~

OKUTE - TETON SIOUX, 1911

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 20

"The most important thing now is to reveal the inner temple of the soul with right thinking and right activity."

--Willaru Huayta, QUECHUA NATION, PERU

The key to growing a strong tree is to have a good system of roots and to feed the roots with good medicine. If we put poison in the root system, it will affect the tree, and it will become obvious to the rest of the forest what is being fed to the roots. This is also true of the human being. We need to feed our roots with right thinking. If our thinking is right, it will become obvious to the rest of the people. We don't need to tell people about ourselves with our mouth because our actions always tell them.

Great Spirit, direct my thinking today. Feed my roots.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

True forgiveness could be described as a divine amnesty where we receive a pardon from the unworthy things we've done, and have another chance to prove our worth. Forgiveness is something we must give in order to receive. And we have a tendency to linger over old grudges, using them to bolster our reasons for not forgiving. But we cannot return to the past, nor can we change one whit of anything that happened then. We cannot make up for resentments we've caused in others, no more than they can make up for ours.

To forgive is divine. God is above punishment, but we are not. It is we, not God, who punish by taking things into our own hands and making them work for our own selfish reasons. We demand punishment by hanging on to painful past experiences that produce selfpity. We are the ones who blame God's will for our illness, our poverty, our lack of friends. But we are wrong, for there is a moment of truth when we face ourselves and know that we are the guilty.

And there is a time such as William Wordsworth wrote about, "that blessed mood, in which the burden of the mystery, in which they heavy and weary weight of all this unintelligible world, is lightened"....Because we've been forgiven.

[admin]

January 21 - Daily Feast

Volume II

Identity does not require a label - for man is spirit, and spirit is nonpolitical and unconscious of color or class. An Indian woman is not as apt to board a luxury cruise ship or to sit at a bridge table hour after hour as she is to pitch camp beside some sparkling stream where the sunset tips the mountains with gold. People are different and fall naturally into different categories - though basically they are spiritual entities. These diverse spirits can even love each other if they can evade the labels. Labels are indicative of importance - but it is the heart that counts.

~ Is it wicked of me because my skin is red? Is it wrong of me to love my own? I am a Sioux because I was born where my father lived. ~

SITTING BULL - SIOUX

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 21

"This is the time of awakening to the inner Father and the inner Mother. Without this we will receive no high initiation; instead we get initiated into darkness. That's because any investigation or revolution without God leads, not to freedom, but to more slavery."

--Willaru Huayta, QUECHAU NATION, PERU

Honor the Father and the Mother. Father stands for wisdom and Mother stands for feelings. Inside each of us is the Father and the Mother. If we do not honor both, we will not grow in balance. To honor both the Father and the Mother helps our masculine and feminine sides grow. The winter season is a good time to focus on this. This is our season of reflection. Honoring both sides allows us to see the Creator is both Father and Mother.

Great Spirit, Father Sky, Mother Earth, guide me today. Let me experience balance.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Happiness seems to be an ultimate goal -- but what about contentment? Is there any difference? Definitely. Happiness is a kind of butterfly thing that can flit in and out -- but contentment? It is the best for knowing peace and being able to share it.

Contentment is ease regardless of what is going on. If we ever once experience it, we want to go back to where it was. Going back isn't necessary because contentment is a part of anyone who doesn't stew and fret and stir up contention.

When we know that what others do doesn't have to change us, we feel humility, knowing that God knows us as individuals and we receive our comfort individually. Trifles should never get inside to irritate our well being and steal our freedom.

[admin]

January 22 - Daily Feast

Volume II

Words are judged by what we have in our hearts. Our ears pick up the words we hear, but once inside the heart decides the meaning. Love is one of those words. To some it is purely physical - and others hear it as flowery springtime with little substance. But to some it is healing and a deep and wonderful commitment that cannot waver. It is the power at the core of a person, a strength not dependent on muscle and bone but life and principle and character. If the heart is right, the decision
cannot fail.

~ I shall exercise my calm, deliberate judgment in behalf of those most dear to me.... ~

PUSHMATAHA - CHOCTAW LEADER

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 22

"The first factor in the revolution of consciousness is the mystic death of the ego- the death of negative thinking, negative personalities. We must purify the soul of the inner enemies. Every time a defect manifests- envy, gluttony, anger, lust, whatever-that impulse to the heart. Ask, `Do I really need to invoke this?' And then honor the heart."

--Willaru Huayta, QUECHAU NATION, PERU

Our egos have character defects. These character defects we sometimes act out and they invariably bring results to our lives that we might not want. If we continue to use these character defects, we will continue to have undesirable results in our lives. How do we change ourselves or get rid of a character defect? We can go to the heart-ask a question, make a decision-then honor the heart. For example, say I get angry today. I would go to the heart and ask, would I rather be right or would I rather be happy? How we answer this question can have an enormous impact on how our day goes. Once we decide the answer to this question, we need to honor the heart by saying, "Thank you for the power of changing my thoughts. I choose to be happy and to experience peace of mind."

Great Spirit, today, let me teach only love and learn only love.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Much has been blamed on lack of opportunity, but some of the strongest and most successful had no opportunity at all. They had to make it themselves -- right in the face of those who would defy a person's right to think for himself, to be creative.

We can turn away from those who would tell us that we haven't a chance. As far as they know, maybe we don't, but why give any thought to what others think -- what do we think? How things look may be important to some but those who are ready to kick over the traces, have every chance and no one can stop them from success.

We cannot take huge steps at first, but there are small steps waiting for someone to recognize their importance. Take those little steps and prove that opportunity comes to those who truly look for it.

[admin]

January 23 - Daily Feast

Volume II

We can walk through a thousand people's lives and feel only the loneliness of our own existence. Others move by on both sides and some of them stand in the brightest light while our own corner is so dark. But we have to know that the noisy successes of other people are often their ways of dealing with the still places in their lives. Others are working with their lacks and needs, their call for recognition. All of us would be warriors. All of us would stitch red into our costumes. Fear can penetrate the strongest fortress - and the password is compassion, pure and simple understanding.

~ The Great Spirit made us all - He made my skin red and yours white; He places us on this earth, and intended that we should live differently from each other. ~

PETALESHARO - PAWNEE PRINCIPAL CHIEF

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 23

"Our true enemies, as well as our true sources of strength, lie within."

--Willaru Huayta, QUECHUA NATION, PERU

A long time ago, the Creator put inside the human being the secrets to the laws of life. We usually know this is true even though we may not know what these laws are. If something goes wrong with our lives, we usually fix the blame on something outside of ourselves. We tend to give up accountability. One way or another we say, "It's not my fault." We need to realize that all permanent and lasting change starts on the inside and works its way out. If it's meant to be, it is up to me.

Oh Great Spirit, let me realize fully that my problems are of my own making. Therefore, so are the solutions.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Sometimes people are impressed more with status than they are content. The louder status is shouted the more glowing and receptive these people are. It is sad because so often status has no real substance, no teaching, but looks alone.

Put down the need to be impressed. Feel instead the kinship of standing with someone who knows our situation. If they feel our need for them they will stay close. This is the only inside circle that will not be broken.

One's own opinion is a privilege, but Lord, let us not sink out of sight in what we believe or profess to believe. If it is real and for the good, the true good, then we can relax and let life go on in its orderly way.

[admin]

January 24 - Daily Feast

Volume II

Homecoming is not just a certain hour but a feeling, an attitude, an an na li - a friend. One phase of the day has been completed, so now back to the reasons for it - home. Home with its familiar fragrances, its lighted warmth and peace of mind. At least, home ought to be this way - though it isn't always. Too little time, too much weariness, too many complaints. Too little, too late, too bad. Real homecoming is a state of mind. Someone needs to be comforted, someone needs a gentle touch, someone needs to think of others. It may not be perfect, but working together makes homecoming a celebration.

~ Do not touch the money of the white man or his clothes. We do not fight for these things. The Seminole is fighting for his hunting grounds. ~

OSCEOLA - SEMINOLE CHIEF

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 24

"Always listen to what the Elders say."

--Dona Josefa Medrano, HUICHOL, SIERRA MADRE, MEXICO

In school we have been taught to go to the encyclopedia when we need information about certain subjects. From the time we are little, we have a natural tendency to seek out role models. When we need information about living we tend to seek out books about living. These maybe self help books. The world is full of information. For the Native people, we have our Elders. All races have Elders. Our lives will run much smoother when we listen to the Elders. They don't always tell us what we want to hear but they always tell us what we need to hear. The Elders have the ability to make the truth sweet.

Creator, thank You for the Elders. Help me this day to listen to them.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
We have to believe that the courage to do the impossible is possible. We have to have courage before we give up, thinking we are always going to be in the middle of difficult situations.

Lasting courage comes by refusing to judge everything by appearances and by hearsay. The world is rife with rumors about anything and everything. Those who never intend to do anything of consequence will tell us how bad things are and how much worse it is going to get.

Others will take heart and ride out the storm. There may not be any signs that promise better times, but there is that glimmer of inner-light, that knowledge that those who make it are the ones that kept going when everyone said it couldn't be done.

If we can bear defeat and not lose heart, we will know it was no defeating life, but only one small part that went awry.

[Dog Vomit]

Please may we have some more?

[francie21805]

January 28 - Daily Feast

Volume II

Losing is not always what it seems, and how we react makes the difference. We may be disappointed, feel let down - and maybe a little betrayed - but we haven't lost until we quit. What is done is done. We have cried and we have hurt - but this will show the stuff we are made of and how nothing can keep us down. how we think, what we say, and where we put our faith will set our new course and keep us on it.

~ Our new home will be beyond a great river on the way to the setting sun... our wigwams on another land where we hope the Great Spirit will smile. ~

KEOKUK - SAUK LEADER, 1832

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 28

"We call it the `sacred' red road because it is the road that will lead us to living the good life, an honest and healthy life."

--Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA

The Red Road is the path we walk on when we want a direct relationship with the Great Spirit. This requires sacrifice. This requires us to have our beliefs tested. To walk this path is really an honor. The returns for doing so are exciting, not only for ourselves but for the effect that will be felt for three generations. This means your children will see the benefits as well as your grandchildren. Do I want to walk this sacred road?

Great Spirit, guide myself and my family on the Red Road.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Three things we can do without - jealousy, pride, and a sense of competition that makes us cruel.

French writer, La Rochefoucauld, said that jealousy is more a self-love than a love for another. But more than that, it is a weak ego afraid that someone else is getting ahead. We have no business being where we feel we cannot hold our own.

Pride, it is said, goes before a fall. Pride is so transparent and without scruples. We can say we are proud of someone or something without meaning anything wrong -- but pride that steals our common sense steals our peace. Competition is almost as bad because it contains in subtle ways jealousy and pride.

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[francie21805]

Daily Feast
January 29 - Daily Feast

Volume II

An individual responsibility is to set the course of the day, a year - a lifetime. Words and thoughts bring us to some crucial point of strength or else utter weakness. Decide now to forgive. It does not mean reconciling with an enemy - but it does mean freedom. Decide to love - others, but yourself in particular. Wait until the flames settle before you take on the problem. Even tempers and orderly minds can handle heat better. Walk softly, for others are on the same road and they look for a gentle word, less criticism and full observance of the Spirit.

~ We, the people composing the Eastern and Western Cherokee Nation.... by virtue of our original and inalienable rights, do hereby solemnly and mutually agree.... to one body politic.... the Cherokee Nation. ~

SEQUOYAH - CHEROKEE LEADER

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 29

"We grieve more because we have been disconnected from our earth, our first Mother, our spiritual Mother."

--Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA

Where does all life come from? The Earth. Where does everything return to? The Earth. Where do values come them? The Earth. Many people are lost because they don't know the importance of connection to the Earth. They connect to money, to relationships, to success, to goals. When we are disconnected from the Earth, we have feelings of being sad or lost. When we are connected to the Earth, we feel warm and secure.

Great Spirit, help me to stay connected to the Mother Earth.

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THINK ON THESE THINGS
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Someone said if we do what we have always done, we will get what we have always gotten. For most of us that means we work and work and work, a somewhat rigid path from which there seems little reprieve.

Weariness has its ways of making us feel we are set on a track that goes around and around like a toy train. But even a toy is expected to change somewhere. What do we expect? Do we expect something good to happen or something less than good?

Now, is the time to change our expectations. Sometimes it means we have to reach out and take hold of a dream and as Jacob said to the angel that wrestled with him, "I will not let you go until you bless me."

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[Cuddles43ca]

I miss these messages too

Elva

[catlady]

just curious if this reading will be returning. I always enjoyed it.
Appreciate all that you guys do here and thank you for it.
Val