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Old 01-05-2014, 09:38 AM   #2
bluidkiti
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Default Daily Feast - January 8th - 15th

January 8 - Daily Feast
Lo, the poor Indian!
Whose untutored mind
Sees God in clouds,
Or hears him in the wind.
Alexander Pope recognized the simplicity in the Indian's beliefs. Though all tribes are rich in symbolism to express what they believe, we all basically believe in One God, One Creator, One Great Loving Spirit over all. The Cherokees had their Father-Creator who was Yowah, the unity of three beings. The name Yowah was so sacred that only certain priests were allowed to say it. This same innate belief lives in each of us if we can only uncover it. Worship is of the heart, deep, joyous, personal. It is a life-current between each of us and our Creator. We can wrongly destroy ourselves but never the love that is beyond our understanding. It is there, even when we are too stubborn to receive it.
~ We perceive a battle between good and evil, and we also perceive good will win. ~
THE IROQUOIS
'A Cherokee Feast of Days', 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

When you hear geese honking their way southward in the quiet of the night, when you hear church bells ringing through the crystal clear autumn air, then you've heard the sounds of Thanksgiving.
Perhaps memories of Thanksgiving are not the same for all of us. We all carry our own memories within our hearts, and some live only for past Thanksgivings when a family was more complete. And so this day serves only to remind them of happier times. Those times should be remembered in all their glory and yet, there is the now. It is important too. Perhaps in some ways it is more important, for the challenge to quit thinking of ourselves and to consider how sorely needed is every last person. How memorable we could make this day for someone who hasn't even a happy memory. How strong we can be, not for ourselves, but for that memory and for those who do not have the strength.
Some young child or some young adult may be looking for a pattern to go by, some reason to be truly thankful, and here is the opportunity.
Some of our most delightful hours are spent in conversation with those people sometimes known as senior citizens, our elders, and lovingly, grandmother or grandfather. But whatever their titles they still have a wealth of wisdom and experience to share with us.
Whether we accept the experiences of our elders to profit by, or if we choose to ignore them, will determine a great deal how alert and aware we are of life. For this is life, this experience, this knowledge.
And within these lives we find so many things, small though they may be, that have a great part to play in our success or failure as human beings and parents. For they have learned what still remains sacred in man's heart, though years may pass and times may change.
To most the unhappy times are forgotten. And left to live are the beautiful beloved things that work as well today as yesterday. Things like cheerfulness, and refusal to take up unpleasantness as final; a warm and friendly kitchen where guests had rather be, and a Bible well read; a shining faith and a belief that the impossible only takes a little longer; and, a good broad shoulder to catch our tears - and love, which after all was the beginning of all of this.
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January 9 - Daily Feast
Sometimes great distances exist between the high points of our lives. Time moves swiftly and we tend to let it slip away without making it count while we wait on another high experience. We discount it as nothing unless we have reached some spectacular height and have passed ten other people on the way. The Indian does not consider himself idle when he stands still watching, listening, seeing the stars, or watching the sunset. His spirit-eyes absorb these signs and wonders to feed him when he cannot see the rolling hills, the flowing streams. A narrow view is one that constantly asks, What shall I eat? What shall I wear? What can make me feel secure? And all the time, the beauty and peace which cost nothing surround us unnoticed. Envy and lack of inner joy rob us of our peace of mind.
~ O, listen! Hear! Sing with me, for I am joy. ~
CHEROKEE SONG
'A Cherokee Feast of Days', 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

It takes such a little whiff of memory to carry us all the way back. Small things tucked here and there remind us of some place, some thing, some person who has played a special part in our lives.
We want to go forward, try new things, know new people, visit new places, yet how nice to slip on those comfortable old slippers of the familiar bygones and remember loving faces and happy times.
It is said that we should never return to places that have a sacred spot in our memories. Everything changes with time, so little remains recognizable to us. We begin to think that perhaps those hallowed places were not so wonderful as we remember.
But they were, for in their time and that place it was as it should have been, happy and meaningful. They may have changed, but so have we.
A little of every place and every person goes with us in the building of even happier times. We have not lost anyone or anything but it is the combination of all that we have lived and learned that builds our character and teaches us the way of life.
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January 10 - Daily Feast
When something in our minds rings a bell that warns us, we do well to listen. What is it that wants to lure us away from the chose path? Is it not from the good side? Then, run like a rabbit! Every one of us has a sounding board, as testing place that detects the way we are moving. Like a compass, it points the right way - and we are foolish not to understand - gohlga. To ignore the impressions that are within us is like trying to go through a door, but refusing to use the doorknob. It is one thing to be dense and another to be willfully determined to get lost in the wilderness. Listen to the alarm system. It is there for a good reason - and later on we won't have to say that something told us not to go a certain way and we didn't listen.
~ He hears voices other do not hear; sees visions that confirm his dreams. ~
EAGLE OLD MAN
'A Cherokee Feast of Days', 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

Whenever we stop to consider where we are on the road of life, we might also think about why we are there. Whether it is success or failure, or wavering in the middle of the road, we are where we are because of someone or something.
Nearly every person can pinpoint the time in their life when there was a turning point, a change for worse or for the better. And usually there is someone to whom they give the credit for such a change.
Throughout our lives we contact many people, and they each leave an impression. As living continues the combination of all those thoughts and feelings and actions forms our opinions, our likes and dislikes, our fears and our loves. But there is one basic factor in all of this that turns us one way or other - the individual, the personal self. It is how we take life, what we expect, how we do our daily tasks, where we place our values that makes the difference.
We are born with the right to choose - and whatever we choose there will always be someone there to help us be good or bad. But first, we must give credit where credit is due.
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January 11 - Daily Feast

The owls call to each other early on a midwinter evening. Just as the last rays of sunlight sink into a rosy glow, a silence settles over the countryside. For a short time, everything is hushed. In that near-dark hour the wind lays and no sound is heard - as though the whole forest listens. The moment is brief as daytime creatures find their nests and those of the night begin to awaken. It is time to rest from our own activity, to find a quiet hour to let pressures ebb away. One of the greatest wonders is the rhythm and order of nature. But even greater is the flexibility of human nature - that we can move, think, project, plan and see all of it in perspective. And as the day wanes we can put it all down and take on the peace of nature.

~ Heed little the melancholy nights that keep tune with sorrowful thought. ~

CHIEF RUNS-THE-BATTLE

'A Cherokee Feast of Days', 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

We want much. It seems sometimes that wanting is all we ever get done. And yet if it were not for the desire of our hearts, there would be little incentive to work and plan and expect.

Some would have us believe it is wrong to desire any more than absolute necessities. But good desires channeled in the right direction can do nothing but better the one who seeks.

Sometimes getting is only a substitute for the true desire. Humans have a way of looking outside themselves for things to satisfy their spiritual hunger. It may be prestige. Or it may be anything that will inflate their egos and given them feelings of security.

Emerson wrote, "The implanting of a desire indicates that its gratification is in the constitution of the creature that feels it." we have the ability to rise far above what we think we can. We have within us the answers if we but have the wisdom to seek those answers.

And perhaps we should consider, even before we begin to seek, the wisest of all instructions, "With all your getting get understanding."

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January 12 - Daily Feast
As time goes by we learn it isn't the speed with which we do our work, but the quality of time that makes life an accomplishment. How much do we enjoy working, or playing, or just resting? Schedules and deadlines take up most of what we do. We seldom have time to enjoy something for the sake of doing it. If we feel pressured, we have little incentive to enjoy doing anything, much less doing it well. Many who have to sit all day are bored and have nothing to think about except how unhappy they are or how they feel physically. More time is not the answer. We need a better quality of life, I ga osi, deeper rest, and it begins with quality attitudes. What we have or what we do not have should never dictate the quality of our lives or our capacity to simply enjoy.
~ Some pass without recognition, the grandest of all..... ~
SONG OF LOVE
'A Cherokee Feast of Days', 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
If we are not happy, it is because no one has given us permission to be. The hardships and stresses of those who went before us make us wonder if we have a right to do better. Do we have permission to outlive, outdo, outwork all those who went before us? Have we given our children permission to be stronger, better, and more intelligent than we are? The Cherokees have a word for it, adahenhdi, meaning the gift. Or have we told them to adhere to their roots instead of respecting them? Have we made them caretakers, or have we set them free to be strong builders on firm foundations? Permission is hard to come by when we wait and wait for someone to tell us we have done well, that we have earned the right to be mature, respected adults. No, we give ourselves permission to grow, to live long and well, to prosper and be in good health.
~ I can tell my children that the way to get honor is to go to work and be good men and women. ~
CHIEF RUNNING BIRD
'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
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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.
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January 14 - Daily Feast
What we take for granted someone else thinks is beautiful. What we want to get rid of is someone else's treasure. Sometimes we stand so close to something dear that we cannot see that it is dear. Our lack of awareness robs us of what we assume is ours forever. We have many eyes, but most are closed or glazed over. The eyes of the mind and spirit perceive far more than our physical eyes will ever see. The eyes of our hearing detect sound but also feelings and attitude - and the music of he sphere. There is a word in the Cherokee language, agowhtvhdi, which means sight. When we touch something we not only feel but we also see the gentleness or the hardships, the depths and the heights. No, we are never blind except when we close ourselves off and deny the very Spirit of Life.
~ Give heed, my child, lift up your eyes, behold the One who has brought you life. ~
CEREMONIAL SONG
'A Cherokee Feast of Days', 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

If you don't know what to do about a situation - wait awhile, the answer will come. If weariness overcomes you before you've completed a difficult job, wait awhile, you'll get your second wind.
If you do not agree with someone else's philosophy, don't fret, perhaps later you will come to know that the same philosophy can be reached from many different directions.
If you think the activities of another person or group are frivolous and unnecessary, wait a bit, they most likely will feel the same way about you sometime.
If you don't like what others have to say, wait, they may clarify it - or you may change your mind.
If life hasn't dished you unhappiness, wait a bit, if you've planted any happiness seeds, you will also reap.
We can't always wait, but sometimes waiting is action, and action of the hardest kind. It is difficult to keep quiet when you have something to say, but it more often saves your face later and sometimes your life.
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January 15 - Daily Feast
Feeling drained and weak in the knees is not so much a physical problem as an emotional one. Too much pressure drains away strength and we feel we are going to pieces. Inertia and lightheadedness may be the result of having to face something that seems beyond any power to overcome. But these will dissolve when met with strong words of strength and faith. As soon as strength takes hold and begins to flow again, we know we have struck down something so wily and subtle that it was both real and imaginary. But nothing has power against strong words, "I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick." And then we can ride the waves of our emotions like a canoe and not get upset among the waves.
~ Black Hawk is a true Indian, and disdains to cry like a woman. ~
BLACK HAWK
'A Cherokee Feast of Days', 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

Do you remember the interesting story of the lion and the mouse in Aesop's Fable's? The lion could have crushed the mouse but was merciful and let it go free. A year later the lion became entangled and the mouse nibbled its way through the net to set it free.
It is a dangerous thing to wade through other people's feelings, burning our bridges and believing we will never need them again. The saddest persons on earth must be those who find they have tried to destroy the only one who can help them.
The smallest and seemingly most insignificant has a purpose in this world, and it isn't for us to judge what that purpose is. We have enough to do in finding our own.
As in the fable, we must remember, "Few are so small or weak, I guess....but may assist us in distress....nor shall we ever....if we're wise....the meanest of the least despise."
__________________
"No matter what you have done up to this moment, you get 24 brand-new hours to spend every single day." --Brian Tracy
AA gives us an opportunity to recreate ourselves, with God's help, one day at a time. --Rufus K.
When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. --Franklin D. Roosevelt
We stay sober and clean together - one day at a time!
God says that each of us is worth loving.
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