Daily Feast - April

[bluidkiti]

April 16 - Daily Feast

April is the color of jonquils, the fragrance of hyacinths, and the dewiness of violets. The sunlit meadows are carpeted with tiny blue flowers, and along the ravines wild strawberries are as sweet and tart as April air. We forget that while the earth sleeps, life goes on, growing, developing, spreading, until at the right moment it reveals itself in glorious colors and shapes. A few short weeks ago everything was brown and somber. Now the colors are radiant and the very air is tinted the color of new leaves. A new aura outlines the distant hills and only human beings have to see and taste and stir themselves to new life.

~ I love the and....the trees which cover it, the grass growing on it. ~

COMO

'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

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Elder's Meditation of the Day April 16

"But one should pray in one's heart during a sacred ceremony; this is the purpose of the ceremony, to purify the participants both inside and outside."

--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW

How do you know if you are praying from your heart or from your head? Pray from your head and you will feel nothing; pray from your heart and you will feel feelings. You may feel sorrow, you may feel joy, you may want to cry, depending on what you are praying for. During the ceremony, the cleansing will take place. The Medicine Wheel teaches the four directions of inner power: emotional, mental, physical and spiritual. The prayer controls the emotional, mental and physical. When we ask for purification of our feelings, our mental mind and our physical body, the spiritual direction causes the cleansing to happen.

Great Spirit, create in me a clean heart.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

In this jet age when almost "instant there" is commonly accepted, the world has become very small. The days of remaining in one's own birthplace are near an end, and those who never dreamed of traveling have adjusted themselves to it quite well.

And with shorter distances between us and our neighbors it seems our worlds should find more opportunities for mutual understanding. But we must realize that even though our material worlds may be easily crossed, our thoughts are worlds apart. Until we can bring together a thinking people with the desire to create living conditions that are peaceful and full of kindness, fast travel can waver between good and bad.

A British novelist and poet, George Moore, said, "It is thought, and thought only, that divides right from wrong; it is thought, and thought only, that elevates or degrades human deeds and desires."
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April 17 - Daily Feast

We want to do the right thing, say the right thing, be the right person. We try to be in tune with life, to find harmony within to blend with all that surrounds us. It just seems that so much has been borrowed from us - time, concern, spirit - until we cry for restoration. Like children, we want to ask, "Are we happy yet?" Is there a time of rhythm and order and an even beat, so that we may walk without running, laugh without tears, care without fear of giving too much? Yes, beyond the slightest doubt we can renew and we can overcome the feeling of being totally taxed to despair. Speak to yourself, said the little Cherokee grandmother. Tell yourself you are u wo du hi, fine looking, and your surroundings will see it and want you to be happy. In other words, change your attitude and the world will respond.

~ Why do you take by force what you could obtain by love? ~

POWHATAN

'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

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Elder's Meditation of the Day April 17

"Women know more about love than men do...Love is taking. Love is sharing. Love is learning things about each other."

--Mary Leitka, HOH

The Elders say Mother Earth shares Her special gifts of love with the Women. The Women know about bringing forth life and nurturing their offspring. Through this gift of love the Earth really makes the Woman special. Men should look upon the Woman with a Sacred Eye. She should be respected. The Woman is a role model for love. When the Woman talks, we should listen; when she shares, we should be grateful. We should all learn about each other.

Grandmother, teach me to love with the power of the Woman.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

The greatest tragedy of life is not that we quarrel with our fellows, but that we do not take time to know them.

In his great understanding of man and nature, Thoreau wrote, "Let a man take time enough for the most trivial deed." Take time.

How often what seems to be an unfriendly atmosphere is only a lack of time. Some of our dearest friends are hidden behind the mask of hurry. And we need so desperately to know each other.

Understanding comes when people are allowed to talk to one another. They discover the ways and needs, the loves and hopes, and the despairs and fears when they take enough time to speak of them. All these things that make for understanding and compassion come from personal contact and the knowledge and practice of good will.

People become more civilized, more peaceful, more as God intended them to be when they take time to make friends out of acquaintances.

To be a good listener endears many a friendship. Everyone needs someone with whom to talk at length on all subjects without later regret. It has been written, "What a great blessing is a friend with breast so trusty that you may bury all your secrets in it."

And how often we need to be that friend and be the listener, and to make sure we are worthy of that trust.

Listening comes in many ways. We listen with all our sense, knowing many times without having to be told what someone's needs are. Charles Dickens said that no one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for anyone else. And it just may be by listening that we lighten another's load.

Sometimes we listen with our hearts and understand in silence. Sometimes we simply have to put ourselves into a situation to understand all sides of it. And we best do so by listening.

All our lives we carry secrets with us that we long to reveal to someone who understands.

There are relationships in our lives better and closer than the ordinary. Closer yet than brothers or sisters are those with whom we can share all our secrets, we think.

What a sad state of affairs when life imparts that others cannot always be trusted. What a shock to realize we have given all our hearts and bared our souls to people whose curiosity was the only motive that compelled them to listen.

Phillip Massinger, sixteenth century poet wrote, "I have played the fool, the gross fool to believe the bosom of a friend would hold a secret mine own could not contain."

Not one of us can testify that we have nothing within our lives and thoughts that we cannot reveal. And many of us have not expressed our innermost thoughts because we have found no one in whom we can confide.

As Shakespeare said, "Many a man's tongue shakes out its master's undoing." Sometimes the loquacious tell their secrets not out of a need to tell them, but out of a love of talking.

One of the greatest feelings in the world is to discover we haven't told something we cherish very much to someone we once thought we could trust.
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April 18 - Daily Feast

The voice of doom is loud in our land. It is predicting unheard of fears and possibilities. But we have the antidote in our mouths - our words. Words are powerful, able to turn away the negative thoughts and words of those who have no purpose but to degrade. We don't have to let other people decide that we are victims of every attack, every disease, every wrongdoing. Our, u in ne tsv (words), say the Cherokees, are mighty to pull down anything or any person that lies in wait to harm us. Life and death are truly in the power of the tongue - and our part is to study the use of words and their effects on us. We know what it is to hear words of courage. It is light entering a dark place and we hear as well as speak.

~ Give ear, I am the mouth of my nation. ~

KIOSATON

'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

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Elder's Meditation of the Day April 18

"Our people don't come in parts. Either you are Indian, or you are not."

--Nippawanock, ARAPAHOE

We really need to take a look at how Indian People are talking about Indian People. We say there are Rez Indians, Traditional Indians, Urban Indians and Breeds. This type of thinking will keep us separated. An Indian is an Indian, a brother is a brother, a sister is a sister. We are all related.Today, let us respect ourselves and our people. Today, let me realize Indians are Indians.

Great Spirit, let me see the Unity of the People. Indians are Indians.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

A graphologist is a handwriting analysis expert who can take apart the loops and dashes of our penmanship and tell us about our nature. We have a natural curiosity about ourselves. We want to know whether our self-image is the true one. We often think we are capable of seeing another's true nature, but we seem to lack the ability to really know ourselves. In fact, so much about us reveals our disposition and temperament that it can be distressing.

Our handwriting may tell us about our emotional nature, and we may learn that we are introverts by the slant of our letters, but much of our disposition can be self-analyzed by the way other people respond to us.

It doesn't take a graphologist to tell us that if we are inconsistent in our friendliness, if the tongue alternates acid and honey, if we continually complain, continually gossip, criticize and pout, we are revealing a nature we too often think is hidden.
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April 19 - Daily Feast

A woodland path is good medicine for a weary walker. Soft, rolling steps along the path do not interrupt the harmony of the woods. Even the snort of the doe before she bounds away is to tell her fawn to lie low. Many pauses give time to hear and see in detail the call of a busy titmouse and the high-pitched whistle of the finch. This is Cherokee paradise - to stand quietly in aged timber and be so much a part of it. Even the tiny creek plays water-harps as it winds its way around clumps of dried leaves and slips over round stones that are a part of its past handiwork. This is a green cathedral with shafts of sunlight cutting through thick foliage to turn droplets of water into prisms of color. Nothing is out of place - not even the walker.

~ Indian's pictures last forever. ~

INDIAN GUIDE, PIPESTONE CREEK 1882

'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

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Elder's Meditation of the Day April 19

"We all come from the same root, but the leaves are all different."

--John Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA

We all come from one Great Spirit but we are all different and unique. Nothing in the Great Creation has a twin that is identical. Even children that are twins are different. Every single person is extremely special and unique. Each person has a purpose and reason why they are on the Earth. Just like every leaf on a tree is different, each one is needed to make the tree look like it does. No leaf is better or worse than the other—all leaves are of equal worth and belong on the tree. It is the same with human beings. We each belong here and do things that will affect the great whole.

Great Spirit, today, let me see myself as a valuable contributor to the whole.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Others don't seem to be interested in our excuses - they merely want performance. Alibis for lack of service, for lack of ability to give a full measure of trust make a bad servant. And we are all servants, serving each other in one way or another.

It is an unhappy one who is not depended upon for something. There is great satisfaction in being needed, even to the point of doing more than one is capable of doing.

English divine Sidney Smith once wrote, "Try to make at least one person happy every day, and then in ten years you may have made three thousand, six hundred and fifty persons happy, or brightened a small town by your contribution to the fund of general enjoyment."

We cannot move a step upon this earth without finding someone to serve. And as we serve each day, we never stop to consider how many we've made happy; but it should be very vivid in our minds how many we've made unhappy.
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April 20 - Daily Feast

An idea is a rare butterfly that leads us through visual and spiritual experiences, and brings us out of the woods changed and ready to do something we never dreamed possible. Most people catch hold of ideas and immediately say they take too much time and money to be worth the effort. A quick excuse has cut more people out of doing a profitable and rewarding deed than all their other work put together. Fear of failure chips away at self-confidence until there is no heart to step into new territory. One needs the mind of a child to forget what happened an hour ago. If we cannot forget, we put it aside until we get to a place where we can understand. Otherwise, our creativity knows no bounds. We are caught up in a world of imagination - the thing that blesses all great inventors - playing what-if and finding great treasure.

~ The Cherokees' tribal vitality would again save them, as it had throughout their history. ~

STEELE-WOODWARD

'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

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Elder's Meditation of the Day April 20

"You must be prepared and know the reason why you dance."

--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW

Inside every human being is a need to dance. We dance to music. Have you even wondered why people are moved when they hear an Indian Drum? The drum is the heartbeat of the Mother Earth. Every Indian dance is for a purpose and a reason. Every Song is for a reason. The beat of the drum makes our bodies, minds and spirits join together in harmony. It allows us to connect to Mother Earth and to each other. The dance aligns our minds to think spiritual thoughts. Dancing to the drum is healthy.

Great Spirit, today, I dance to honor you.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

As long as there has been a human race, there has been someone crying out, "No one understands!" Somewhere along the way communications have broken down and the result is misunderstanding.

To be misunderstood is painful. We keep wanting to explain and explain until we get our message across. Sometimes it is the lack of the wise use of words. Then, it may be an unwilling ear. But whatever the race, the politics, sophisticated or home grown, everyone has the desire to be understood. They want every motive, every mood, completely and unquestionably understood.

But to be completely understood can also have its rebound. A goddess can turn into a woman and a hero can slip into a man when only one of their moods is completely understood.

Understanding breeds familiarity. Familiarity may not breed contempt, but it can certainly take the edge off the mystery. And, it is mystery that keeps life interesting.

In all wisdom, we should worry much less about being completely understood, and make a more diligent effort to understand others.

Something dies within us when no one cares. It is a circumstance of our own making when we have failed to give to another the thought and concern that would have helped when it was most needed.

Sorrows can be borne because others care. Greatness can be achieved because someone cared. To care is our purpose.

Who knows but that these small acts of sympathy and understanding may place another life into the one slot on the jigsaw puzzle of life.

If we were all the things we expect of others, the result would be perfection. We would be perfect in forgiveness, faithful in love, and devoted to the welfare of others. Such excellence has never been accomplished, except that we work continually for it. To work for it, we have to care. And for someone to care is the thing that matters.

"Instead of allowing yourself to be so unhappy, just let your love grow as God wants it to grow; seek goodness in others, love more persons more; love them more impersonally, more unselfishly, without thought or return. The return, never fear, will take care of itself." - Henry Drummond.
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April 21 - Daily Feast

Peace is like a river....Feel it, think it, see it. Peace that flows not in wild frothy turbulence but in smooth currents that will not toss the smallest boat. Think of peace that so permeates our entire being, a peace that is closer than our hands and feet, closer even than our breathing. To hi ge se s di, came with great difficulty to the Cherokee. Peace on earth seems distant to almost anyone in any age, but it is still sought, and the lack of it still effects each of us personally. Stress raises our blood pressure, makes our hearts race and our ears roar with panic. We can stop right here and now and put it all down. Speak the words of old that stopped a storm, "Peace be still." It worked centuries ago and its power is still intact. Say it many times a day to stop the negative flow that intends to sweep us away.

~ I am Dekanawidah, and with the Five Nations confederate lords I plant the Tree of the Great Peace. ~

IRIQUOIS LEGEND

'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

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Elder's Meditation of the Day April 21

"Conciliation is the key to survival. Peace is the goal."

--Haida Gwaii, Traditional Circle of Elders

When we make decisions or experience conflict we need to look at the greater whole. The end result we want to accomplish is peace of mind. If we keep this goal in mind, we will, overall, live a happy and fulfilling life. Everything in the world is constantly changing so we should not resist this change. A good question to ask ourselves is, "Would I rather be right or happy?" If we would rather be happy, then it is easier to let the little things go. If we would rather be right, we tend to look for the WIN/LOSE.

Great Spirit, today, give me the tools to seek peace of mind.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

If you've ever been along in a strange place, you're bound to know how wonderful it is to have someone make you feel welcome.

Many people have the knack for being at home in whatever place they find themselves. And in this gift they find no loneliness to tug at them, but more often than not most of us feel like strangers. And in doing so we set ourselves apart, or make it sometimes questionable as to the wisdom of asking us into a friendly circle.

A friendly face and a friendly voice can make the most timid souls feel welcome. It can make them feel at home. For in the midst of many there is loneliness. Perhaps it is because our feigned look of self-sufficiency made someone question our need for help.

Many a door has opened, and many a sound friendship won when someone said, "We're glad to have you..." The very atmosphere can be charged with concern when we see others who cannot find their way. The warmth of divine love is for daily use in making someone feel welcome.

We should not forget nor fail to see the wisdom of Hebrews 13 "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unaware."

There must be no stronger feeling in the hearts of most people than the desire to belong. To belong to something, to someone, and in a place where the feeling is warm and friendly. The most blessed children in town are the ones born and raised in the same neighborhood, who have the tightly knit sense of belonging to everyone. Suddenly these children are not just the children of their parents, but the children of everyone in the church, in school, and anywhere where there is warmth and love and peace.

War rages within so many, disallowing then any connection or any strand of love that would tie them to anything that gives them a sense of security. And when people become insecure they become demanding. And in demanding they lose the most essential part - the ability to attract love to themselves simply by loving first.

In the words of William Blake: "Love seeketh not itself to please....Not for itself hath any care....But for another gives its ease....And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair."

Some of my most productive moments are not when I consider how evil the world is, but how powerful is my God.

Some of the best times are not all when I'm enjoying life, but when those I love are knowing happiness.

The highest peak of wealth comes when the joy within surpasses anything I can create out here.

The bloom of good health is felt more richly when I let it flow through me rather than swelling on the possibility of sickness.

Friendships are strongest and most true when I don't worry about giving more than I receive.

In order that others forgive me, I must also learn to forgive.

I must never forget that negative thoughts feed on fear and starve on faith.

One of the greatest mistakes I can make is to believe myself to be without friend or faith or opportunity.

These personal proverbs belong to all thinking persons who want their lives to have more meaning, know more happiness and feel more richly the love that is the medicine for the sickness of the world.
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April 22 - Daily Feast

In the seventeen hundreds, the Natchez mother of a young chief suspected he had become involved in a conspiracy and was being used by his elders to do wrong. She said, "Open your ears and listen to me. I have always taught you not to lie." Liars are lost in a world of their own making. We have seen it glamorized in a world of make believe until the real world has difficulty telling the truth, even when there is no need to lie. Even the little white lies thought as harmless are barriers, wrongs, that stand in the way of honor. A lie, in whatever form, is deceit, and deceit is a major block to answered prayer, to friendship, to stable lives. The biggest lie of all is that lying is in any way harmless. Truth sees through the thin veil of a lie and all credibility is wiped out. But Truth stands forever.

~ I have always taught you that a liar is not worthy of being considered a man.... ~

STUNG ARM

'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

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Elder's Meditation of the Day April 22

"Each creature has a medicine, so there are many medicines. Because they are so close to the Creator, they are to communicate that medicine. Then they bring help and health."

--Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA

The Elders say everything has a purpose and everything has a will. We should never interfere with purpose or the will of everything. Every plant, creature, animal, insect, human being has a purpose to be here on the Earth. Each has a special medicine to contribute for the good of all things. Each person also has good medicine, a special talent, a special gift. These medicines are to help others or to help make us healthy. What is your special medicine?

Creator, today, help me discover and use my medicine to serve a greater good.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

To be in harmony with others, we must be in tune with ourselves. This is not always a state of mind easily come by, but necessary and possible to those who truly want to put their best foot forward.

They must cultivate and recultivate the things that make peace within themselves. They must not only have faith, but they must depend upon it, drawing from it energizing joy, love, and lightness of heart. They must know and understand the moods and manners of their coworkers and express to their colleagues their happiness and enthusiasm for the good things of life.

At times everyone has fits of uncertainty concerning their way of life. And it is gratifying to have someone capable of lifting us out of the blues and scattering the doldrums. But the job is mainly ours. We have to cross examine ourselves again and again to be sure there's nothing that will not contribute to our best self, or draw less than the best from others.

To be cooperative is not only beneficial to associations with others, but to our own health, peace, and happiness. Let there be peace and harmony and let it begin with me.
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April 23 - Daily Feast

Some of the best successes have been those that came on the spur of the moment - something we caught hold of and lightly carried through with the air of having done it a thousand times. How does it happen, when we so often hear that all-too-familiar thud? It is the consensus of the Cherokee that the heart, the u na wi, the spirit of anything should not be heavy when we are dealing with the substance of the Great Spirit. The underlying, di ka no di, or material to work with, must be handled and carried with hands that, a da la du di, worship the Source of light and not the darkness. When we are too serious about our own importance we labor under heaviness, and the way is so slow we begin to doubt. Never doubt Yoweh, and the Great Spirit will carry through.

~ You said you would enlarge the fire....add more fuel to make it brighter.... ~

CANASSATEGO 1742

'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

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Elder's Meditation of the Day April 23

"The real meaning of life is your family, the love that you have, the respect, the traditional ways, carrying on with them."

--Ethel Wilson, COWICHAN

The family is the seed of the future. The family is the key to the transfer of cultural information. We should really take a look at how we are looking at our families. Are we treating each family member with respect? Are we passing on the traditional ways? Are we teaching the old songs? Are we participating in the ceremonies? Are we showing the family members how to pray? Are we encouraging each family member to be spiritual? Think about these things today.

My Creator, today, let me show respect to each family member.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Variety is said to be the spice of life. Anything in which we can continually find something new, a difference, will hold our attention indefinitely. Even the most interesting work can become monotonous if there never is a change. We are a restless people, finding life more livable and exciting when we know there is a bit of a change in store.

One isn't always aware of monotony. It is a subtle something that creeps silently into a well formed routine. And most are unaware of its presence until its victim, interest, begins to lose ground.

Sometimes a change of pace fulfills a need for variety, but the most satisfying is one's ability to lay aside a regular routine to lend a hand to a neighbor when he needs it.

The very old and happy habit of helping your neighbor never found a body bored. The hearts of helpers are light, not because they are searching for variety, but because variety finds them when self is forgotten and the need to help a neighbor is the only thought.