August 23 - Daily Feast

August 23 - Daily Feast Too many of our efforts are like scrambled eggs all thrown in together, whipped and beaten and without much substance. What we do overlaps too much - sleep lets worry in, eating is not prepared but brought in with its ingredients totally beyond our knowledge. Walking has become a contest, a thing of speed and clever costumes. Talking is chatter and boastful - and prayer is too often listening to someone else who "knows how." Whatever we choose to do should be done with all our hearts. Not done so we can feel important by running here, running there - but done in love for the sake of love, and not for competition. Who we are, what we are, where we are going and when we get there has to do with the mind and spirit more than what the Cherokee calls nu s di da nv - how people see us. ~ You can count your money....but only the Great Spirit can count the grains of sand and the blades of grass. ~ BLACKFEET 'A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II' by Joyce Sequichie Hifler *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* Elder's Meditation of the Day - August 23 "They also learned, and perhaps this was the most important thing, how to look at things through the eyes of the Higher Powers." --Fools Crow, LAKOTA Our eyes can only see our beliefs. Our beliefs cause us to make assumptions, draw conclusions and cause confusion. Our five senses are very limiting. The Creator has a way of allowing us to see or know in the spiritual world. This is called the Sixth Sense. The Sixth Sense is like a radar system; our personal radar system. It will help us "see" opportunities and help us avoid disaster. This Sixth Sense is controlled by God. We must learn to listen to it. We must learn to trust it. We must learn to act on it even if our head says differently. We must learn to look at things through the eyes of God. My Creator, guide me today. If my eyes cause confusion, let me close them and see through Your eyes. If my ears hear confusion, let me listen to my heart. Let me let You guide me. *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* "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 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. *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* Available online! 'Cherokee Feast of Days' By Joyce Sequichie Hifler. Visit her web site to purchase the wonderful books by Joyce as gifts for yourself or for loved ones......and also for those who don't have access to the Internet: http://www.hifler.com Click Here to Buy her books at Amazon.com Elder's Meditation of the Day By White Bison, Inc., an American Indian-owned nonprofit organization. Order their many products from their web site: http://www.whitebison.org   *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* If you would like to be added to The Daily Feast email list, CLICK HERE!