July 31 - Daily Feast

July 31 - Daily Feast Rejoice when the going gets rough, when everything turns mean. It is time to shout and clap our hands - if only in the privacy of our own minds. To rejoice in difficulty doesn't seem reasonable, because the natural way would be to give up and cry. But we rebound from trouble faster when we turn off the tears and turn on the joy. It comes from the inside and goes to the outside - and that is how the u hi so di, the spell or gloom, is broken. If we have never done it before, we need to learn how to think joy and act joyful, because the heart is listening - and it is out of the heart that all issues are settled. ~ I beg you now to believe that, all miserable as we seem in your eye, we consider ourselves nevertheless much happier than you. ~ GASPESIAN CHIEF, 1676 'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* Elder's Meditation of the Day July 31 Look behind you. See your sons and your daughters. They are your future. Look farther and see your sons' and your daughters' children and their children's children even unto the Seventh Generation. That's the way we were taught. "Think about it: you yourself are a Seventh Generation." --Leon Shenandoah, ONONDAGA The Creator designed us with a free will. That means we function from choices and consequences. It is important that we practice thinking about consequences before we make decisions about choices. Every choice I make is like setting up dominos one after the other that produce consequences. Not just for me but also for my children and for the children that are unborn. My choices and decision today will have consequences for seven generations. For example, if I work on my own spiritual development and I walk the Red Road, the odds are that my children will. They will marry and their children will follow the Red Road and so will my grandchildren even up to the seventh generation. This will happen because of the choices and decisions that I make today. Great Spirit, grant that the choices and decisions that I make today will honor Your laws and values. May I live in peace today that will ripple into the seventh generation. *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* 'THINK on THESE THINGS' By Joyce Sequichie Hifler In this day of emphasis on right connections with the right people, into the right places, at the right time, we must have truly extraordinary qualities to become successes on our own. They who have worked hard and achieved success often carry a double burden by wrongful accusations of being privileged characters. Perhaps some to whom doors automatically open because of right connections seem to be privileged characters, but they, like dictators, have a limited existence. Having connections may help us on the ladder of life, but it will never keep those rungs steady beneath our feet. Only our own greatness keeps us tall, sun-crowned. We must have something to give, something to offer before we can expect to be truly privileged characters. And then, we will have earned the right to our privileges. We are somewhat like God, blamed for much we don't do and seldom given credit for the good we have done. Whatever the future, the world still needs citizens like those J.G. Holland wrote about nearly a century ago: "God give us men. The times demand strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and willing hands....Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog, in public duty and in private thinking!" *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* 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 Subscribe\Unsubscribe, or change your subscribed email address for The Daily Feast email list, visit here: http://dailyfeast.info and fill out the form!