January 8 - Daily Feast

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 *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* 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. Le me be giving instead of receiving. Show me the advantages of having a giving heart. *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* '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. *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* 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!