Daily Feast - June

[bluidkiti]

June 1st - 7th



JUNE
Da tsalu'nee
Green Corn Month

I am....the Cherokees are....your friends.....Our wish is for peace. Peace at home and Peace among you.....
CHIEF JOHN ROSS

June 1 - Daily Feast

The morning is quiet and the high-pitched cry of the hawk carries clear to the quail and rabbits that rely on their sharp hearing to skitter out of sight. The hawk is hunting, and the small things of nature want no part of it. Threatening sounds - whether from a t wo di, hawk, or sirens, or angry voices - are frightening. As a child, a lesson in survival was learned when a rabbit ran the length of a field beneath a barbed-wire fence with a hawk in pursuit. The hawk was not about to fly into the barbs and gave up to hunt easier prey. The rabbit lay spent from fear, panting and gasping - but unafraid of a child that was no adananuladi, no threat or danger. It is easy to go weak from fear. But how many know where to run to when angry sounds threaten? The hawk does not hover over us but Yoweh does.

~ I hear nothing but pleasant words. ~

MONGAZID, 1825

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

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

Elder's Meditation of the Day June 1

"You have to have a lot of patience to hear those old people talk, because when they talk, they talk about motivation, the feeling, the unsound that is around the universe. They explain everything to one understanding. They bring it all together, and when they finish, just one word comes out. Just one word. They might talk all day, and just one word comes out."

--Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA

We need to be careful about judging the old ones when we talk. At first they may not make sense to us. Maybe we'll say they're old fashioned and don't understand. But the old ones do understand! When they speak, listen very carefully. Often it will take weeks or maybe even years before we understand what they are really saying. This is the way of Wisdom. We need to listen, listen, listen.

Great Spirit, today, open my ears so I can hear the Elders.

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

There is much to be said of small things. Even in this age of emphasis on bigness, we must realize that bigness is only a mass of small things. An idea is a small thing. With it we can change our world. We can take a tiny seed and give it careful attention and reap a hundred fold. We can take a little idea and give it our attention and build it into a fortune.

A smile is a small thing. Smile once at someone in passing and three will return the smile. Smiling is so contagious that it moves from person to person until a hundred smiling faces are the result of one.

A thought is a small thing. One thought inspires another and another until a mental image is formed. From that mental image blueprints are drawn. And from those blueprints worlds are built.

Here is a small thing. One tiny glimmer of hope can lift us out of the deepest pit of darkness. One whisper of encouragement will help us to know that as long as there's hope there is an excellent chance.

A wish is a small thing. Like a little prayer, it climbs the steps to an idea that makes a smile and gives us hope to make our wishes come true. For in small things are all great things formed, in little beginnings the possibilities of great events.
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*


June 2 - Daily Feast

Late June evenings offer a variety of concerts to the lingering spirit of, Tsalagi, the Cherokee. The songs of katydids and crickets rise to a crescendo and shrink back the way a tide swells and recedes. A sudden volley of hoots shoot through the woods and impatient shouts answer. The prairies lie quiet and serene beneath faintly showing stars until coyotes, most likely only two or three, howl like a dozen. The first high-pitched shout is like the head singer at a stomp dance, and then others join in before they stop as suddenly as they start. In the lull, the plaintive voice of he whippoorwill adds a sweet note. It has all been a, ga nah is daw, a messenger or ambassador of good will - of peace on earth - not only to the Tsalagi but from the Tsalagi to all the world.

~ June is Da tsalunee, the Green Corn Month. ~

THE CHEROKEE TSALAGI

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

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

Elder's Meditation of the Day June 2

"The Natural Law is the final and absolute authority governing, E Te No Ha, the earth we call our Mother."

--Traditional Circle of Elders

There is no power greater than the Natural Laws. These powers were set up by the Great Spirit in such a way that the human being has no access to it, except by obeying. If we choose not to follow the Natural Laws, our live will be filled with confusion, tension, anxiety and stress. If we poison the Earth, we poison ourselves. If we poison the Water of the Earth, we poison ourselves. As we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves and our children, even the children unborn. May we think about this today and ask ourselves, "Are we holding and acting toward the Mother Earth in a good way?"

Great Spirit, teach me the Natural Laws that govern the Earth.

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

There may be many reasons why man wants to conquer the world, but there is something youthful and soul-stirring, to be able to do it for somebody. Living within oneself is barren and shallow, lacking in warmth and without understanding. But when we can be outgoing and giving, the importance of others becomes doubly strong.

It is impossible to even be selfish without the help of others. Who would we take from, blame troubles on, resent, and criticize? But more important, who would care when we're ill, who would be happy when we're blessed, and who would love us when we least deserve it?

The world may be deluged with problems and solutions, laws to live by, formulas, fear, faith, and the everlasting struggle to survive in the face of others, but it is just as necessary to share laughter in happiness, to know God in a sunset, and to feel joy in a sunrise, all more beautiful because of others.

Victor Hugo wrote that he greatest happiness in life is in knowing that others love us, for ourselves, or rather, they love us in spite of ourselves.
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

June 3 - Daily Feast

Big changes require many small ones. Any change seems sudden, regardless of how much we prepare for it. We wait for it, ask for it, expect it, and resent its intrusion. Change is needed to stay young and vital and moving. Without it we stagnate, lose our keenness of thought, and too often fall into melancholy. Even in the best of times change takes a certain amount of adjustment. Our biggest problem with change is that we expect it to be bad rather than something that will make us happier. To a, Tsa su ga, a flea, a dog is the whole world, says a Cherokee. As much as we like where we are, it isn't the whole world. There are bigger things - and better. We have to be able to see beyond the dog.

~ I have made myself what I am. ~

TECUMSEH, 1810

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

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

Elder's Meditation of the Day June 3

"IN THE BEGINNING were the Instructions... The Instructions was to live in a good way and be respectful to everybody and everything."

--Vickie Downey, TEWA/Tesuque Pueblo

A long time ago, in the beginning, the Creator gave to all people and to all things the Wisdom and the knowledge of how to live in harmony. Some tribes call these teachings the original Instructions, the original teachings, or the Great Laws. All of Nature still lives and survives according to these teachings. In modern times, human beings are searching for the Instructions. Many churches claim they have these Instructions. Where are these teachings? The Instructions are written in our hearts.

Great Spirit, today, whisper to me the secrets of the original Instructions.

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

"I owe no man anything but love" is it said. But what is love? Love is duty - whatever duty may require to accomplish a good thing.

Love is peace. One must not only be peaceful but contribute to the peace of others. Let there be peace and let it begin with me.

Love is sometimes pain. We must give up something that causes us pain because it is for the good of the greatest number.

Love is understanding. That others do not have to forever explain their actions to us. That we know their reasons without being told.

Love is courage. Courage to lead where one has the ability to lead. Courage to stand up for what one believes in and wants to live.

Love is faith. Faith in God, faith in self, and faith in others. Everyone is not above reproach, but we must have faith that the majority strives to be.

Coleridge wrote, "He prayeth best who loveth best," which seems to rule out all hollow and self-heard prayers. For those who truly love do not hear themselves only, or rule all life useless because they cannot love or pray.

Life can be as simple as love and prayer. Where the two mingle there can be no jealousy, resentment, or fear.

Jealousy makes us compare our lot with another's. And there can be no comparison, for no two people are alike.

Resentment plunges an otherwise logical soul into despair and an endless journey of revenge.

And fear rushes us headlong into situations that detract, accidents that could be prevented, and long delays in reaching our goals.

But if we can, for a few moments, invite into our hearts a thing called love, then we can pray. And if we pray we have the source of all answers to our aid.
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

June 4 - Daily Feast

What is so strange about using our words to build? Doesn't it make more sense to build something than to tear down? Who is closer to us than ourselves - other than Above-the-Sky, Galun-lati? We spend most of our time listening to our own words - words that go into our ears to build or tear us down. Sometimes they whisper in our silent talk, sometimes we say them and they affect us deep in our hearts. Confidence may come because of what someone else told us, but it is maintained by what we tell ourselves. We boot it every time we say we can do what we once thought impossible. We lose it by confirming what fear told us is true. Talking can change our circumstances when we change the words.

~ Tecumseh said to Big Warrior, "I will stamp my foot on the ground and shake down all your lodges." (An earthquake struck and tumbled the village.) ~

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

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

Elder's Meditation of the Day June 4

"Wakan Tanka never stops creating."

--Archie Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA

The Medicine Wheel teaches about change. It says that which is created will fall apart; that which is loose, will be used to create new. In other words, everything on Earth is participating in a constant change that is being directed by an order of laws and principles which were originated by the Great Spirit. We humans are equipped with natural change abilities. We have the ability to vision; we can use imagination and imagery; we can change belief, attitude, habits and expectations. We need to know ourselves and we need to know how we work inside to enable us to change naturally.

Great Spirit, teach me to change in harmony.

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Irritation, they say, is something gentle folk should never know. Always passive, they go along the way smiling, no matter what the cost to feelings. But have you ever tried to smile when all the street lights are red and someone honked loudly when you failed to move quickly enough.

Have you heard a politician slur the name of your candidate....and had a promise broken without so much as a faint explanation. Or perhaps the long explanation on how to do something you've done for years....and suddenly you want to make two lists of people you like and people you don't like!

And maybe you've answered the telephone and heard them hang up simply because your voice was not the right voice....Or had them stand back empty handed while you with your packages opened the door for them?

Well, it's no easy matter to be gentle folk and the mildest can get angry all over again by just thinking of an injustice. Perhaps it is trifling to let such little things irritate. But the best of us feel the small things that we never quite get over. We forgive and forget except to think about it occasionally, and then we must consider the words of Seneca, "Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us then the injury that provokes it."

We live in a continual round of adjustments. It is usually an admirable thing to be able to make adjustments easily. Not many can. And, yet, it makes us wonder at times if those who can so freely change and moved without emotions have ever felt very deeply.

We tend to cling to familiar things and familiar customs. There is a great security in traveling a way we know by heart. The roughest road can usually be traveled without incident when we know every turn and bump.

It had been said by those who do scientific research that it takes at least three weeks to adjust to changes. But three months would do it more justice. And it must be done by abandonment, by setting aside for a period of time all things like the old way. Many times it is done not for ourselves alone, for it is foolish to believe a change involves only ourselves.

In our very complex way of life there is no situation to affect only one person. And often the most wonderful thing we can do for someone else is to find our own balance by making adjustments quickly, even in the middle of chaos.
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

June 5 - Daily Feast

Nothing equals the loveliness of a summer morning when the first rays of sunlight sweep a field of wheat ready for harvest. The honey-colored heads bow with the weight of grain and the moisture of dew. Few of us could miss the peace that comes when the first light breaks through the foliage at the far side of the woods. It beams misty shafts of gold into areas untouched at any other time of day. It passes quickly and leaves the need to see it again. A miracle happens with the morning light. Worried thought lightens with the trill of the summer tanager. The wild purple cone flowers make their appearance in the meadow - and so the day begins.

~ Warm as, go gi a ga li s gv, the peaceful day begins.
Warm as summer sunshine, the peaceful day, a leni s gv. ~

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

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

Elder's Meditation of the Day June 5

"It is not through the great skill of the hunter himself that success is achieved, but through the hunter's awareness of his place in Creation and his relationship to all things."

--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW

If only the human being could understand the power of proper relationships, the need for power and control could be abandoned. It's not what is going on that matters, but how we look at what is going on. It's our relationship to it that counts. Nothing in the world has any meaning except the meaning we give to it. To be more effective at this, we need to consider our relationship with the Creator. Our relationship to the Great Spirit determines how we will perceive the meanings we put to places, people, institutions and things. We need to let the Creator tell us and guide our thoughts about these relationships. Any relationship that we have that is causing problems means we need to pray for a new point of view.

Creator, let me see the world and the people through your eyes.

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Everyone is a collector of something. And everyone's collection looks peculiar to someone else. And yet, who knows why an item may have a certain appeal to one particular person. The shape, the color, the whole idea may have a hidden background, but it is most definitely there!

It may be old books, or magazines. Perhaps it is pill bottles, fishing hooks, or something "I may need someday when...." Who knows the reasons old calendars continue to hang, and scraps of this and that may someday be just what I need.

But more dear than any of these are the happy thoughts we collect to use along the way. We can use them to cheer someone, to pass along a word of courage, a simple prayer, a smile. And when someone has time to share with us an experience that we may profit by the pain they felt - yes, these are collector's items. These priceless bits of life's fabric, woven by someone's cares and offered to us in hopes that it will help.

Whatever it is that we collect, we must never forget the dearest collections are the kindnesses, the thoughtful acts, the smiling faces that can be ours by giving the same.

What could be so priceless as true friendship? Friends for which time and space do not exist! It is written, "What a great blessing is a friend with breast so trusty that thou mayest safely bury all thy secrets in it, whose conscience thou mayest fear less than thy own; who can relieve thy cares by his conversation, thy doubts by his counsels, thy sadness by his good humor, and whose very looks give thee comfort."

All of us have had many friends, but the special ones remain forever in our memories. The dearest are those who believe in us and are willing to trust us with their friendship.

We cannot force friendship. It is something mutually felt, mutually understood, and silently accepted. It is our opportunity to demonstrate our very best selves - to ask no questions and to pass no criticisms.

"Before us is a future all unknown, a path untrod;
Beside us a friend well loved and known -
That friend is God."
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

June 6 - Daily Feast

The mind is like a bag with a drawstring. When the string is pulled so tight that nothing can go into the bag or come out - that is nervous tension. The problem is held in and the solution is kept out. At these times it helps to walk - at least far enough to detach from everything that reminds a worrier that he is hemmed in. While the feet are busy, the mind relaxes - maybe not to the point of being tranquil but at least to be able to, adanv tesgv, think clearly or work things out mentally. And during the walk, deliberately turn thoughts to vision - seeing every detail, every sunflower. Look at the shape of a leaf, the spider's web, and look for color, and be grateful for the ears to hear and the eyes to see. Nothing heals the spirit and opens the way like turning loose of a problem.

~ Neither anger not fear shall find lodging in your mind. ~

DEKANWIDAH

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

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

Elder's Meditation of the Day June 6

"We need to save those Elders who cannot speak for themselves -- the trees."

--Haida Gwaii, Traditional Circle of Elders

The trees are the Elders of the Earth. Go to the forest or to the mountains and find a young tree. Then find and old tree. Spend time with each. Sit by the young tree and listen to your thoughts. Then move to an old tree and listen to your thoughts again. Just being in the presence of an old tree, you will feel more calm. Your thoughts will contain wisdom and your answers will be deeper. Why is this so? These old trees know more, have heard more and are the Elders of the Earth. We must ensure these trees live so we can learn from them.

My Creator, help me to protect the trees and listen to them.

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Have you heard how dreadful the neighbors are these days to ignore another's plight, and how the world has gone to the dogs because people don't care? Have you heard how hardened hearts are and how callous and unfeeling the human race has become?

It may be true such things do happen....for we hear about it daily. But it likely is that we hear more about the unusual than the usual.

For have you heard about the builder who laid his own plans aside to help another build his house....and the lady who gave her home and nursing care to someone who had no other place to go. Or the child who found its needs fulfilled in the love of a foster mother.

We may ignore, but we can never erase the love of the human race. The world may abound with sordid happenings; it may revel in senseless activities. But called to help, the greater number will respond without thought of the cost to themselves.

Of these things we hear so little. With these we come in contact every day and accept it as the normal pattern of life....which it is....for each unthinking, infantile mind there are two great thoughtful ones. And the second great Commandment still works its wonders in all our lives.
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

June 7 - Daily Feast

Confession may be good for the soul, but it seldom makes the one that heard it feel good. The nee to clear the air or get something out in the open can cause a bigger rift than the reason for confessing in the first place. Words cannot be retrieved once they are spoken. They are gone and calling them back is impossible. Some weigh on people's hearts like, hi lv s gi nv ya, many stones or heavy rock. Some are flung, like, di ga it s di, a spear, to wound. And most should never have been spoken. Life and death are in the use of words. If we feel the need to confess something, we should do it where the listener knows how to handle what we say. It is an unthinking person that needs to be relieved of a burden to the point of putting it on someone who may find it hard to bear.

~ He knew his words were bad; he trembled like the oak whose roots have been wasted by many rains. ~

KEOKUK

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

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

Elder's Meditation of the Day June 7

"If there is a shadow of a doubt someplace, that will cause a weakness."

--Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA

In the Spiritual World there is a spiritual Law. The Law says like attracts like. This means whatever mental picture we hold inside our minds we will attract from the Universe. To make this Law work we must maintain a constant picture. If we picture or vision something, and along with this picture we have doubting thoughts, our vision will not happen and we will get EXACTLY what we picture or vision. The Law always works. A doubting vision will not materialize what we want. A vision without doubt will always happen. This is a spiritual Law.

My Maker, today, let my vision become strong.

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

We are all aware of the emotional effect color creates. And for this reason we choose colors that please the eye by first pleasing the inner emotions. Certain colors have the same effect on many, while other colors affect each of us individually and in particular ways.

Red has an exciting effect; green is cool serenity, orange is the color of vivacity, and brown tones are restful earthy colors. People dress to enhance their appearances with certain colors. Homes are decorated and offices are planned to create pleasant surroundings.

And we as individuals possess moods of many colors. Yet, we are far more careless about the color of that mood, letting the attitudes and colors of others dictate to us how we are to behave. If we could remember when we meet people whose moods are black to remind ourselves that their moods are their own, there would be less involvement in the emotions of others.

We are so vividly aware of color, we must not be reckless in recognizing the color scheme within our own personality. Whether it is a vibrant color, sophisticated, or bright and witty, color always works its subtle magic.