‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for January 1st

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

I don’t know of anyone I’d rather see happy than you. Perhaps somewhere along the way you’ll also find what causes it and maybe it will be something you can find within your heart to share with others….for only in sharing are we ever really happy.

Just remember that it may well be where you least expect it. You may recognize it as something you’re about to give away…..But don’t worry, it will come back so many times; like love, it seeketh not its own but flies over us like angels. And when it finds a heart big enough to hold all the love it can supply it settles itself, wings and all, within the soul of that love.

And then the world will be new. There will be sights you’ve never seen, yet they have been there all the time….there will be laughter from the heart…..and gratitude for all of life’s privileges. There will be peace and contentment….and strength abounding to withstand all adversity…..and quiet acknowledgment of God. For without God, there could be none of these.

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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

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for December 31st

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Today I hear the laughter of children at play. Their voices filled the air almost like chimes. And I felt their arms about my neck and their sticky kisses on my face. How blessed I am! Today I heard a mockingbird trilling out every single song it every heard from its winged friends. I closed my eyes and in the trees I heard all the voices I’ve heard since childhood, and it took me through all the happy, breathless, precious times I loved so much.

Today I heard my mother’s voice calling to me happily. It was a good, strong, healthy voice that has called to me courage, and hope and peace, and shall continue to call down many lanes to me.

Today I heard my child’s voice. I heard her singing, I heard her praying, I heard her laughing and talking. I heard her teasing and moving from place to place in all the activities I love to see her in.

Now, even more than ever I realize how grateful I am that Gods has given me the excellent faculty of hearing. I shall with all diligence try to hear nothing evil, but only love and peace which is my heritage.

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Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

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

December 31 – Daily Feast

December 31 – Daily Feast

A feast is a huge banquet of wonderful foods and wonderful friends to share it. It is a time when people honor people – and many memories are laid aside for this celebration. But another kind of feast is in the heart – at the core where life is decided. It is the human way to believe himself victim of many things, and he starves at his center. He worries excessively about who will take care of him and who will feed him and if he will survive at all. Never start a day without gratitude – without an inner singing of “Praise God from whom all blessings flow!” Never start a day being sour and hard to get along with. Never talk trouble nor give credence to those who do. Never give another person reason to be unhappy….. And remember, this is your day. This is a day of celebrating new life and purpose.

~ On the other side of the river there is plenty of buffalo. When we are poor we will tell you. ~

BLACKFOOT – MOUNTAIN CROW

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II’ by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

December 30 – Daily Feast

December 30 – Daily Feast

We move now toward a new year. It gives reason to think who we are and what we are about. Do we reach eagerly toward the future or does it frighten us with its weapons and voices and anger? Think long and hard about this, for it reveals your state of existence. A person cannot go on thinking “someday” and change anything. But to say that this day is the day to make changes and to bring one’s own personal spirit into alignment, that is an accomplishment. Some feel they are not good enough to be any different. But what they don’t realize is that making the effort to change makes them good enough. A person can’t get there until he takes an action.

~ Some of our people have gone from here in order that they may have a change. ~

SPOTTED TAIL – SIOUX

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II’ by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

December 20 – Daily Feast

We view life with our hearts – and if someone does not have it in his heart to see something very beautiful, he will see only the hardship and distrust. Two people in nearly identical circumstances can wake up to the same news, the same information, the same landscape – and see it in totally different ways. One expects trouble to pass – and gives it time. The other sees problems pouring in faster than she can solve them. One sings, the other cries. We have to check our reactions and then check our hearts for corrected vision. This is our privilege – this is life meeting our expectations.

~ We took an oath not to do anything wrong to each other or to scheme against each other. ~

GERONIMO – CHIRICAHUA APACHE

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II’ by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

December 18 – Daily Feast

December 18 – Daily Feast

I watched her in the woods circling a red cedar not much taller than she was. It was her gift back to the woods that had given her so much peace and comfort – even when life outside the woods could be trying. She laid garlands of popcorn and cranberries over the sturdy limbs along with burr acorns and suet in mesh bags. Scattered beneath the tree were sunflower seeds and millet that cardinals and would attract unusual guests – miniature marshmallows were scattered in and around the tree, a sweet touch for woodland friends. A sweet touch, the best part of the gift. She gave, and peace would be given back to her.

~ Sometimes we prayed in silence; sometimes each one prayed aloud; sometimes an aged person prayed for all of us. ~

GERONIMO – APACHE

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II’ by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for December 16th

‘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 re-cultivate 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.

______________________________

Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

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

December 16th – Daily Feast

December 16 – Daily Feast

Like anything else, if one is prepared to meet winter rather than cower at the thought, it is an excellent time to be happy and alive. When we are warm on the inside and we have no excessive fears, we can lean into the wind and pace ourselves to breathe the cold air and taste the snow without absorbing it. We were created to take domination over these things and it is time we proved it. But as long as there is one other person who is not warm, who does not see beauty, we can’t be too comfortable not immune to winter.

~ I will ask him (the white man) to understand his ways, then I will prepare the way for my children. ~

MANY HORSES – OGLALA SIOUX, 1890

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II’ by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

~ I will ask him (the white man) to understand his ways, then I will prepare the way for my children. ~

MANY HORSES – OGLALA SIOUX, 1890

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II’ by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for December 12th

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

At night sometimes the world seems so topsy-turvy and you’re so weary of doing things the same old way. Then nothing seems to please….You try desperately for something new and different, something that doesn’t seem so much like you. Why? Tonight you are different.

One cannot expect the world to be top side up all the time. Such perfection does not come so easily to human nature. And always there is a search for something new and different. A change of pace….that thought that I don’t want to be me today, to think my thoughts and do my daily chores. I want to make a complete change now, to know a whole new way of life. And it is good to leave behind the many daily situations that sometimes stand too closely to be seen clearly, but to be wise enough to know which things should be left behind.

There have been clean sweeps that have left behind the dearest things….and have taken along the same dreary, dark unhappy things of the mind that should have been left behind.

A line from the prayer of serenity is “The wisdom to know the difference…..” And wisdom, says Samuel Taylor Coleridge, is common sense in an uncommon degree. If one has the wisdom to wait a bit, wait until morning – or several mornings – that uncommon degree of common sense will give us the wisdom to know the difference.

_________________________________

Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

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

December 12 – Daily Feast

Misery seems to justify making someone pay – but there is sweet revenge in finding our own inner spirit can expand quickly to push out unfairness and bitterness. Who doesn’t have the right to be bitter? A hard thing to forget, a mountain to overcome – but such peace follows. Peace spreads like warm honey across a hot biscuit and permeates all the little places that capture and hold it. The heart lifts its hands in praise for relief from the darkness of bitter memories. All of us can do it – all of us must if we are to be well and have something to share. Just let it go. Life will balance the books, it always does.

~ While living I want to live well. ~

GERONIMO – CHIRACAHUA APACHE

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II’ by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for December 11th

‘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.

_________________________________

Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

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

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for December 9th

‘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.”

________________________________

Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

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

December 9 – Daily Feast

December 9 – Daily Feast

When the first snowflakes catch on leafless trees and crisp cold wind sweeps our faces, we know winter is in earnest. It turns the bright green canes of the wild rose to gray and sprinkles hickory nuts and walnuts on the path to the woods. The entire landscape seems to be one color – but the variation is so subtle and low-key that it takes a little while to see the green lichen and the misty blue haze that hangs over the tiny stream. Life sometimes appears to be at a standstill, and nothing is beautiful – no color, no shape, no hope. But if we refocus, if we are sincere and we use wisdom, we will move toward a new spring, just as does the season.

~ Whatever the fate of other Indians, the Iroquois might still have been a nations. ~

WA-O-WO-WA-NO-ONK – CAYUA CHIEF

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II’ by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

December 5 – Daily Feast

December 5 – Daily Feast

The Cherokee calls this month U Ski’YA – the Snow Month. A dusting of snow softens the rustling leaves and defines the edges of rocks and trees that are hidden in heavy foliage in other seasons. This is the quiet time, the sharp edge of winter adjusting the land unto itself. The woods would be gray if it were not for the blue mist that hangs like soft gauze drapery through every glen and cleft in the hills. Evergreens thrive in soft leaf-matted ravines, and cottonwoods stand stark against the dark woods. When the winds lay down in late evening the horizon clears to show vivid colors and every window is gilded gold until the sun disappears and the blue hour comes. It is as quiet as when the earth was created – and then an owl calls.

~ I stand here upon this great plain with the broad sunlight pouring down upon it. We shall be brothers and friends for all our lives. ~

RED CLOUD – OGLALA SIOUX

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II’ by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for December 4th

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Two qualities so well liked in people are brightness and warmth, both parts of the sun. Sir David Brewster was a Scottish physicist of the eighteenth century. His study of the material world and its phenomena called the sun glorious, “the center and soul of our system, the lamp that lights it, the fire that heats it, the magnet that guides and controls it, the fountain of color which gives its azure to the sky, its verdure to the fields, its rainbow-hues to the gay world of flowers, and the purple light of love to the marble cheek of youth and beauty.”

What more beautiful qualities for any human being to possess than to have a soul at the center of its system, to light the appearance, to warm the feelings, to guide and control it through its colorful moods, and to let it rise as high as the azure skies and as wide as the gay world of flowers. But better yet, to be most beautiful with the purple light of love. What more to be given than the same qualities of the sun – by one Creator.

To live we need more than light, we need warmth. We need more than strength, we need grace. And more than all these we need love. There can be no greater joy than to see our respect for each other – the warmth and grace and love that bind together people in mutual concern.

Only when we can lay aside our personal feelings, our self-concern and worry of our own gain, can we join in true communion and fellowship with others. And to feel a sense of belonging is necessary to humankind.

It is the nature, not only to be liked and wanted, but to like and want others. And in this relationship find not just warmth but light, not only grace but strength, and in all of these find love.

“Walk in the light and thou shalt see thy path, though thorny, bright; for God, by grace, shall dwell in thee, and God himself is light.” – Barton

_________________________________________

Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

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

December 4 – Daily Feast

December 4 – Daily Feast

Early December has rich earthy color that stands for strength and durability. Hundred-year-old oaks stand guard over a multitude of younger growth and bear the brunt of cold winds and heavy snows. The little creeks hollow out from rushing waters and refill with sand and stones washed down from the hills. Everywhere are signs of longevity and power. Huge boulders tilted on end or covered by moss and lichen harbor the fox and possum. Regardless of how cultivated the land may be in one season, it returns to nature in another. No time shows nature’s raw strength like winter – and few things have to be hardier than people.

~ The Great Spirit and giver of light…..has made the earth and everything in it…. ~

PONTIAC – DELAWARE

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II’ by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for December 3rd

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Before we can share with others, we must have something to share. And all of us do have something to give. Not material things, but we can share our peace and our love and our loyalty.

Before we can share with others, there must be others with whom to share. For if we are selfish and self-centered enough, we will never have to worry about sharing anything. We will be alone.

Before we can expect others to share with us, we must be capable of accepting. We must be worthy of others who desire to share with us; we must deserve their love.

Before the two of us can ever find anything in this world of mutual interest, we must have enough concern and enough love to feel a need within to produce something good enough to offer; not only to others, but to ourselves. If we have abused our own nature with thoughts of bitterness, harboring painful experiences, self-condemnation for little progress regardless of circumstances, then we have nothing to offer.

The French philosopher Achilles Poincelot once said, “Some people think that all the world should share their misfortunes, though they do not share in the sufferings of anyone else.”

__________________________________

Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

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

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for December 2nd

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Have you ever stood on the sidelines and watched the drama of your own difficulties being acted out in someone else’s life? Does it provoke a feeling of gratitude that here I will witness something that will help me solve my own problem? Or does it invite a feeling of smugness that they were not so capable of hiding theirs as I have been of concealing mine.

Hiding one’s difficulties can be compared to concealing an elephant. The only possible way to keep it a secret would be to keep it from those who could care less in the first place. If they were face to face with your elephant they would register little surprise and proceed immediately to forget it.

In fact, there is considerable danger in looking down on those who are trying to get their lives on the right track. At least they have the intestinal fortitude to try. And to pretend that one has nothing to overcome is merely polishing the front glass while the back door falls away.

Smugness or compassion? It was Cowper who reminded us, “Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, but God never will.”

________________________________________

Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

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

December 2 – Daily Feast

December 2 – Daily Feast

Some of our greatest victories come when they are least expected and from sources that we have the least faith in. If the most beat-down person keeps the faith and moves ahead just as though he has a written contract with success, he will, even to his own amazement, come out a winner! Most people think there’s not a chance of success without great publicity and promotion – and the right connections. But the best connections are spiritually motivated by faith and caring that far overshadow puny human efforts. The will to win is important – but the Almighty Hand never has a failure.

~ The Great Spirit whispers in my ear! ~

BLACK HAWK – SAC

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II’ by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for November 29th

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

We all develop our own ways of centering our lives on something. In our minds we each have a design of what we think we are capable of being. If we want to be what we think we are capable of being, then we must hold our design firmly in our minds until it is secured as the focal point.

Each life must have that focal point, the center of interest where all phases of life come together. A focal point gives strength and meaning to the smallest details of everyday living.

Dimension and depth belong to the life that is centered. Though it may take many forms we must always have a “home” to return to, knowing that here are the roots, the things that really matter.

There must be a blending of our lives with others. But to be happy with one’s self, that focal point must be steady and true before we can feel contented that “all’s right with the world.”

___________________________

Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

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

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