Tag: Daily Feast

March 17 – Daily Feast

March 17 – Daily Feast

Remembering is painful at times. It is so easy to relive what happened, and what did not happen, and we try to take all the blame. A fortunate few can look back and delight in the memory of times past. Most see it as a reflection of our own guilt. We know what guilt is. Why dud we not do a better job, pay more attention, follow a hunch? It is probably because we are better at hindsight than we will ever be in seeing things as they are now. Would we have done differently if we knew then what we know now? Maybe. But how could we see past the bend in the road? The best thing we can do for ourselves is to forgive. Forgiving heals. It clears the way for quality time – time to build and love, and renew and restore. It is what the Cherokees call, a da to li s di, a time of grace when we have done nothing to deserve it.

~ I am tired of fighting…..from where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. ~

CHIEF JOSEPH

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

March 13 – Daily Feast

March 13 – Daily Feast

There are special places in our lives that live on forever. Just entering there in memory makes them live again. We feel the heat and the cold, catch the fragrance so familiar, the aroma of certain foods, or even hear a bit of a song. There are too many reasons to count, too many feelings, for us ever to lose touch with some part of us that was then – and is now. People are part of our memories, too – living within our thoughts and influencing our thinking like the wind that we feel but cannot see. We are made up of many things, many experiences that we do not want to lose, but we also have the power to keep yesterday in its place and make the most of today. Yesterday was the foundation, but today is the house, and we’re living there and keeping things in their proper order.

~ As a child I understood how to give; I have forgotten this grace since I became civilized. ~

OHIYESA

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

March 11 – Daily Feast

March 11 – Daily Feast

Can you see the wind? Can you see the fragrance of flowers floating on the breezes? Can you see thought or what it is that changes a tree from bare limbs and brown leaves to lush green? Can you see love or joy or peace? We can only see evidence of these invisible things, and it is enough to make us know they do exist. The substance of life is so evident, so real and beautiful. Why is it that we ever question the existence of our Creator, who set all things in motion? Are we so base, so grounded that unless it gives us momentary pleasure, feeds our starving appetites, we cannot recognize the greatest help available? It is Galun lati, the Great Holy Spirit, invisible but more real than all we see that is tangible.

~ We see the changes of day and night….the seasons, the stars, the moon, the sun. Anyone must know it is the work of some one more powerful than man. ~

CHASED-BY-BEARS

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

March 7 – Daily Feast

March 7 – Daily Feast

The first thing in the morning when our feet touch the floor, our feelings begin to feed us impressions. Not only do they review our situation in a few seconds, they decide if this is a good day or if it should be one of anxiety. This is the precise time to hush feelings and paint the day the way we want it to be – not to be fed from the negative side. We tell the wrong impressions that they are not acceptable, that we feel different than we have in the past. This is a new day and we are free and happy, able to change what needs to be changed, to do what needs to be done. There are times when we must go against our own feelings and dictate what we will have, shaping and reshaping the hours as we see fit.

~ When I make peace, it is a long and lasting one. There is no end to it. ~

SANTANA

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

March 6 – Daily Feast

March 6 – Daily Feast

Remember when you do anything, there will be someone that will find fault, no matter what you do. The pleasure of an unhappy person is to find something wrong in others to salve his own discontent. The Cherokees believe that tests sharpen their wit and help them, a s qua dv, win or triumph over opposite powers. It would be beneath them to accept criticism as something they must overcome. The Cherokees flick it off like, to is, pesky mosquitos. We all try to understand our differences of opinion, to care what effect we cause in other people. But the bane of anyone’s existence is ignorance – our own. We want more than anything to correct what we know is wrong. And what we find wrong in others may be a reflection of our own wrongs.

~ May the white man and the Indian speak truth to each other today. ~

BLACKFOOT

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

March 5 – Daily Feast

March 5 – Daily Feast

It is sad when our children have not been able to reply on us to build their self-esteem. The Cherokees call it, qa lv quo di. Even those of us that have come a long way have memories that need a loving touch. Parents teach only what they know to teach. But we are not set forever in one direction. We reach an age when we must teach ourselves. We learn to forgive and to understand that when we get to the fork in the road we will know the right way. Why go the wrong way because someone before us did? If our self-esteem has been damaged, feeding it more pity and more ill-treatment is not healing it. Criticism is passed to us the same way blue eyes and dark hair are inherited. But criticism can be changed and replaced with love. This is a decision that changes our lives – and those who follow as well.

~ Civilized people depend too much on man-made printed pages. I turn to the Great Spirit’s book which is the whole of his creation. ~

TATNGA MANI

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

March 4 – Daily Feast

March 4 – Daily Feast

Few things that count in life are taken by great strides. Little by little, step by step, we inch forward. Great progress in a short time is so often short-lived and gives us the wrong idea of how things work. We build a consciousness, use good judgment, di gu go at nv in Cherokee, to move slowly and with awareness. But as we build, it is important to override the negatives that try to lodge in what we are doing. Our thinking is like a garden that needs to be cultivated. And our talking is even more important. The two go I tsu la, hand in hand, and what happens is a direct result of what we have dwelled on for many seasons. But it is in our power to make corrections and edge out trouble – little by little, but very surely.

~ Certain small ways and observances sometimes have connection with large and more profound ideas. ~

STANDING BEAR

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

February 27 – Daily Feast

February 27 – Daily Feast

It is important to have a vision that is not clouded with fear,” said a Cherokee leader. “As children we were able to see beyond the impossible by enjoying a vision of how we wanted things to be. It required unlimited joy, and life responded freely – until we grew up enough that everything had to be real.” Sometimes the vision is truer than that which comes from it. A pattern to make anything can be accurate, and if followed perfectly, can produce the perfect model of it. But bringing something forth is the problem. We have to have a steady hand and a mind that is willing to follow precisely. Few things are spelled out for us. We learn to focus on what we need, but there is still another step: Focus on fulfillment. See it completed. This is usually left out as we adopt a wait-and-see attitude, and this step is far too important to ignore.

~ Have a vision not clouded by fear. ~

THE CHEROKEE

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

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February 25 – Daily Feast

February 25 – Daily Feast

When we stop fretting we gain more ground. If we can stop trying to control everything with our minds and let it go, even for a little while, we will get a clearer view. There is wisdom in the words, “Having done all, stand.” Do what can be done, build faith, know there is a Great Holy Spirit that knows even the very smallest thing we need. At this point, everything will challenge us, but just let it slide away, let it dissolve from inattention. The greatest steps are taken when we decide not to thrash out, not to hate and resent and lose ourselves in the confusion. Put it all down and walk away to something totally different. Having done all, stand, and refuse to be drawn back into a place of no peace.

~ The man who sat on the ground in his tipi meditating on life and its meaning, accepting the kinship of all creatures and acknowledging unity with the universe of things, was infusing into his being the true essence of civilization. ~

CHIEF LUTHER STANDING BEAR

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

February 21 – Daily Feast

February 21 – Daily Feast

A young Indian boy named Slow was so brave in battle when he was fourteen that he was renamed Sitting Bull. He had a great love for birds and imitated their songs – finally writing songs of his own and chanting them. How many of us have been called slow? If not in one category, then in another. The change comes when we study something we love, doing what comes so naturally that we succeed in an area that was totally unexpected. Never underestimate the power of small beginnings. Sufficiency in all things more often than not begins in small ways. Little ideas and tiny steps evolve into greater accomplishment. Someone said it takes twenty years to become an overnight success, but it only takes seconds to recognize the beginning of one.

~ Let us look forward to the pleasing landscape of the future. ~

CHIEF ROSS

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

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February 19 – Daily Feast

February 19 – Daily Feast

We all discover at some time or other that it is painful to love. Caring about something, about someone, about some place is a great joy. It does make us vulnerable, easy to get to, easy to touch, and hard-pressed to hide our emotions. Some bit of us wants desperately to hide what we feel for fear that it will be taken the wrong way. But even more, we are afraid of revealing more than we are willing to share. A reserve of our own thoughts and feelings keeps us from depleting all that we are, keeps us from giving away that part of us which generates life. It keeps us able to love and care deeply. Despite all the pain that goes with caring, we would not have it any other way.

~ The earth has received the embrace of the sun and we shall see the results of that love. ~

SITTING BULL

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

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February 18 – Daily Feast

February 18 – Daily Feast

We need to get our priorities in a row. A lazy person never has priorities and never plans anything. He lets circumstances make all his decisions – and believes fate has the final say. Even though he has had a thousand nudges to do a certain thing, he ignores them because it is only himself dreaming again. If we cannot hold onto a plan long enough to do anything about it, then we should write it. Write it so plain that when we read it, we run – we run toward putting into practice what we set out on paper. It is essential to decide the ultimate outcome of our lives. If we do nothing, then that is a decision. Our lot in life is what we make it, using every delay, every pain, every injustice as fuel to fire our determination.

~ Let the young men of this nation remember that idleness leads to poverty. Industry is honorable and leads to contentment. ~

CHIEF JOHN ROSS

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

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February 14 – Daily Feast

February 14 – Daily Feast

Our wounds need time to heal. And when it seems the healing has done its work, protection from further hurt is necessary, because our scars are on the surface. Physical wounds are bad enough, but when they come from mental cruelty and unfair treatment, pain returns again and again to reopen what no one should have to bear. It seems almost a sacrilege to ask someone so deeply hurt to forgive those who caused it. Yet unforgiveness causes damage almost as devastating as physical wounds, or more so. There is great stress on bearing grudges and the abused do not need any new pain or new problems. Forgiveness does not set the abusive free, but the abused.

~ I was living peaceably and satisfied when people began to speak bad of me. ~

GERONIMO

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

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February 12 – Daily Feast

February 12 – Daily Feast

The Cherokee can agree with Sir Francis Drake when he wrote about the herb garden, “A perfect garden planted with herbs, when trod upon gives the very air a delightful fragrance.” But to the Cherokee it meant even more – food and medicine. As a child, I spent much time following my Grandmother Essie in search of herbs, mullein, lamb’s quarter and other things I hoped I wouldn’t have to eat in greens, but the hunt was a joy. Kneeling to dig the herbs, feeling the soil and the warmth of the sun, gave me the realization that the plants were only a part of a gift from Asga Ya Galun lati. I was also being given the day to enjoyment, the songs of dozens of birds, the little meal I shared with Grandmother, and her company away from others.

~ A Cherokee woman is never idle and has no time to tattle or to create mischief. ~

WILLIAM FYFFE

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

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February 11 – Daily Feast

February 11 – Daily Feast

Many things from the past echo faintly within us – voices, sounds, thoughts. Only a few ring clear like a bell from many long ago seasons. Persistent memories call us back to deal with details – some of them best forgotten. Why do we remember? Perhaps to clarify what we feel, to help us be more objective about the present moment. Or maybe to force us to see that pattern of our own lives so that we may throw out events that have been obstacles. Sometimes we remember just so we can be grateful. Like the well-fed dog that turns primitive at the sight of a bone, we pick up on our own instincts and react before we think. If we see what is about to happen we can meet it with good humor and have less need to make everyone in the present time pay dearly for what happened so long ago.

~ I want peace, that we may……sleep in our houses and rise in peace on both sides. ~

BLOODY-FELLOW

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

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February 8 – Daily Feast

February 8 – Daily Feast

It is interesting to see someone take one little idea and make it grow into something that benefits many people. Could it be that an idea hangs before us like a worm in a chrysalis that is able to emerge as a beautiful ka ma ma – butterfly? When we reach for the stars we should remember that we are rooted and grounded in little things. The basis for success that lasts is the knowledge that slow and careful construction cannot be toppled by fickle and fast-moving tastes. So much is made to be temporary – the fast-moving fads – and people jump aboard to ride them for the duration. In the process the ka ma ma is crushed before it ever develops, and the pupa-idea must begin all over again. But it remembers its beginnings, its basic purpose.

~ I may be forced to adopt a new way of life, but my heart and spirit spring from the red earth. ~

PAINTED WOLF

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

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February 4 – Daily Feast

February 4 – Daily Feast

To stand alone does not mean there is no one else around. It means we are u na tse li dv-u na to tiv hi…. We think for ourselves in an independent way, using our heads rather than our feet. We fit life to us instead of letting it press us into a mold that would not makes us happy. Letting the world dictate to us is being one of the herd that runs – not because it is the right thing to do, but because we think everyone else is doing it, and so must we. Is it the right direction? Refusing to be swept along with every trend is cultivating our inner awareness of right and wrong. Awareness is there within us, but we have to hear it and heed it. This is why we were given intelligence – to stand alone so that we may have something to offer when someone else needs us.

~ Too many misinterpretations have been made….too many misunderstandings…. ~

CHIEF JOSEPH

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

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February 3 – Daily Feast

February 3 – Daily Feast

These are no longer ordinary times, and many circumstances we thought would never change, are changing. The innocent times, the good natured humor of life has been covered over with suggestive jokes empty of meaning. The ground is shifting under our feet and we are having to learn to walk a new way. Few things are permanent. We are born of change, but we still have to keep a commonsense attitude or we can lose our footing. We need to prove, long before we accept something as fact, that it is true. If it is right, it can be proved. Much is a mystery to us. But to the Tsilagi – Cherokee – silence is golden. We speak little and listen long. Words are important in songs and in ceremonies – and in general conversation as well. It is wise to save words and use them only when they can be effective.

~ Good works do not last long until they amount to something. ~

CHIEF JOSEPH

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

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January 31 – Daily Feast

January 31 – Daily Feast

Sensible people do not get ruffled easily and are known to be reliable in a crisis. We want these stable people with us as friends and team members when the game is terribly important. We have heard the calm voice and felt the strong hand when our knees wobbled and our hands shook. It is easy to recall those who sustained us with their words, their caring. And sadly, we remember those who did not. Whatever common sense is, the heart has it, not the head. It is having the right priorities, knowing what is important, and giving as much as, or more than, we have received. Indians of old has this stalwart strength to stand like straight arrows to give support. They reached out to lift someone before they stopped to think whether he deserved it. The price is the same now as then – patience, love, loyalty – those things that seem so scarce.

~ I learned many English words….could recite some of the Ten Commandments….I knew how to sleep in a bed, pray to Jesus, comb my hair, use a toilet….I learned that a person thinks with his head instead of his heart. ~

SUN CHIEF, 1890

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

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January 29 – Daily Feast

January 29 – Daily Feast

New life comes in only as we turn loose of the old. There must be a place for what we want or need. If there is not a place prepared, the new circumstances flow on by – and we are left with the same things we have always had. If we think we cannot bear to part with an old way of life, we are not ready to accept anything new. Instead we can make a personal decision, a firm commitment, to forget what is behind and push forward to what is ahead. Our mental and spiritual attitudes make room for new life when we set them in motion with our words. Nothing will overtake us, not love, not prosperity, not peace and joy – until we make a place for them and ask them to come in. Hope, alone, does not do it, but a firm decision for a new life will clear the way.

~ My people, before the white man came you were happy. You had many buffalo to eat and tall grass for your ponies – you could come and go like the wind. ~

WOVOKA

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

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