Daily Feast - November

[bluidkiti]

November 1st - 7th



ELEVEN
Du

BIG TRADING MONTH
Nu Da Na 'Egwa

Great Spirit, the council here assembled, the aged men and women, the strong warriors, the women and children, unite their voice of thanksgiving to Thee. Na-Ho!

IROQUOIS THANKSGIVING FESTIVAL

November 1 - Daily Feast

The danger point comes after a victory when we think there are no more battles. How many wars have been fought thinking this is the war that will end all wars? Even in our own private battles we cannot lie back and think we have won the right to peace. We do need to know and remember that we are more than conquerors. It is a life promise, but we have to claim it. Other claims have taken precedence - weariness, lack, sickness - but we are conquerors, even more than conquerors. We are winners and overcomers. Believe it, because it is true, and the more we claim it, the stronger it is.

~ Where is our strength? In the old times we were strong. ~

CHIPAROPAI - YUMA

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 1

"Times change but principles don't. Times change but lands do not. Times change but our culture and our language remain the same. And that's what you have to keep intact. It's not what you wear - it's what's in your heart."

--Oren Lyons, ONONDAGA

Going back to the old ways doesn't mean giving up electricity, homes and cars. It means living by the same principles, laws and values that our ancestors lived by. This will allow us to live successfully in today's world. The spirituality our ancestors lived is the same spirituality we need in these modern times. There are too many influences from TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and negative role models that are guiding our lives in a bad way. Our stability is in the laws, principles and values that our ancestors were given and that our Elders teach us.

Great Spirit, let me live my life in a spiritual way.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Leave yourself a choice. It is a sorry state of affairs when a person's life becomes so regimented that it is impossible to make even one change in plans. There is a story about a gentleman who kept a record in minute detail of his living and every cent he earned so that he could make a trip abroad. The record keeping became such an obsession that when he could make the trip he took along crackers to keep from eating in the dining room aboard ship. The journey was nearly over before he discovered the price of his meals was included in the fare.

How much do we miss by refusing to accept the bounty of choices? "If only" and "I wish" are so over used. We bind ourselves daily by refusing to recognize the volume of opportunities open to each of us. All of life is not free, but there is much available for our personal selection.

Dr. William S. Sadler wrote of a woman who was so orderly and systematic in her living that she inquired of her minister how to go about dying since she had never done it before. Living in a systematic world is possible, but there are limits to what we can prepare for and about which to be orderly. Daily we meet and settle many small emergencies, and some not so small. And it is our developed ability to meet these things successfully and on the spur of the moment that makes a well-rounded individual.

But the steady, uniform methods of doing things do not necessarily mean a person is ready to meet every situation in life. In fact, such living often makes change practically impossible when change is sorely needed.

Order is heaven's first law. But order means first things first. A place for everything and everything in its place. Then, if we've learned how to live, we never have to worry about the art of dying gracefully.
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November 2 - Daily Feast
A long this time in autumn, we could have a few days of Indian summer. It is a tranquil time of warm sunlight with a bit of haze and soft breezes from the south. This is a token of childhood when bunches of sweet onions were hung on the garden fence to dry and pumpkins and squashes were in colorful piles. We would love this time to last longer - even anticipate that it will. But it is not likely that anything stands still at this time of year. It is too serene, too satisfying not to pass quickly. Maybe it teaches us the give and take of daily life - whether it is the weather or learning to be flexible where people are concerned. There are the pleasant days that we enjoy so much - and then there are those stormy days where we have to hunker down and ride it out.
~ A furious tempest continually sweeps the crown of the mountain....the adventurer.... Even is he escapes (may be) whirled through the air by its fearful blast. ~
SLUSKIN
"A Cherokee Feast of Days" by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
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Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 2
"Praying is what has brought us old people through life. We've all gone through hard times. We've all done our share of bad things. But through our prayers and faith in the Creator we get together again and we try hard to live right."
--Paula Weasel Head, BLOOD
As we go through life we find ourselves on track one day and off track the next day. We gain consistency through prayer. Prayer is our connection to the Great Spirit. Prayer is our channel for knowledge and wisdom. Prayer is how we keep our sanity. The Elders say we should walk in prayer.
Great Spirit, teach me to walk in prayer. Help keep my faith string.
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THINK ON THESE THINGS By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Never, never, forget that you are a spiritual person. Don't deny it, because if you were not spiritual you would not be alive. The real of you is spirit and you live in a covering which is your body. Your body needs a lot of blessing for it is temporal and your spirit is forever.
Sometimes you sit quietly and daydream -- but at night your spirit takes flight into night visions while your body rests. Sometimes dreams are simply because you ate too much of the wrong things but most times your dreams are there to teach you new things. Listen to what a dream is saying, and identify what is there for your specific purpose. They may work on erasing a hurt that you have carried too long. You are not supposed to hurt your whole life.
Color can explain many things in a dream. Dark colors explain dark events and crystal water is Spirit. You are more than skin-deep. You are more than just a human person. Never ignore that inner spirit of you. It knows more than you think it does and it wants always to help.
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November 3 - Daily Feast

Most anything has some distortion. Living today is a little like standing in front of a trick mirror that stretches the legs to the size of sticks and puts kneed where ankles should be. What is real? Even nature affords some illusion. Arid desert has mirages of water standing in pools. It looks real, but approach it and it disappears. We must be aware of illusion - of distortion, because some businesses practice it. When our own eyes squint against truth we are creating distortion. If we can't trust ourselves to recognize the truth, who can we trust?

~ I could cheerfully hope that those of another age and generation may not feel the effects of those oppressive measures. ~

GEORGE HARKINS - CHOCTAW DISTRICT CHIEF

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 3

"A sundance woman is like the morning star, filled with spiritual beauty, wisdom and knowledge. Men and women are the most powerful of the polarities. We walk beside men as equal partners. It takes men and women who have respect and love for one another to live within the embrace of Father Sky and Mother Earth."

--Dr. Henrietta Mann, SOUTHERN CHEYENNE

Our ceremonies bring out the best in us. It's in the ceremony that we find the place of honor and respect for each other. The place where the men honor the women and the women honor the men. We dance for each other. The ceremony helps us remember our responsibility toward each other. Men and women need to be strong, to love one another and be faithful. Only by doing this can we give our children knowledge of good relationships.

Great Spirit, today I will notice the power of the women; today I will notice the power of the men.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

This is a day that God has made, rejoice and be glad in it.

What we do with each day is largely decided by the thought we give it in the beginning and how we start a new day plays an immense part in the success of failure of either carefully laid plans, or helter-skelter activity.

We should open this day with as much reverence as if it were gift wrapped and presented to us personally, which it is.

What wonderful thing can I do this day that no one else can do! Shall I spend these precious moments complaining? Shall I sit glum at my work to make others feel morbid? Should I continually acknowledge how little I have and how badly I feel?

Or should I speak kindly, think kindly, feel kindly, and be so grateful that I have another opportunity today to do something for others that will being them joy and lift their spirits?

This day is in your hands. You will reap from it what you plant. If you would be loved, then be lovable; if you want peace, be peaceable; and if you would ask freedom, grant freedom. And learn to forgive without reservation.
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November 4 - Daily Feast

At one time or another we have watched someone and wondered how long it would be before we reached their stage of distress. We have been made to believe that if someone in the family has had a problem that we must have it as well. Even with our tendencies to be like someone else, we are still individuals and what we see should teach us to avoid the same pitfalls they had. More is decided in our minds and spirits than we can imagine. We have the creative power of speech, the determination and the grit to stop falling because someone else falls. Deny every thought and every suggestion that we have to be the victims of anything.

~ We were becoming like them, hypocrites and liars, adulterous lazy drones, all talkers, and no workers. ~

MA-KE-TAI-ME-SHE-KIA-KIAK - SAUK AND FOX CHIEF

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 4

"The honor of the people lies in the moccasin tracks of the woman. Walk the good road.... Be dutiful, respectful, gentle and modest my daughter... Be strong with the warm, strong heart of the earth. No people goes down until their women are weak and dishonored, or dead upon the ground. Be strong and sing the strength of the Great Powers within you, all around you."

--Village Wise Man, SIOUX

The Elders say the Native American women will lead the healing among the tribes. We need to especially pray for our women, and ask the Creator to bless them and give them strength. Inside them are the powers of love and strength given by the Moon and the Earth. When everyone else gives up, it is the women who sings the songs of strength. She is the backbone of the people. So, to our women we say, sing your songs of strength; pray for your special powers; keep our people strong; be respectful, gentle and modest.

Oh, Great One, bless our women. Make them strong today.
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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

What is the texture of life?

Texture is that finely woven fabric of life that demands we have a congenial environment. It asks that we be industrious toward success, and that we should have a way of life, a purpose. We should hear the music of life and taste the bitter and the sweet.

Texture requires us to research every experience and hear the lesson in it. It orders us to communicate with life and make discoveries about ourselves and progress toward a texture where the course has been refined.

Frequently we should examine the texture of life to identify the quality. How wide is my world? How high is my sky?

All of us should know our own makeup, our capabilities, our gifts with which we have been divinely endowed. And we should think long on these words from Edna St. Vincent Millay's Renascence:
"The world stands out on either side no wider than the heart is wide. Above the world is stretched the sky, no higher than the soul is high."
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November 5 - Daily Feast
Secretly, we are afraid others will see what we know is true - that we don't have what it takes. The Cherokee says we are not u wo hi yu - we lack confidence and we suspect others can see it. But no one can do everything - and, even if they can, they seldom do it. What we fear, others fear. Our needs are others' needs. Our thoughts, our worries, though hidden from view, are not in the heart of just one person - but all. There's no need for a stumbling block. We may not be superhuman but we are spirit, and spirit has no limits. Spirit is not dwarfed by circumstances. It has all power and makes us worthy.
~ He has done nothing for which an Indian ought to be ashamed. ~
BLACK HAWK - SAUK AND FOX
'A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II' by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
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Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 5
"You could study the ancestors, but without a deep feeling of communication with them it would be surface learning and surface talking. Once you have gone into yourself and have learnt very deeply, appreciate it, and relate to it very well, everything will come very easily."
--Ellen White, NANAIMO
Inside of every human being are our ancestors, and these ancestors still live. Today, the white man calls this DNA, but there is more than DNA. We have the ability to go inside of ourselves and learn from the ancestors. The ancestor teachings reside in the place of the center. The ancestors are waiting for us to come there so they can share the ancient teachings. It is said, "Be still and Know".
Great Spirit, let me walk in the stillness.
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'THINK on THESE THINGS' By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
There are many fears in the minds of man, but none so subtle, yet so effectual, as fear of failure.
We are so afraid we've been unwise and wasted valuable time and it makes us wonder how many times we've failed those who depended upon us, and how many times we've failed ourselves.
Time seems too short to make up and overcome the things long past. It seems sometimes that opportunities are there and gone before we've had time to make use of them. We condemn ourselves so much for the lack of knowledge when we most needed it. But if decisions were made on afterthought, they might not be as wise as those made quickly, without time to think.
We should no longer think about past failures, nor give undue thought to our chances for future ones, but only begin now to do the very best we can.
True failure comes only to those who stop trying, for no age, no time, no place can stop the person who decides to try one more time. As Frederick William Farrar, English author, has written, "There is only one real failure in life that is possible, and that is, not to be true to the best one knows."
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November 6 - Daily Feast

Autumn sunshine warms the woods and brings out the elusive woodchuck to sleep in a rock slanted toward the sun. The downy woodpecker thumps on a hollow tree and a doe huffs as she slides her hooves through a carpet of autumn leaves, This is the season of mellow fruitfulness when seed fluffs drift on the breezes, and grasses colored rose and beige bend and bob. Whether it is nature or human nature, it is a time of subtle changes, a time when geese take to the southern skyways and man tries to predict the severity of winter. But back of it all is a loving Spirit who tells us to be anxious for nothing.

~ So why do you ask us to leave the rivers and the sun and the wind and live in houses? ~

PARRA-WA-SAMEN - COMANCHE WARRIOR CHIEF

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 6

"It is well to be good to women in the strength of our manhood because we must sit under their hands at both ends of our lives."

--He Dog, OGLALA LAKOTA

The women bring us into this life and nurture us as we grow up. When we reach our manhood, she supports us and sings the songs to help the family grow. The Elders say we must look at the woman in a sacred way. We must realize how special her powers are in brining forth life. The woman will bring balance to a man. The woman will help him see. It is said, behind every successful man is a supporting woman. Maybe we should examine how we are thinking about women. The Great Spirit says we should honor them. Are we respecting and honoring our women today?

Grandmother, Grandfather thank you for our women. Today, let me honor them.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

It is written that where there's a will there's a way. If s desire is sincere and the results are for the good of everyone, the first giant steps have already been taken. American clergyman Joel Hawes has been quoted, "You may be whatever you resolve to be. Determine to be something in the world, and you will be something - 'I cannot' never accomplishes anything; 'I will try' has wrought wonders."

A positive attitude can be one of the greatest joys to experience. To begin a day by willing everything good, and meeting any obstacle with the idea that it has no power, can make some of the most sudden and drastic changes in anyone's life.

To be something or someone is one of the strongest desires, but it does mean sacrifices of doubt and apprehension and feeling sorry for ones-self. It means laughing instead of lamenting. It means thinking positively and speaking good words.

It is said that a great deal of talent is lost in this world for the want of a little courage. We often think of courage as the kind that wins wars and braves new fronts. But there is another plain, ordinary kind of courage that helps us face our everyday problems.

There is a surprising lack of this kind of courage, and it leads us to seek ways to dodge our responsibilities. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to face everything and everyone and take a firm stand for what we believe. It takes courage to admit we have weaknesses and needs that we must overcome. It is a daily fight to follow the right road when the wrong one looks so smooth. And it takes courage to believe, when obstacles face us.

God has given courage to each of us, for strength to overcome is available to all who are courageous in asking for help to be courageous.
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November 7 - Daily Feast

Few children still have the chance to be innocent. They have been made to look like miniature adults, taught to act adult, and abused because of it. We sympathize with abused children and say that is the way the world is, what can we do? It is an easy loophole that lets us go on our way - wishing things were different but doing nothing to make it so. This is why we have so many throwaway children. We have cut loose from our responsibility to pray. Where did we go wrong? We made children competitive and gave them nothing for inner strength. We curled their hair and twisted their minds. They are going to learn it somewhere - so why not from us? Sadly, we haven't given them what they need because we don't have it ourselves.

~ Can it be that you and your children will hear that eternal song without a stricken heart? ~

EAGLE WING

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

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 7

"Abuse and repression have no place in a traditional family."

--Haida Gwaii, Traditional Circle of Elders

Traditional families guided by their culture were taught how to live. The were taught about relationships, respect and spirituality. Only since alcohol was introduced to Indians have we seen physical abuse, sexual abuse and verbal abuse. These behaviors have no room in traditional families. The cycle of abuse must be broken during this generation. We do this by asking for help to quit drinking and abusing and return to our traditional culture and spirituality.

Creator, plant inside of me the knowledge of the traditional family.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Sensibility is said to be neither good nor evil in itself, but in its application. Sometimes we just "out-sensible" ourselves. In the course of years, we come to see the pattern of the truly sensible. What have we at this moment that really means anything? Does it give us happiness? Did it once seem most impractical? Was it worth fighting for?

The intellectual strives for knowledge and in his absorption leaves the world but hardly leaves a vacancy. The materialistic must have everything at the price of peace, and their possessions decay but never their chaotic souls. And the insecure forfeit the most minute comforts to save for that rainy day. Happiness would have been greater and far more lasting if the fund has been smaller and used as an opportunity fund.

The fine line of sensibility can be most elusive, but it seems to be more clearly seen when we relax and quit shoving to get there. If the place we desire is meant for us, it will come when we learn the way isn't always sharp and direct and by demand.