January 5 - Daily Feast
Nothing is so bedraggled and beaten down as a garden in winter. It promises nothing, and shows only wilted, gray and soggy leaves. There are no straight defined rows, no hint of green to show that it will be any different. But the Cherokee knows the difference. Long before winter - in the season of planting, we sowed the best seeds we could. As tiny and insignificant as they look, they will produce. When the best is planted and watered and cared for, the time will come to see the increase - to see a miracle. Life can be renewed and restored. Bedraggled and ridden down as life can be, don't despair. Plant good words, plant good seed. Nurture them with warm attention and care. Be a perennial believer and watch those first warm rays of sunlight awaken your garden to the Season of the Green Corn.
~ Sweet grasses and seeds serve as perfume for body and spirit. ~
INDIAN IMPRINTS
'A Cherokee Feast of Days', by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 5
"But first, let us join hands and pray."
--Starleaf, SHINNECOCK
Where two or more human beings joined together for a common cause, the helpers and the Grandfathers will show up to help. When our Indian people come together, the Elders say, "always pray first-do a ceremony and ask the Creator to be with us and to help us. We can never pray enough." The Elders also say, "pray in a circle because the Creator made things in circles. When we stand in a circle and pray together, a sacred hoop will form above the people. This is the spiritual way."
Oh Great Spirit, through my prayers I can find Your guidance. I pray You guide my path today. Touch my life with Your Holy Breath.
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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Most successful ventures have behind them some hardships. We as human beings demand such experiences before we can truly appreciate the meaning of victory. No one promised that life would be one long gala event, but if we're made of durable stuff, we neither let it hinder us nor make us run roughshod to get ahead.
We must always recognize past hardships for what they are. We cannot ignore them, for they are a part of our makeup. But neither can we let them become crutches to lean upon when there's need for an excuse.
Bitterness over past experiences wastes valuable time. Perhaps it was those hardships that gave us the strength to rise above the mediocre things. However crude, ugly, or unhappy, even tragic, some of the times may seem, as seen alone, when combined with all our other knowledge they form the perfect circle and play no more important part than all the rest.
In the words of American poet John Neal, "No man ever worked his passage anywhere in a dead calm."
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God's Minute
LET THEM GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD FOR HIS
UNFAILING LOVE AND HIS WONDERFUL DEEDS FOR
MEN.
( PSALM 107:8 *NIV )
Today Rodney, we will look at the shortest Chapter
in the Bible. It is located at the center of the Bible as well!
This Chapter is the 117th in the Book of Psalms.
Though it is only two verses of praise for our Heavenly
Father, it gives us two big reasons to praise Him indeed!
PSALM 117
1. PRAISE THE LORD, ALL YOU GENTILES! LAUD HIM,
ALL YOU PEOPLES!
[laud] means, "to speak very well of." The Hebrew word
for Gentiles means all people except the Jews; the word
for peoples speaks of other groups, along ethnic or
language lines.
2. FOR HIS MERCIFUL KINDNESS IS GREAT TOWARD
US, AND THE TRUTH OF THE LORD ENDURES
FOREVER. PRAISE THE LORD!
Merciful kindness refers to God's faithfulness to His
Covenant promises, to His Children all over the World.
Now Rodney, have you ever said to yourself, "I can't
think of anything that God has done for me lately. Therefore
how can I praise Him?" Well, this short Psalm gives us
two big reasons to praise our Heavenly Father; His
tremendous love toward us, and His faithfulness that
endures forever. So just think, if God did nothing else for
us He would still be worthy of our highest praise everyday!
Have a wonderful day,Rodney, and may the Love of God
fill your heart and mind, today and always!
Amen. Amen!
