Elder’s Meditation of the Day

“[TheOld People] would gather words as they walked a sacred path across the Earth,leaving nothing behind but prayers and offerings.”

—- Cleone Thunder, NORTHERN ARAPAHOE

Whenever we walk on the Earth, we should pay attention towhat is going on. Too often our minds are somewhere else, thinking about thepast or thinking about the future. When we do this, we are missing importantlessons. The Earth is a constant flow of lessons and learning, which alsoinclude a constant flow of positive feelings. If we are aware as we walk, wewill gather words for our lives, the lessons to help our children; we willgather feelings of interconnectedness and calmness. When we experience this, weshould say or think thoughts of gratitude. When we do this, the next person towalk on the sacred path will benefit even more.

MyCreator, today, let me be aware of the sacred path.

DailyFeast

Honeybees that relied on early flowers in the garden cannow feast all across the meadows. Red clover, honey locust trees, androse-colored Indian paintbrush abound in clusters to feed the bees and givepeace to the eye. An evening chorus of field sparrows trills in the wheat fieldand a nesting killdeer demands privacy by doing her broken-wing act tosidetrack walkers. The whole meadow teems with activity until dusk – and then asilence pervades, only to be broken by the throaty voice of the tree toad. It iscommon knowledge among the Cherokee that every animal, except man, knows themain business of life is to enjoy it, and he, the Cherokee, sides with nature.

~ Seed time is here but your grounds have not beenprepared for planting. Go back and plant the summer’s crop. ~

KEOKUK, 1832

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