PASTOR COUGARMOON CHIEF OF THE NATIVE AM...'s blog: "american indian devotional"

Cherokee Feast of Day by Joyce Sequichie Hifler Country sounds abound on a cold winter evening. A cow bawls, dogs bark, voices carry across the frozen land. Evening brings the comforting thought of home. Wood for the fire, soup for supper, a cat stretching on the window sill and waiting to be fed. And winter sunsets are the essence of all that is beautiful. The last few minutes before the sun goes down, it fires the horizon with live embers, hazes the hills with blue, and then turns deep purple, red, and gold - gilding the treetops and reflecting in window panes. If there are a few gray hours in winter, far more are filled with thoughts of home, sharing, and time to enjoy it. ~ I beseech you.... by everything you hold sacred and dear.... arise to the dignity and grandeur of your honored position as the father of your gallant little band, shake off the fetters of the Bad Spirit.... ~ KEOKUK 1832 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elder's Meditation of the Day - December 29 "What you see with your eyes shut is what counts." --Lame Deer, LAKOTA Another whole world opens up when we close our eyes and calm our mind. Be still and know; be still and hear; be still and see; be still and feel. Inside every person is a still, small voice. Sometime it is necessary to close our eyes to shut down our perception in order to see. Try this occasionally; when you are talking to your child or spouse, close your eyes and listen to them. Listen to the tone of their voice; listen to their excitement; listen to their pain-listen. Great Spirit, today, let me hear only what really counts. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Prayer: Grandfather, Wherever you are, Hear a young man's prayer. Hear a prayer for fleetness. Keeper of the Deer's way, Reared among eagles, Clear my feet of laziness. Keeper of the paths of men, Who sees the danger of twisted ways, Hear a prayer for straightness. Aho , Amen , e-men . December 29 - Daily Feast Never turn your good successful idea into an organization and set up councils and committees to run it. If you do, you will lose the common touch and the organization will turn to catchy phrases and initials that identify it. Committees will spend their time having lunch and talking about promotion rather than quality. People lose sight of quality and service as they try to squeeze out more hours, more money, more product that no longer is what it once was. Watch out for titles and power and wretched little people who want recognition with as little work as possible. Come down off of it. Do good service, make a good product that is not chicken soup from chemical flavorings. Do everything with the motto, "I can be trusted." It will amaze you what it can do. ~ General Howard said, "Shut up! The law says you go on the reservation to live, and I want you to do so. ~ 'A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II' by Joyce Sequichie Hifler *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* Elder's Meditation of the Day - December 29 "What you see with your eyes shut is what counts." --Lame Deer, LAKOTA Another whole world opens up when we close our eyes and calm our mind. Be still and know; be still and hear; be still and see; be still and feel. Inside every person is a still, small voice. Sometime it is necessary to close our eyes to shut down our perception in order to see. Try this occasionally; when you are talking to your child or spouse, close your eyes and listen to them. Listen to the tone of their voice; listen to their excitement; listen to their pain-listen. Great Spirit, today, let me hear only what really counts. *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* 'THINK on THESE THINGS' By Joyce Sequichie Hifler Realizing that there is a multitude of wonderful things to appreciate, we must shake them all together in our minds and wait for the chosen one to rise to the top like bubbles. Life is such a challenge, such a joy to live when it is appreciated. If we could only realize who gave us life, we would understand even more why the Creator intended us to appreciate and love all that is about us. The thing we can appreciate are never in any particular order, but mingled together as they are in our lives. We can so beautifully and joyfully appreciate the sound of our children's laughter when sudden happiness overtakes them; the tremendous and moving power of silent prayer; a strong voice singing a song of inspiration, or of sentiment; early morning sunrises, misty pink and fresh; a mockingbird singing out its heart in the depth of night; the touch of souls in understanding; violin music; and our children in prayer, in spells of delight, or in any other moment. To name them all would be an impossibility, to live them all is a blessing. We must not pass these things by without appreciating them. We must not lose them by failing to give thanks. These are the things we always have near us, and we can appreciate them merely by attuning our senses to them. *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* God's Minute ALL MEN ARE LIKE GRASS, AND THEIR GLORY IS LIKE THE FLOWERS OF THE FIELD; THE GRASS WITHERS AND THE FLOWERS FALL, BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD STANDS FOREVER. ( 1 PETER 1:25 *NIV ) Dear Member's, Now I will bet that from time to time, you have heard from someone who claims that the Bible is fiction. For some fail to see that; ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD, AND IS PROFITABLE FOR DOCTRINE, FOR REPROOF, FOR CORRECTION, FOR INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS. ( 2 TIMOTHY 3:16 ) ABOVE ALL YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT NO PROPHECY OF SCRIPTURE CAME ABOUT BY THE PROPHET'S OWN INTERPRETATION, FOR PROPHECY NEVER CAME BY THE WILL OF MAN, BUT HOLY MEN OF GOD SPOKE AS THEY WERE MOVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. ( 2 PETER 1:20-21 ) After all God worked through 40 different men, who lived on three different Continents, from every walk of life, who lived over a Sixteen Hundred year period to write His Letter To Us. ( The Holy Bible ) The result is the Bible was still created containing not one single contradiction, and a vast number of Prophecies, all of which have now been fulfilled, except those that speak of the End Times. So Member's, the next time someone, who undoubtedly hasn't even bothered to read the Bible, tells you that the Bible is full of fiction, and fairy tails, ask them to Prove It. After all we know that; EVERY WORD OF GOD IS PURE; HE IS A SHIELD TO THOSE WHO PUT THEIR TRUST IN HIM. ( PROVERBS 30:5 ) FOR THE WORD OF GOD IS LIVING AND POWERFUL, AND SHARPER THAN ANY TWO-EDGED SWORD. ( HEBREWS 4:12 ) Therefore we are bold to say; "YOUR WORD IS A LAMP TO MY FEET AND A LIGHT TO MY PATH! O Lord!" Amen, Amen! ( PSALM 119:105 ) Have a Safe Weekend, Member's, and may all your dreams for 2007 come true! With My Love & Prayers, your servant , Pastor Atli Yona A chief must not seek profit for himself. --Cheyenne *The Native American Path to leading A Spiritual Life every day* -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On This Date in Native American History: 1890: More then 300 Aioux Indians crossed over during the massacre at Wounded Knee. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Cherokee Feast of Day by Joyce Sequichie Hifler A very long time ago, among the pages of words written by ancient men is a phrase so potent it still works today. It says, "Call the things that be not as though they were." So life is hard and scary and you have messed up miserably. Then change it by saying what you do want - by calling into being the way you want things and circumstances to be. Your words have power. They create. They shape. They call into being what you want. You have been digging in your heels and declaring that nothing can be saved. Don't you know you are doing it? Cancel everything negative you have ever said - be truly sorry for it. And then take hold of your tongue and demand it speak right. ~ You propose to give us land where we can live in quiet. I accept your proposal. ~ LITTLE RAVEN - ARAPAHO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elder's Meditation of the Day - December 28 "I believe that being a medicine man, more than anything else, is a state of mind, a way of looking at and understanding this earth, a sense of what it is all about." --Lame Deer, LAKOTA The Medicine Wheel explains different ways of looking at the world. The four directions are the East, the South, the West and the North. In the East is the view of the eagle - the eagle flies high and sees the earth from that point of view. The South is the direction of the mouse. Moving on the earth, the mouse will not see what the eagle sees. Both the eagle and the mouse see the truth. The West is the direction of the bear - the bear will see different from the mouse and the eagle. From the North comes the point of view of the bison. To be a Medicine Man you must journey through all points of view and develop the mind to see the interconnectedness of all four directions. This takes time, patience and an open mind. Eventually, you understand there is only love. Great Spirit, today, allow my mind to stay open. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Prayer: God, grant me the strength of eagles wings, the faith and courage to fly to new heights, and the wisdom to rely on his spirit to carry me there. Aho , Amen , e-men . December 28 - Daily Feast A very long time ago, among the pages of words written by ancient men is a phrase so potent it still works today. It says, "Call the things that be not as though they were." So life is hard and scary and you have messed up miserably. Then change it by saying what you do want - by calling into being the way you want things and circumstances to be. Your words have power. They create. They shape. They call into being what you want. You have been digging in your heels and declaring that nothing can be saved. Don't you know you are doing it? Cancel everything negative you have ever said - be truly sorry for it. And then take hold of your tongue and demand it speak right. ~ You propose to give us land where we can live in quiet. I accept your proposal. ~ LITTLE RAVEN - ARAPAHO 'A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II' by Joyce Sequichie Hifler *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* Elder's Meditation of the Day - December 28 "I believe that being a medicine man, more than anything else, is a state of mind, a way of looking at and understanding this earth, a sense of what it is all about." --Lame Deer, LAKOTA The Medicine Wheel explains different ways of looking at the world. The four directions are the East, the South, the West and the North. In the East is the view of the eagle - the eagle flies high and sees the earth from that point of view. The South is the direction of the mouse. Moving on the earth, the mouse will not see what the eagle sees. Both the eagle and the mouse see the truth. The West is the direction of the bear - the bear will see different from the mouse and the eagle. From the North comes the point of view of the bison. To be a Medicine Man you must journey through all points of view and develop the mind to see the interconnectedness of all four directions. This takes time, patience and an open mind. Eventually, you understand there is only love. Great Spirit, today, allow my mind to stay open. *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* 'THINK on THESE THINGS' By Joyce Sequichie Hifler Is there ever a perfect time? A wise mother says there isn't. She advises us to take life by the hand and march right into the middle, and then start digging out the corners. She says not to wait for a perfect time to do anything, because a perfect time never quite makes it. We simply have to go ahead and make it as near perfect as possible. A perfectionist is usually someone who can never find the perfect way, and gives up in futility. But the one who aims at perfection and does not wait for it, is at least moving and there's nothing useless about that. Unless we are moving, we resemble Tennyson's description: "Faultily faultless, icily regular, splendidly null, dead perfection; no more." We have to face life, not under the pressure of perfection, but by pure faith. We have to go on accepting and rejecting as we come to each phase. "For perfection does not exist," said eighteenth century writer Alfred de Musset. "To understand it is the triumph of human intelligence; to expect to possess it is the most dangerous kind of madness." In the rush of too much to do, we stack up for ourselves things we are going to do, things we ought to do, and things we intend to do. We do first the things of necessity, we take time to think a little about what we ought to do, and the rest is left to good intentions. Frequently the good intentions hold the key to our happiness. While we bog down in the necessities of living, the things that mean so much slip away unnoticed. We always expect other people to know that we intended to do this or that, but we must realize that they cannot read our good intentions. Good intentions have the same look as nothing at all. And we have to draw our own conclusions as to what our thoughts and feelings are. Only if we express them can we ever hope for others to know what we would like to do, even though circumstances may hinder us. It has been written that intelligent beings have what it takes to surpass themselves. By sensible thought we can actively express our good intentions and this opens the way for fulfillment. *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* God's Minute FOR THIS IS WHAT THE LORD SAYS--HE WHO CREATED THE HEAVENS HE IS GOD; HE WHO FASHIONED AND MADE THE EARTH, HE FOUNDED IT; HE SAYS: "I AM THE LORD, AND THERE IS NO OTHER." ( ISAIAH 45:18 *NIV ) Dear Rodney, It is important to remember that GOD is always in Control, even though things in our lives may seem totally out of control. This includes when the events of this World seem to be out of hand as well with terrorists and wars etc. After all; IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. ( GENESIS 1:1 ) HE COVERS THE SKY WITH CLOUDS HE SUPPLIES THE EARTH WITH RAIN AND MAKES THE GRASS GROW ON THE HILLS. ( PSALM 147:8 ) HE DETERMINES THE NUMBER OF STARS AND CALLS THEM BY NAME. GREAT IS OUR LORD AND MIGHTY IN POWER; HIS UNDERSTANDING HAS NO LIMIT. ( PSALM 147:4-5 ) So Rodney, no matter what you may be experiencing right now, or will be in the future, know that GOD is with you and in Control. So; BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS. DO NOT BE AFRAID OR TERRIFIED BECAUSE OF THEM, FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD GOES WITH YOU; HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU. ( DEUTERONOMY 31:6 ) FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE ON THE RIGHTEOUS AND HIS EARS ARE ATTENTIVE TO THEIR PRAYERS, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL. ( 1 PETER 3:12 ) After all it is written; FOR THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH ARE THE LORD'S; UPON THEM HE HAS SET THE WORLD. HE WILL GUARD THE FEET OF HIS SAINTS, BUT THE WICKED WILL BE SILENCED IN DARKNESS. ( 1 SAMUEL 2:8-9 ) Therefore Rodney, have a great week knowing that you are in good hands, with JESUS in your life! Amen. With My Love & Prayers, your servant , Pastor Atli Yona December 27 - Daily Feast See with the bright light of your heart, and don't turn eyes to the dark. It is there, but don't make eye contact or it will follow you home. Turn away from the sludgy, dirty, dark blue-black that makes up most of what we hear and see. Don't think you have to take it in because you have to work to live - and to work you must take on some of the cheetah's spots. When sad eyes and performance voices turn to you and tell you that you must accept what is wrong, that you must have compassion, ask, "For what?" If someone want to go to hell in a hand basket, there's not much you can do - but never be guilty of telling that person he can't help himself. The Great Spirit never made him that way. ~ I have been in a great many councils, but I'm no wiser. ~ TOO-HOOL-HOOL-SUIT - NEZ PERCE 'A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II' by Joyce Sequichie Hifler *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* Elder's Meditation of the Day - December 27 "When temptation comes, I don't say, `Yes," and I don't say, `No.' I say, `Later,' I just keep walking the Red Road-down the middle. When you're in the middle, you don't go to either extreme. You allow both sides to exist." --Dr. A. C. Ross (Ehanamani), LAKOTA We need to practice controlling our focus. Whatever we focus on we become. We also become whatever we practice. We need to focus on balance. Whenever something comes along to tilt us off balance, we need to be grateful, because it allows the opportunity to practice our focus. Sometimes this is called temptation. Temptation in itself is not bad. What really counts is what we do with it when it happens. We need to practice controlling our focus and keeping our thinking focused on the Red Road. Great Spirit, today, guide me through my temptations and allow me to focus on the Red Road. *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* 'THINK on THESE THINGS' By Joyce Sequichie Hifler Are you one of those people who degrades yourself in idle conversation until it becomes a fact within your mind? Has it become your belief that this is true humility, talking down your abilities, hiding your light, refusing to accept your rights as a child of God as being meek and humble? This thing called life is given to us for a purpose, never to downgrade; no more than we should blow it out of proportion by thinking too highly of ourselves. Each life is important, each breath for a purpose, each moment a time for learning. Walt Whitman has written in Leaves of Grass: "Whoever you are! Motion and reflection are especially for you; the divine ship sails the divine sea for you. Whoever you are! You are he or she for whom the earth is solid and liquid, you are he or she for whom the sun and moon hang in the sky, for none more than you are the present and the past. For none more than you is immortality." By our words we reveal our minds. It is so easy to refuse to be a channel through which the best can reveal itself. And it is so easy to forget that our song of life, as Whitman has written. "The song is to the singer, and comes back most to him. I swear the earth shall surely be completely to him or her who shall be complete!" Human beings worry a great deal about what others think. It is a nagging worry that somehow the curtain that protects our privacy from the eyes of the world will suddenly drop and allow us to see all the things our pride has hidden. Why is it that we seemingly need to be clever in order to handle the world? Why can't we just live honestly and openly, without scheming and trying to appear that we are something we are not? The world is so heavy laden with priggish pride that the clean simple truth is lost in playing it cool. Why can't we quit being something pent up inside and be something like sunshine or showers right out here where we can enjoy it or get over it? Socrates said that the shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world is to be in reality what we would appear to be. And we may just as well, because of there isn't a good cake under all that frosting, someone is going to know it anyway. To drop all pretense and say with genuine honesty, "This is the way I am" would be to find a whole new way of enjoying the simplicity of being ourselves. *<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>* A Cherokee Feast of Day by Joyce Sequichie Hifler Who is to say what is holy? The Tsalagi (Cherokee), believes that whatever the Great Spirit made is holy. A mountain, a tree, the whispering stream is holy. So much has been lost in the translation that we are inclined to pick apart what another thinks is holy and good. Our limitless connection to all that is holy can give us a great comprehension of peace and health and all that is needed. If we follow the much-trodden path, believing that to be holy we must be poverty-striken, downcast, and victims of an angry God, we are fooled. The idea that we can earn our way overburdens us. When we put it all down and turn toward the light, sweet grace is poured upon us. ~ The Great Spirit bade him (Pontiac) to be seated: I am the Maker of heaven and earth, the trees, lakes, rivers, and all things else. I am the Maker of mankind; and because I love you, you must do my will. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elder's Meditation of the Day - December 27 "When temptation comes, I don't say, `Yes," and I don't say, `No.' I say, `Later,' I just keep walking the Red Road-down the middle. When you're in the middle, you don't go to either extreme. You allow both sides to exist." --Dr. A. C. Ross (Ehanamani), LAKOTA We need to practice controlling our focus. Whatever we focus on we become. We also become whatever we practice. We need to focus on balance. Whenever something comes along to tilt us off balance, we need to be grateful, because it allows the opportunity to practice our focus. Sometimes this is called temptation. Temptation in itself is not bad. What really counts is what we do with it when it happens. We need to practice controlling our focus and keeping our thinking focused on the Red Road. Great Spirit, today, guide me through my temptations and allow me to focus on the Red Road. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Prayer: I ask for wisdom and strength, Not to be superior to my brothers, but to be able to fight my greatest enemy, myself. Make me ever ready to come before you with clean hands and a straight eye, So as life fades away as a fading sunset, My spirit may come to you without shame. Aho , Amen , e-men . God's Minute Jesus said, "I NO LONGER CALL YOU SERVANTS, BECAUSE A SERVANT DOES NOT KNOW HIS MASTER'S BUSINESS. INSTEAD, I HAVE CALLED YOU FRIENDS, FOR EVERYTHING THAT I HAVE LEARNED FROM MY FATHER I HAVE MADE KNOWN TO YOU." ( JOHN 15:15 *NIV ) Dear Member's, "Oh, what a Friend we have in Jesus!" A friend that is always they're for us no matter what! A friend that loves, comforts and guides us through out this life. A friend that loved us so much that HE gave HIS life to pay for our sins! After all; GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONE AND ONLY SON, THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. ( JOHN 3:16 ) Now it is written; GREATER LOVE HAS NO MAN THAN THIS, THAT HE LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS. ( JOHN 15:13 ) and that is exactly what Jesus did for us! So whenever you see the Cross, think about the tremendous price that HE paid for all of us! Why not stop right now and thank HIM for all of the things HE has done for you as well. Also right about now, why not sing to yourself that beautiful old Hymn, "What A Friend We Have In Jesus." For what a friend we have indeed!!! Amen.